The Real Slumdog

In 2008, the movie Slumdog Millionaire swept the Academy Awards, winning best picture and seven other Oscars. Shot in the slums and streets of Mumbai, the film tells the story of Jamal Malik, a  young man who makes his way through life traveling atop trains, sweeping floors, begging and picking pockets, with the grinding realism […]

In 2008, the movie Slumdog Millionaire swept the Academy Awards, winning best picture and seven other Oscars. Shot in the slums and streets of Mumbai, the film tells the story of Jamal Malik, a  young man who makes his way through life traveling atop trains, sweeping floors, begging and picking pockets, with the grinding realism of Charles Dickens’ London. But in the end, when the boy finds the girl at the train station and kisses her, the entire cast breaks into a dance extravaganza on the train platform, sheer fantasy takes over and we all live happily ever after.

I don’t think many of us have witnessed children living and working the trains here in the United States – they aren’t exactly a fixture on Amtrak.  But throughout India, Dalit children survive at the margins by sleeping in train stations and foraging for their needs. Dalits are members of lower castes and castes are unequal groups of people within Indian society. Simply put, the real train children are treated like lesser human beings, impure and subjected to abuse as “untouchables”. They are expected to perform the most menial, dirty and hazardous work in exchange for a life of abuse, poverty and stigma. Suddenly, we’re in another movie. One that affects 260 million Dalits, worldwide, mostly in Asia but also parts of Africa.

Caste systems are spreading from Hindu origin into Christian, Sikh, Buddhist and Muslim communities. This week at Media Voices, we have posted a video, The Rail Children of Orissa. This is a documentary view of the real slumdogs, not the Bollywood version, and it has an unlikely star at its center.  For over 25 years, Inderjit Khurana has led the Ruchika Foundation which offers schools, feeding and medical programs to the Dalit children who flood the streets and train stations of India. Her story is the heart of the film and a living testimony to the power of human kindness and love, translated into action. For Inderjit, besides the human touch, the key to helping these children is getting them a quality education. Her feeling is that if you can’t get the child into a school, bring the school to the child.

Today, thanks to the Internet, Dalits are finding their voice within the international human rights community. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, has issued an international call to “tear down the barriers of caste” as we have already done with apartheid and transatlantic slavery. We have posted the Annual Report of the International Dalit Solidarity Network so you can read of the progress being made in abolishing caste and advancing the human rights of Dalits.

Finally, for those who are concerned about purchasing products that are free of child labor, we post the Report of the Fairtrade Labelling Organization on how Fairtrade helps consumers avoid child labor in the products they certify. We’ve all seen the Fairtrade label on coffee and hundreds of other products, now you can understand the details of that labeling initiative, including how the organization certifies producers and monitors and prevents child labor at the source.  Perhaps the most important aspect of the Fairtrade movement is the minimum price guarantee it gives producers.  The slight premium you may pay to purchase a Fairtrade product translates into zero tolerance for child labor and growing methods that take the environment into account. In fact, the ideal combination would be “organic and Fairtrade” on the label. Then you know that adults are doing the work and pesticides are being used minimally, if at all, and not harming children.

Finally, it’s rare to read a report about what donors in the International community intend to do about child labor and so we are posting Eliminating Child Labour Through Education: the role of bilateral donors. I know that’s a mouthful and this report is not for the faint of heart, however, if you want to consider lessons learned and get a view of the path forward, there are many conclusions and recommendations here awaiting the kind of strong advocacy and funding the issue demands.

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Original source : http://mediavoicesforchildren.org/?p=4466…