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Art and Life in Africa

Trafficking Child Beggars in Southeast Asia [Photograph]

The young child in the photograph sits on a walkway in Jakarta, Indonesia, a victim of trafficking for the purpose of begging. Trafficking of women and girls for prostitution has been a well-known phenomenon in Southeast Asia, but trafficking for begging on the streets is a more recent trend. Children of poor, often rural, families are being captured at the borders, or parents are deceived into thinking their children will receive opportunities in the cities.

Children caught begging illegally by police in Bangkok, Thailand, are returned to Cambodia, some to waiting parents, others to charities or local government agencies. Others find their way back to urban streets. In the worst cases, children are mutilated so as to elicit sympathy. Officials note that children trafficked to a foreign country are even more vulnerable due to language and customs differences, as well as increased discrimination. They are even less likely than indigenous children to know how to seek help.

The chart reveals International Labour Organization (ILO), International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC), and UNICEF data for the year 2000 on trafficking of over a million children annually, and some 250,000 for the Asia Pacific region. Efforts to combat child trafficking include improving law enforcement and border controls, but perhaps the most effective work is at the community level.

World History Archives, http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/54/index-aea.html by the Institute for Global Communications (IGC) Tides Center http://www.igc.org/ from "A new kind of trafficking: Child beggars in Asia," World of Work, no. 26, 1998; Chart from IPEC: Every child counts: New global estimates on child labour, Geneva, ILO, April 2002, in Training manual to fight trafficking in children for labour, sexual and other forms of exploitation / International Labour Office, International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC). - Geneva: ILO, 2009 – page 34 at http://www.unicef.org/protection/index_exploitation.html (accessed March 15, 2010). Annotated by Susan Douglass.

Gope, Ancestor or Spirit Boards [Object]

The object in the photograph is a gope, or spirit board (also called kwoi or hohao). This example is from Papua New Guinea near the Wapo Creek on the Gulf of Papua. Carved from an old canoe, this art form derives from the protective splashboard of the outrigger canoe, which was carved with a human face and was believed to have protective qualities. Human faces represent ancestors, and carving the boards was thought to provide a home for the protective spirit. Most gope boards have symmetrical, curved, linear designs, with recognizable faces and very stylized body parts. Gopes were made in different sizes, the largest being owned by the clan and stored out of sight in the men's longhouses. Smaller gope boards guarded entrances to clan sections of communal houses. Young, uninitiated men owned a third type of small gope. These were hung on the walls where young boys slept, believing it would protect them and help them to grow strong.

Photograph from the Tomkins Collection Spirit board, gope, Wapo Creek/Era River, 19th/20th century, wood and pigment, Accession # TC 515, Bruce Frank, New York 2009, Collected by Thomas Schultze-Westrum, <a class="external" href="http://www.tomkinscollection.org/static/object_470.html">http://www.tomkinscollection.org/static/object_470.html</a> (accessed March 26, 2010). Annotated by Susan Douglass.

Bar Miztvah [Photograph]

The three boys in the photograph belong to a group of Israeli boys who came together at the Western Wall in Jerusalem in 2008 for a mass bar mitzvah celebration. The orthodox social service organization Colel Chabad arranged the celebration for orphans and needy families. Several prominent Israeli rabbis participated in the celebration of this important Jewish rite of passage to adulthood.

"Bar Mitzvah" literally means "son of the commandment." This rite of passage marks the time, at the age of 13 for boys, when children are obligated to observe the commandments of Jewish law. Technically, no ceremony is needed, because a boy automatically passes this milestone upon becoming 13 years old. In recent times, the bar mitzvah has become popular and widespread as an individual and family observance. During Shabbat (congregational prayer) services on a Saturday shortly after the child's 13th birthday, the celebrant is called up to the Torah to recite a blessing over the weekly reading. In preparation for this day, the young boy spends time learning the Torah portion and prayers. Community service is often a part of this preparatory period before the bar mitzvah. A speech before the congregation occasion traditionally begins with the phrase, "Today I am a man. . ." The father also recites a blessing.

Photograph copyright Chabad.org from article at <a class="external" href="http://www.chabad.org/news/article_cdo/aid/933026/jewish/Mass-Bar-Mitzvah-at-Western-Wall.htm">http://www.chabad.org/news/article_cdo/aid/933026/jewish/Mass-Bar-Mitzvah-at-Western-Wall.htm</a> (accessed March 30, 2010). Annotated by Susan Douglass.

Child Re-enacting Krishna Story [Still Image]

Krishna is known in the stories of the Bhagavata-Purana as the eighth incarnation, or avatar, of the god Vishnu. He is a very popular deity, a divine hero who personifies superhuman powers as well as human hopes and failings. According to the narrative, he comes into the world as the son of Vasudeva and Devaki to destroy the foes of human beings and is threatened by many tyrants and monsters, beginning with the cruel King Kans, who tried to kill him based on an omen. Krishna's mother and father were thus imprisoned, but my miraculous intervention Krishna was saved, carried across the river Yamuna and placed with foster-parents, Nand and Yashoda. Stories of Krishna's childhood with his loving foster-mother Yashoda are much beloved in this village of cow-herders. Representations have been illustrated in courtly artistic paintings and sculptures and in contemporary popular media, such as calendars, posters, and statuettes. A combination of super-human powers and child-like behavior endears Krishna to the characters in the narrative, and are what makes him an especially popular figure. One of Krishna's most famous pranks as a child was to find any possible way to steal sweet butter and curds from the storage jars that were suspended from the ceiling with ropes. Lighting his way in the dark room by the jewels he wore, climbing on mortars or on the backs of his playmates, or enlisting the help of agile monkeys, he gave vent to the irresistible urge to eat the butter and feed it to his partners in crime.

The holiday of Krishna's birthday is called Janmashtami in northern India and is celebrated as Sri Krishnajanmashtami, Janmashtami or Gokulashtami in southern India. In celebration, devotees fast, bathe, perform prayers and rites, and re-enact parts of the story of Krishna's birth and rescue from King Kansa. In this photograph, a young child is adorned with jewelry, eye-liner and a headdress, and prompted to re-enact the prank of stealing butter. Sweets made with butter, honey, and other delicacies are also part of the celebration, which falls in late summer or early autumn.

"Krishna's mischievous pranks such as stealing sweet butter are reenacted by this child on Krishna's birthday," India, ARTstor Collection, Image Gallery ©University of California, San Diego. Annotated by Susan Douglass.

Peruvian Youth Center for Child Laborers [Video Stills]

The photographs of a twelve-year-old Peruvian fruit market porter named Jonathan are from a video produced by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), a trade union organization affiliated with the International Labour Organization (ILO). The documentary describes Jonathan, who is one of a large group of similarly employed boys, who rise before dawn and spend their days pushing carts and carrying crates of fruit. Their pay is meager and not all clients are dependable. Jonathan is quite articulate in expressing his acceptance of the need to work and his willingness to contribute to his own support and to help his family. His wages are his own income, and also pay his school expenses. The trade union organizations in Peru, as in other countries, support efforts to end or ameliorate child labor that depresses wages and degrades working conditions by providing a weak and pliant alternative labor force of minors. According to ILO statistics, nearly one-third of Peruvian children engage in paid work, some of it dangerous, and much of it detrimental to their physical development and education. The documentary describes an association of four main Peruvian trade unions called "Warma Tarinakuy," which established a youth center where child laborers can get cheap meals, counseling and remedial classes if they have fallen behind in school. Anyone who wishes to participate must commit to staying in school. The math teacher featured in the documentary was a child worker himself. Association counselors work with children and their parents to maximize their chances of finishing school and limiting the damage to the development of youth by trying to reduce the families’ reliance on their labor. Jonathan’s progress as a student is discussed, including his award of a grant to study computer science. This effort by a combination of international and local organizations may be compared with other efforts in Asia and Africa to end child labor by bringing services to the places where children work and live.

International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), Camera: Ivan Castañeda, Director: Laurent Duvillier, <a class="external" href="http://www.icftu.org/www/video/perou_infantile_en.wvx">http://www.icftu.org/www/video/perou_infantile_en.wvx</a>; ICFTU article at <a class="external" href="http://www.icftu.org/displaydocument.asp?Index=991224579&Language=EN">http://www.icftu.org/displaydocument.asp?Index=991224579&Language=EN</a> (accessed February 22, 2010). Annotated by Susan Douglass.

Boys' Initiation Mask (keweke) Papua New Guinea [Object]

This mask worn by boys during initiation rituals in Papua New Guinea is made of painted bark cloth and canvas stretched over a cane frame. The long fiber fringe adds movement to the mask, which is worn during dances and other secret rituals that that comprise boyhood initiation rites. These rituals often involve disguises, as initiates endure trials, receive food and drink from villagers, and accept the knowledge of elders. The mask form is also a reference to the spirits of ancestors who have come through these life stages and continued on. The long, oval masks are similar to the gope spirit boards that represent the ancestors at home, protecting its inhabitants. This mask is from the Wapo Creek or Era River area near the Gulf of Papua, though there are many other styles and forms of initiation masks as well as face and body paint used by the numerous tribes in the region.

Photo © The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Wapo Creek, Papuan Gulf, , Melanesia, Cane, wood, bark cloth, canvas, paint, fiber, Accession number: B85.0350, <a class="external" href="http://www.imj.org.il/imagine/collections/item.asp?itemNum=224467">http://www.imj.org.il/imagine/collections/item.asp?itemNum=224467</a> (accessed March 26, 2010). Annotated by Susan Douglass.

Young Voices on Disability, India [Video Still]

Yellamma Gangadhar is a young woman who relies on a wheelchair for mobility. Her film tells the story of abandonment by her parents at a bus station in Bangalore, India, subsequent help from the Leonard Cheshire home in the city, and the college education she acquired with great difficulty. The struggle featured in the film is access discrimination. She describes the necessity of climbing 25 stairs with paralyzed legs every day for three years to gain access to higher education because classes were held only on the second floor of the building.

Yellamma is a filmmaker in the Young Voices project of the Leonard Cheshire Disability Global Alliance. The Alliance was founded after World War II by a highly decorated British bomber pilot who devoted his later life to charity. Young Voices uses mass media to raise awareness of the needs of disabled persons globally and to encourage member nations to adopt, ratify, and implement the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Young Voices stories include children and youth with many forms of disability in rural and urban settings around the world. The first-person accounts relate problems of social exclusion, lack of knowledge, and access discrimination in transportation, public buildings, education, and employment.

Video still from the film "Steps" by Yellamma Gangadhar, a participant in the Leonard Cheshire Disability (<a class="external" href="http://www.lcdisability.org/">http://www.lcdisability.org/</a>)Young Voices project from India, UNICEF at <a class="external" href="http://www.youtube.com/youngvoiceslcd#p/u/18/Th2hj_12Arc">http://www.youtube.com/youngvoiceslcd#p/u/18/Th2hj_12Arc</a> (accessed March 29, 2010). Annotated by Susan Douglass.

Arab Countries Youth Population Projection [Chart]

The 2009 United Nations Arab Human Development Report describes a "youth bulge" as a high proportion of 15-29 year olds relative to the adult population. Young people are the fastest growing segment in Arab countries, with youth under 25 years of age comprising about 60% of the current population. The median age of the total Arab population is 22 years, compared with the global average of 28.

The youth bulge is viewed in the research literature both negatively and positively. According to the 2009 report, the region will require 51 million new jobs by 2020 to employ youth entering the labor market. The challenge will affect women more than men, whose current unemployment rates are 31.2% compared with 25% for men. Female youth employment was as high as 59% in Jordan with male youth unemployment at 35%. Unemployment, alongside increasing urbanization, are often tied to rising extremism, causing concern for the region.

The youth bulge, however, can also be viewed as an opportunity, a chance to empower youth and harness their energy to help build neighborhoods and countries. With sufficient forethought and investment, a youthful labor force is an opportunity for economic growth and stability. Over the next 30 years, the hazards and opportunities presented by the youth bulge in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) will be important tests for governments in the region and for the global development community.

[Download pdf file of chart here].

Arab Human Development Report 2009:Challenges to Human Security in the Arab Countries Geneva: United Nations Development Programme and Regional Bureau for Arab States (RBAS), 2009, 36 (accessed March 5, 2009). Annotated by Susan Douglass.