Brazil Secondary School joins the global fight to end child labour

The classrooms of Brazil Secondary School, in Brazil Village, Trinidad may seem a long way away from the terrible scourge of child labour, but not really for the school’s students.

This year the students who are participating in the WE Schools programme, chose to bring awareness to the issue as part of their social change project.

“The students were very moved by the story of Iqbal Masih, a young Pakistani boy who lost his life standing up against child labour. They felt they had to do something to raise awareness of this issue because it wasn’t something that had been discussed in their community at all,” explained Roshni Madoo, teacher and one of the school’s coordinators for the WE Schools programme.

Earlier this year, on March 14, the students joined other young people in schools around the world and participated in CNN International’s Freedom Day Project - #MyFreedomDay. CNN International encouraged students to take action in their communities, in ways that would resonate with other students, and in so doing, raise awareness to the issue of Child Labour.

Recently, the Brazil Secondary students presented their campaign to tens of thousands of other students around the world during WE Day Connect, a free, interactive online celebration of social good hosted by WE. More than 18,000 classrooms across 49 countries participated in this service-learning webcast. They will also be featured presenters at the upcoming WE Day Community event TT next Thursday June at the National Academy for the Performing Arts.

“Our students thought about what they could do and decided one act wasn’t enough. They planned a school assembly where they spoke about the issue which affects more than 152 million children worldwide and they also organised several activities during the day,” Madoo explained.

In addition to the school assembly, the Brazil Secondary students hosted a flash mob and also designed a tunnel to symbolize the experience of children who are exploited.

“The tunnel had quite an impact on the students. There were posters with statistics on child labour, scenes of children from around the world and stories of children who have been exploited. It brought the issue home for these children, many of whom would not appreciated before that there are children in other parts of the world, like them, who experience such hell.”

“The students who are part of WE are empowered to take action in their communities to help address the issues that matter to them. The students of Brazil Secondary are fine examples of young people being moved to act,” said Erin Barton, Chief Development Officer, Partnerships, WE.

Barton said: “We are very proud of our students in TT and around the world, and the initiatives they have taken. This year, more than 300 schools in Trinidad and Tobago participated in WE Schools and more than 1,000 students will be at WE Day Community in Trinidad. You can’t buy a ticket to this event. You earn your place by the work that you do in your community and our students this year have achieved that,” she said.

Now in its third year in TT, the show will feature renowned speakers, innovative thought leaders and remarkable youth who are making a positive impact and celebrity performers, including, Nailah Blackman, Jaime Lee Loy, Hans des Vignes, Kechi Okwuchi and more. WE Day Community is made possible by RBC, a partner of the event.