Ihumatao

On Monday 19th of August 2019, the level 1 and 2 social study class had the opportunity to travel down to Ihumatao to witness and experience the issue that is going on down there. We were welcomed by Amelia from the group SOUL  (saving our unique landscape) Pania Newton one of the leaders of this action, had explained to us the whole reason and the background of why they are protecting the land and the meaning behind the land. Pania and her people do not want the land to be a housing land although it had been sold to Fletcher buildings. Pania had said that they want more greens in new Zealand, instead of factories and houses being built on the land.

We also had speakers from different areas, for example Andrew from up North came down to help because he believes in the cause and wants to support his Maori brothers and sisters who are down their fighting for their land.

Danny Joe, Pote and I had the opportunity to help them out by moving plants and tents. It was very humbling seeing smiles on their faces as we visited them because with everything going on they needed as much help as possible.

Mathex 2018

Ghana Child Labour

Chocolate is one of the most delicious tasting candy/sweets that someone could ever come across. When people are eating chocolate they do not know the hard work that is behind each chocolate bar. Some kids who have never tasted chocolate before and tasted the hard work they have done to create this treat are forced to work in Cocoa bean farms in West Africa. Chocolates are made from cocoa beans which are in pods that grow on trees, there are about 50 to 60 beans in each pod.

Some kids work 8 hours a day in the Cocoa bean farm to gain that little bit extra money so they can provide for their families. One of the main problems in Ghana is the trafficking of kids to work in the cocoa bean farms and kids being forced out their homes or villages just to find jobs. These kids work in dangerous and hazardous conditions and in a very terrible environment, sometimes kids are beaten up if they choose not to do the work. One of the kids explained how his mother would not feed him unless he had done the work and there was also a young girl who had started working in the cocoa bean farm when she was only 9 years old. Primary schools are available for these kids and is also for free so they do not have to pay but the parents suggest that they should work instead of getting an education. Some parents agree that having the kids work at a very young age is not a good idea especially knowing how dangerous it is but because of the lack of money and resources kids are forced work to provide for their families.

Big chocolate companies are trying the best they can to make it more safer for the kids working on the cocoa farms and trying to stop it but Cadbury has promised to use fair trade cocoa in one of their candy bars. Some traffickers pay some parents for their kids then they take the kids to the cocoa farm. Traffickers pay around $20 to the parents to have their kids.

The Ghanaian Government is trying their best to get these kids off the farm and into school. The government has already paid for the childrens uniform and books just to make it easier on the parents and so the kids get an opportunity to have a good education. Farmers are now starting to realise the benefits of fair trade, they get a guaranteed fair price on their beans if they join the union. The money that is made on the beans go to the community and the kids do not have to work in dangerous conditions. An outcome of using fair trade beans they managed to pay for a water pump which provides fresh clean water for everyone, they also bought a corn mill with the money they made from fair trade.

A way we could stop these kids from working in the farm is if we buy fair trade chocolate bars because it has a greater impact on the life of the people that are living in West Africa. If we buy fair trade chocolate bars kids won’t be forced to work in farms and the kids will be able to attend school and have freedom.

Child Labour India

All around the world there are 218 million kids involved in Child labour. Child labour is when kids between the age of 6 - 15 are forced to work in dangerous hazardous places to provide for their families because of lack of money or support. India is the home of the largest number of child labour and majority of the kids that are involved in Child Labour belong to Low Caste. Sometimes children are forced to leave their homes or sometimes the child labour recruiters go to places that are poverty stricken, places where natural disasters occur a lot and the areas which have draught.

India has the largest number of child labour in the world and about 60 million kids are still suffering from child labour in India. There is about 70% of children in India working in fields and farms and the rest are working in construction where they have no protection on their feet or on their heads. This could affect the children if they get seriously hurt or damaged from the heavy materials or  resources. This also affects the kids education because child labour is getting in the way of the kids having a bright future.

Different countries came together and made an International Agreement for India child labour.
It is called 'UNRC' (UN convention on the Rights of the Child)
1. Non discriminatory
2. The best interests of the child
3. Promotes development
4. Children are to have a say

This agreement was made to put a stop to child labour and to keep the kids safe. I think it is good that they are trying to stop child labour because these kids should not suffer from this and they should also have the right to have an education.

Child labor

Child Labor

Child labor is when kids or children do not have the opportunity to go school and get an education because they have to work long hours at a very young age. Child labor isn't good for children health because they work in dangerous places and hazardous conditions where the kids could get physically ill and unwell. The places where these kids work is unsafe because they do not have the correct protection to keep them safe during these hours.

These kids could get a serious illness, for example when they breathe in the toxic chemicals it could affect their breathing and the way they live. As they get older their breathing could get worse as they breathe this toxic air daily and it could give them cancer or lung problems. There was also a video we watched where a girl from Cambodia worked in a brick factory and it was unsafe because she wore no shoes and if one of those heavy bricks fell on her leg she would've been really hurt. They will also miss out on education and will not have the opportunities to get better jobs.

The reason why kids are forced or have no choice to work at a very young age is because their families really need the support and the money so they can have a roof over their heads and food provided for them to eat. Some families don't have enough resources or cant afford much to give so kids are forced to raise money. Some kids miss out on opportunities to go to school because working is the only way they could gain money.

To me I think child labor is not a very good thing because a lot of bright kids are missing out on wonderful opportunities because work is getting in the way. I also think it is unsafe for kids to work in these conditions and should not have to go through these things or experience these things at a young age.

Human Rights

Human Rights is a document that states basic human rights that everyone should have. It was created in 1948 after the World War ll. It was created to bring peace throughout all the lands and to keep people safe. It was also created so people can have their freedom and equality no matter what ethnicity they are. One of the basic human rights for children are that they must have an education, food/water and a home to keep safe.

In some countries, like New Zealand honor these Human Rights and have freedom. But other countries like Cambodia violate these Human Rights. Some kids in Cambodia don’t have the right to have an education and to be safe in their own homes. Some kids suffer from working so they can provide for their families.

There are many reasons why some countries don’t have Human Rights for example some governments don’t have enough money or enough resources to support the people. But some countries assist of making sure they get rights like having enough food to eat. In Cambodia when your family is struggling it is compulsory for some kids to work because lack of money or support. Sadly some homeless people in some countries such as the US don't have the opportunity to get support from the Government because they don’t have an address or a home for income support. But some homeless people choose to make the wrong choices by spending their money on things they don’t need like weed or alcohol.

I think that people who live in NZ should appreciate the rights that we get because not many countries have the opportunity to live the life that we have been given. NZ have many opportunities such as going to school for a better education and to have a safe home where we get to spend times with our families. NZ is also a lucky country because even if you are homeless you get the right to have a bed to sleep on and shelter to keep warm in all thanks you income support.

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Geographical signicant Rainforest

Why is the rainforest Geographically significant?

The rainforest is geographically significant because it is important to humans &

other living species because it filters the carbon dioxide to provide us with clean

oxygen. CO2 is pollution, cause by electricity, engines from cars and planes that

creates a warm blanket around the globe which affects our breathing. A way we

could prevent this from happening is; instead of travelling by car & other engineering transport, walk or cycle to your destinations. CO2 provides bad oxygen and its

unhealthy for us humans and living species to breathe this air. The trees in the

rainforest produces clean oxygen for us to breathe. The Amazon rainforest contains

50% of animals and it is important these animals are living in a safe environment.