A year ago, I barely knew that a practice called bonded labour existed. When I first heard about it, I was in denial. I could not believe that such an inhuman practice was happening right under our very noses!
Raising awareness
A couple of months ago, International Justice Mission did a presentation in our school about bonded labour, as part of their “Live Free” Campaign. It helped us understand more about the issue and also told us how we could spread awareness to help eradicate bonded labour.
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As part of the “Live Free” Campaign, my classmates and I, along with students from other schools, attended the opening ceremony of another, very different, campaign that IJM initiated; created to spread awareness on bonded labour, but among a very different audience — the vulnerable community, the ones who face the risk of going into bonded labour.
This is the grassroots awareness campaign “Urimaiyai Nokki Oru Payanam” which employs a troupe of travelling actors who perform across 50 villages. Through the play these actors tell the villagers what bonded labour is, how to identify it, and what to do if they became victims themselves.
This, I felt, was the best way to make sure that the ones most affected by bonded labour are made aware of the issue. This gives them an opportunity to save themselves from the plight, and possibly, some others too.
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Spreading the message
The troupe made sure that their audience learnt about their rights and how they could stand up for their rights. The troupe went on to tell them how to escape from bonded labour if they were trapped in such a situation. They audience was also given contact numbers to reach out to IJM.
The play was in Tamil, with loads of singing and dancing. Having witnessed a brilliant demonstration of advocacy at the grassroots, my classmates and I have been inspired to make a greater effort in bringing about similar advocacy programmes within our school.
Knowledge is power. Armed with new knowledge about a social injustice such as bonded labour, I plan to work, not only through the “Live Free” Campaign, but also beyond as my contribution toward a society that hopefully will be free of such injustices, when students, professionals and others join hands to fight against it.
Amita is a Std XI student at Lady Andal School.