Hershey Chocolate Bar Made By a Kid
Ivory Coast, Africa
The Problem
In the Ivory Coast about 800,000 children work on the cocoa plantations. All the kids that work on the cocoa plantations are missing key education lessons in their schools. The government is not really trying to decrease this number of kids working because they earn about $83 billion dollars from the cocoa business. Although, Hershey wants to get a patent or law passed. There are also no laws that require kids to be in school or a legal age where children or any child labor laws that the Ivory Coast follows. Even though getting the patent or law in place would mean that children couldn't work on the cocoa farms Ivory Coast should be able to handle who is going to help bring in the money for the country.
Evidence
UNICEF and CNN launched a project to see if people actually took their children out of school to work on the cocoa farms and to raise awareness about child labor. About 600,000 children work on the cocoa farms and 200,000 of those children get serve injuries from working on the cocoa farms. Many children don't attend schools because their families can not afford the fees and the schools are far from their homes.
"On his Rain Forest Alliance certified farmer near Yakasse- Attobrou, Felix Asande says all the children are in school. But when alone, his orphaned 15-year-old nephew tells me he recently left school and is only working on the cocoa plantations now."
Effects on Kids from Working on the Cocoa Plantations
Education
This is a picture of kids in school. In my opinion each child in the picture is worried about being taken out of school and put onto a cocoa farm to work for long hours; Or how their brothers and sisters are stuck in a field while they are in a nice cozy comfortable classroom, LEARNING!!
Hazards
Many kids were at risk of being injured by machetes, pesticides or through other hazards. The kids everyday are at risk of hurting themselves or not collecting enough cocoa beans. Everyday for them the struggle is real.
Experience
There are many children who work on the fields every year and they are used to the pressure but for the newbies it is there worst nightmare come to life. This forms a bond between the boys that helps them through the tough days.
The Solution
Hershey and other chocolate companies all over the world are trying to get a patent from the Ivory Coast. To make sure no child was involved with helping harvest the cocoa. By doing this it would make sure that the farmers get higher pay and laws that protect them ( fair treatment, shelter, food and water). I am also trying to raise awareness about the problem with kids working on the cocoa plantations because I had no idea that this went on and so does the rest of the world. Which is why it's very important to make sure everyone is aware of the problem.
How the Solution will Affect the Victims
The farmers will be able to afford to send their children to school and not have to work on the fields. Each child working on the fields will be able to go home and to school, to have a better chance in the world and make something that will change the lives of their friends and families forever. Being a kid myself I can not imagine what it would be like not to go to school everyday, but instead work outside in the heat for 8 hours a day without getting paid. I know kids who complain about going to school myself included, even though across the world there are kids who wish they could go to school and learn. I would also like to send every single kid a Hershey chocolate bar to taste what they help make.