Most of us heard about terms like globalisation and child labour. But just a few of us might have seen it in real life and even less really recognise it. I have seen either in different places. Many times it made me think ‘Is it wright or wrong?’. What’s slavery and what’s a fair chance? What about the influence of culture and tourism?
Almost ten years ago I left Europe for the first time. Traveling to South America to my uncles place was not just a big adventure but also a cultural experience. For one month I was living on a property owned by a swiss but mostly run by locals. Locals coming from a lower class and working for middle/upper class people. The guys are doing hard field work and the girls take care on the kids, cook and clean. Most of them are living on the owners property in some simple housing and earn the minimum wage. Quite often not even registered so they won’t get the social insurances. Every forth night they might go home to see their parents, own children and friends. Otherwise they are supposed to stay at place and work for little money which is just enough to survive. Is this modern slavery or just a chance for the social weak ones to work?
Few years later in 2009 I traveled central/south America mostly by public transportation. Soon after my arrival in Guatemala I recognised all the children selling food on the buses and streets. In places with tourists they might also have sold some souvenirs to mostly western tourists. At some point my travel mate asked one of the 7-10 year old kid ‘Do you go to school?’. The answer was ‘Yes, in the evening. During day we have to work.’! In extrem cases those little cute children were even asking to get the chicken bones you had left on your plate in a restaurant! Like a dog! Begging and working for survival! Similar picture in many other countries I visited the following months in Central/South America. Would kids sell things if the tourists wouldn’t be there and who would feed them?
In 2012 I headed out again and it took me a while to see it again. Almost two years after my departure I arrived in Asia. Mongolia was the first place where I could recognise how kids where helping out their families with hard physical work. Such as sawing firewood, looking after the animals or producing cheese/yoghurt. In some families the dad was relaxing while the girls did the work!
Later on, in Myanmar I recognised teenagers which were working in tea plantation or even on construction grounds for new streets. Carrying gravel in wok pans to the spot they need it and that under the midday sun. Was it their choice or does something/someone make them to do it?
Back in Thailand I talked a bit to locals working in Hostels and Hotels. In the Hotel in Patong was a receptionist which is mum of a daughter. A daughter she didn’t see for 2 years. Originally from the north on the border to Laos where her kid lives with her mum. To earn money and send it back home she moved to the south. But the money for her might not be as big as the one her foreign boss might make with the business. She can’t effort to travel home to see her family!
In the hostel in Bangkok was a married couple working. Both originally from Myanmar but moved to Thailand for work when they were 14 and 19, respectively. He started to work in a fish factory and sent all the money home. At some point they changed to hospitality, became parents and brought the kid back to Myanmar. And since then … they never returned home again and keep sending the money back for their families. Slaves of tourism or just workers looking for a better life?
Before I headed home I spent another 2 months in Ukraine. Since my last visits in Spring’14 and Winter’13 things changed. The economics weren’t untouched by the conflict in the east. From winter’13 till spring’14 the countries currency – Hryvna – lost half of its value to the $. And till now -spring’15- it lost again and its worth a third compared to winter’13. Clinical research is a common business in Ukraine and many offices are owned by foreign companies making business in $. The locals working as clinical research associates and other jobs get mostly paid in Hryvna. But never since they have got an increase of salary! And business with the west keeps rolling while life becomes more expensive. Who keeps the lucky exchange bonus? Is this slavery in the name of the west or shall we call it outsourcing and globalisation?
What can we change or how can we influence it. Do we have a chance? What about the power of governments and multinational enterprises? Think about the cases and have a closer look next time, listen to them and make your thoughts. There might be a story behind the little boy on the corner begging for your attention.
