Boss for a Day

In Ecuador we celebrate Mother’s Day and Father’s Day just like in the United States.  But Ecuador has also designated June 1 as the “Dia del Nino” which means “Children’s Day.”  June 6 has also become a red-letter day as the World Day Against Child Labor.

A few years ago, the Lord gave us a creative idea for a way to celebrate Children’s Day and the World Day Against Child Labor in Ecuador.  Young people from area middle class Hispanic churches, who have never had to go to work in the streets the way the FACES children have done, volunteer to change places with a working child.

This June, 70 volunteers came out to our ministry center to meet their assigned partner for the day.  The FACES kids bring their shoe shine kits or boxes of candy and turn them over to their volunteer “buddy.”  Then the volunteer teens hit the street shining shoes and selling candy and gum, while the FACES children go on a field trip, play, and relax all day.  The Christian teens compete informally among themselves to see who can earn more money for their child worker buddy, which they turn over to them at the end of the work day at a special ceremony.

All the excitement serves to draw attention to the problem of child labor.  The volunteers wear bright yellow tee shirts that say “Childhood is for studying and playing, not working.”  We invite the area media to come out and do stories featuring the event.  We have found that it is one day in the year where “everyone wins”.  The young people learn a little of what the life of a working child is really like.  The child workers get to really relax, knowing that even though they are taking a time off, at the end of the day they will get as much or more earnings that they need for their essentials such as rent and food.   And the public is reminded once again that child labor must not be the norm and that as a society we must work together to eradicate child labor once and for all in Ecuador.

“Boy, I never knew how hard shining shoes could be,” said one teen.  “My back is killing me.”  One teen came back to the center.  “Can I change my shoe shine kit for a box of candy?  This shoe polish is getting me dirty.”  “Wow, the public is so rude to you when you try to sell them something,” said one. “I’m never going to be rude to the street kids again.”

Visit the FACES website

COGWM Project # 1024038071

Related posts:

1. FACES … Fighting Child Labor in Ecuador