Slaves shake off their shackles: Dramatic rescue bids for exploited children - Child Labour - Brief Article

New Internationalist, April, 2002 by Victoria Bauer

IT was the workers from Free the Children India (FTC) who rescued Gopal -- from a West Bengal mechanical workshop near the Bangladeshi border. They rescue thousands of children from exploitation each year. In Gopal's case, his employer had paid $25 to his family, living on the rural outskirts of Calcutta. In exchange, Copal was taken to the workshop and worked 15 hours a day, six days a week for 60 rupees ($1.50). He was only nine years old.

FTC received a tip-off from a community worker who, while getting her car serviced, noticed the child's ill-health and maltreatment: his untreated skin infections and poor eyesight from exposure to the flying sparks while he helped fix rickshaw bicycles. For the next four weeks, FTC went undercover and investigated the daily operations of the workshop -- times of work, number of staff, entrances, windows, lighting and the exact layout of workshop. Together with local authorities, they executed a rescue plan, breaking into the workshop at night via a window located next to where Gopal slept. He was woken to the bright lights of torches and several people whispering: 'You are safe. We have come to free you.' He was then whisked to the sanctuary of the awaiting FTC van. The operation took under three minutes. The employer has since been charged.

'At first I didn't understand what was going on, then I realized someone had answered my prayers. I cried all that night. I just kept thinking "I am free"', recalls Gopal.

Gopal now lives in the Destitute Children's Home. Run by FTC, it is home to 25 boys aged between two and nine who have also been rescued from begging, prostitution, drug trafficking -- and camel jockeying. Camel jockeying is a form of entertainment for wealthy sheikhs in Saudi Arabia where the child is strapped onto the neck of camels, whipped and beaten by another jockey. The child (who has been trafficked from neighbouring countries) either receives multiple lacerations or dies from the ordeal.

Swapan Mukherjee is the director of FTC India. He wants to create a society where children are aware of their rights and are fearless enough to rise up against the exploitation of children. Those few children who are fortunate enough to recover at the Destitute Children's Home, receive shelter, nutritious food and clean running water. The healing process takes time and includes one-to-one psychological rehabilitation sessions, regular medical check-ups, in-house 'mothers' who give the children round-the-clock attention, and perpetual nurturing by all members of staff (including office workers, visitors, cooks and guards. The children are also taught Hindi, English, Geography and Morals -- an educational base from which they can build a future.

'What do you want to be when you grow up?' I ask nine-year-old Gopal.

'A Doctor, so I can repair all the children who have been hurt by adults' he replies.