I wish that I could tell you that Shankar's story is unique but unfortunately it is not.The United Nations Labour Agency estimates that there are 250 million children from ages 5 - 14 employed aroun the world. These children are making carpets, manufacturing bricks, working in glass and metal factories, in textile factories, in sugar cane fields, in the tobacco industry and they even work making toys. The list goes on and on. Two hundred and fifty million children who will never enjoy the simple pleasures of childhood in all the ways familiar to us and our children.

A work day can be 10 12 or 14 hrs long and work is done 6-7 days a week. Often these children do not see their parents for a month a at a time. Some of them never get to see their parents. Many of

becuase of the cheap labour that can be found there. Thus insuring a large profit ratio.

I think one of the most important ways to create change is for each and every person to be concerned that these atrocitities are occuring. Not in a detached way that says I don't like it but it's not happening here, but rather once it has nauseated you. It must be taken to heart. Educate yourself and them educate the people around you. Tell local store owners what you have learned and encourage them to find out what the conditions are in the factories where thier products are produced. Write letters to people in power encouraging them to address this issue. Would you pay alittle more if the item you were about to buy was guarenteed not to have been produced by child labour. We the consumer must take resbonsibility, check the nmade in label, be aware that there is a chance that what you are about to buy may have been produced by stealing someone's dream, and then decide if you really need the item. There are groups making a difference today. One of them is Free the Children. Learn about their mandate and how you or the group you belong to can help them. Above all I encourage you to educate yourself and care. Together we can make a difference, together we can restore the dream to each and every child. They deserve it!

The abuses these children have to endure are unbeleivable. They are beaten for any reason, in fact a beating is the norm rather than unusual. Some are branded the same way we b

Some common words found in the essay are:
Labour Agency, Rebok Nike, , Children Learn, receives beating, multi-national corporations, educate yourself, workers age,
Approximate Word count = 1015
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)