Below is an account of an assembly held at one of our Josephite schools – Sacred Heart College, New Town in Tasmania. It was the final initiative of a series of school initiatives to raise awareness around trafficking and fair trade.
During the Secondary Assembly, all active members of the Justice Action Network will receive their badges from staff. As they are applauded and return to their seats, a buzzer will sound, and all the Justice students will freeze where they are.
Hopefully some will be close to their seats, in the aisles, on the stairs and on the stage. This will last for 26 seconds before another buzzer will sound. This buzzer will continue to ring every 26 seconds, until all Justice reps have returned to their seats.
Ella Bulis and Sammi Cacciatori present the Justice Report:
Good morning everyone,
Last term, we had the privilege of hearing about modern day slavery from Fuzz Kito of Stop the Traffik. This term, we celebrated Fairtrade Fortnight by giving away Fairtrade chocolate and hot chocolate. We stood in solidarity with people around Australia and New Zealand watching the documentary about the benefits of Fairtrade in Papua New Guinea. Finally we visited Teros in the city, to discuss the benefits of fair trade and ethical consumerism.
Today we conclude our awareness raising with our report and that action, called the Fairtrade Freeze. You saw our Justice Student Representatives stop for twenty-six seconds as they attempted to be reseated? Did you know that every twenty-six seconds, every time you heard that buzzer, a child is sold into slavery somewhere in the world?
According to current estimates, it is believed one in four victims of modern slavery are children. Despite the fact that many people believe that slavery no longer exists, an estimated five million children are enslaved worldwide.
Child slavery is often confused with child labour, but is much worse. Whilst child labour is harmful for children and hinders their education and development, child slavery occurs when a child’s labour is exploited for someone else’s gain.
You can watch Child Slavery in Ghana by International Justice Mission below:
It’s so important that we all become more aware of the impact our purchases make. Buying Fairtrade is a great way of ensuring that our purchases are making a difference.
You might like to visit the Baptist World Aid website and take a look at their Ethical Fashion Guide to help guide you in your Christmas clothing purchases:
Thumbnail image: Poor Child Labor by billycm obtained from Pixabay. Used with permission.