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Every day of the week, | 0:00:02 | 0:00:03 | |
200 million children around the world go out to work. | 0:00:03 | 0:00:07 | |
'Children who work in circuses in Russia... | 0:00:08 | 0:00:10 | |
'..on chocolate plantations in Africa... | 0:00:12 | 0:00:14 | |
'..children who work in Bollywood... | 0:00:15 | 0:00:17 | |
'..and children who want to be Africa's next big football star.' | 0:00:19 | 0:00:23 | |
Welcome to the world of Children At Work. | 0:00:23 | 0:00:26 | |
I'm Hazel Lindsey and I've come to one Ghana's | 0:00:37 | 0:00:40 | |
largest cocoa growing regions to see how children here help to create | 0:00:40 | 0:00:43 | |
one of the world's best-loved luxuries - chocolate. | 0:00:43 | 0:00:46 | |
Children in the UK eat more chocolate | 0:00:48 | 0:00:50 | |
than any other kids in Europe. | 0:00:50 | 0:00:51 | |
And around 70% of the world's cocoa is grown in West Africa. | 0:00:51 | 0:00:56 | |
That means most of the chocolate we all eat, starts its life here. | 0:00:56 | 0:01:00 | |
The children of the region often play an important | 0:01:00 | 0:01:03 | |
and controversial role in the process - | 0:01:03 | 0:01:06 | |
working in the cocoa plantations. | 0:01:06 | 0:01:08 | |
I'll be spending a week in a typical cocoa village | 0:01:09 | 0:01:13 | |
in the Ashanti region of Ghana | 0:01:13 | 0:01:14 | |
to find out more about how children here live and work. | 0:01:14 | 0:01:18 | |
The village is about five hours' drive from the capital, Accra. | 0:01:20 | 0:01:24 | |
It's called Akyem Ofoase. | 0:01:24 | 0:01:26 | |
The roads are pretty rough around here, so you can't drive very fast. | 0:01:26 | 0:01:30 | |
There we go. | 0:01:31 | 0:01:33 | |
It's so dusty. | 0:01:33 | 0:01:35 | |
'I'll be staying in the local guesthouse, | 0:01:35 | 0:01:37 | |
'usually home to visiting business people. | 0:01:37 | 0:01:40 | |
'There aren't any tourists here.' | 0:01:40 | 0:01:42 | |
Brilliant. | 0:01:44 | 0:01:46 | |
'It's a world away from home, where cooking and chocolate | 0:01:46 | 0:01:50 | |
'are two of my favourite things.' | 0:01:50 | 0:01:52 | |
So, I'll add three bags of those. | 0:01:53 | 0:01:55 | |
I know my chocolate very well. | 0:01:55 | 0:01:58 | |
'Or I thought I did.' | 0:01:58 | 0:02:00 | |
'But going to Ghana in West Africa, where much of the cocoa | 0:02:01 | 0:02:05 | |
'that goes into our chocolate is grown, | 0:02:05 | 0:02:07 | |
'makes me realise, there's a lot more to it than I thought. | 0:02:07 | 0:02:11 | |
'Akyem Ofoase is home to about 7,000 people.' | 0:02:13 | 0:02:16 | |
You're very pretty. | 0:02:16 | 0:02:18 | |
'And although I'm a stranger here, | 0:02:18 | 0:02:19 | |
'I'm made to feel welcome straightaway.' | 0:02:19 | 0:02:21 | |
It's just amazing, Like, yesterday, | 0:02:23 | 0:02:25 | |
I was in the freezing cold in England and now, it's boiling hot | 0:02:25 | 0:02:28 | |
and I'm surrounded by all these beautiful children. | 0:02:28 | 0:02:30 | |
I'm so excited to find out about the cocoa growing | 0:02:30 | 0:02:33 | |
and it's just brilliant, really. So excited. | 0:02:33 | 0:02:37 | |
'The kids get really excited whenever they see my camera.' | 0:02:39 | 0:02:42 | |
Say cheese. | 0:02:42 | 0:02:44 | |
'I don't think they've ever seen themselves in a photograph before. | 0:02:44 | 0:02:48 | |
'I'd like to find out more about them and their lives. | 0:02:49 | 0:02:52 | |
'In particular, as a newly qualified science teacher, | 0:02:52 | 0:02:55 | |
'I wonder if they go to school.' | 0:02:55 | 0:02:57 | |
-Do they like school? -He said he goes to school. | 0:02:58 | 0:03:01 | |
-Do they like it? -Yeah. | 0:03:01 | 0:03:03 | |
'The kids clearly love going to school, | 0:03:04 | 0:03:06 | |
'but what's their favourite subject?' | 0:03:06 | 0:03:09 | |
-Maths. -Maths. -English. -English. | 0:03:09 | 0:03:13 | |
-Science. -Science! -ICT. -ICT. | 0:03:13 | 0:03:16 | |
'But they say there is only one computer at school, | 0:03:20 | 0:03:23 | |
'which they all have to share. They all have big ambitions - | 0:03:23 | 0:03:27 | |
'when they grow up, they want good jobs outside the cocoa village, | 0:03:27 | 0:03:31 | |
'as doctors or footballers. | 0:03:31 | 0:03:34 | |
'Sadly, most children who live in West Africa's cocoa villages | 0:03:35 | 0:03:38 | |
'won't even go on to secondary education.' | 0:03:38 | 0:03:42 | |
One, two, three, jump. | 0:03:42 | 0:03:44 | |
One, two, three. Yeah! | 0:03:48 | 0:03:51 | |
'The majority here will grow up to be adult farm workers. | 0:03:51 | 0:03:54 | |
'Despite all this ambition, there aren't the opportunities to match.' | 0:03:54 | 0:03:58 | |
'I'm here to meet 11-year-old Patrick Tawaih, | 0:04:02 | 0:04:05 | |
'whose family have been cocoa farmers for generations. | 0:04:05 | 0:04:08 | |
'His house is right in the middle of the village, | 0:04:11 | 0:04:13 | |
'where there's no running water or electricity. | 0:04:13 | 0:04:16 | |
'Most people in country areas in Ghana | 0:04:18 | 0:04:21 | |
'survive on about 75 pence a day, | 0:04:21 | 0:04:23 | |
'and Patrick's family are no exception.' | 0:04:23 | 0:04:25 | |
So, this is your kitchen? Brilliant. Is that...? What's in here? | 0:04:26 | 0:04:31 | |
'He shares his one-room house and front yard | 0:04:33 | 0:04:35 | |
'with his extended family of aunties, uncles and their children. | 0:04:35 | 0:04:39 | |
'Everything happens right here, in his front yard - | 0:04:42 | 0:04:45 | |
'work, rest, chatting, snoozing. | 0:04:45 | 0:04:48 | |
'There's a real sense of community here. | 0:04:48 | 0:04:50 | |
'All under the watchful eye of the family's animals.' | 0:04:50 | 0:04:52 | |
And your goat, which is happily eating. | 0:04:52 | 0:04:55 | |
You do your washing-up here? I'm following you. | 0:04:56 | 0:04:59 | |
'Patrick's uncle owns the family's cocoa farm. | 0:05:02 | 0:05:05 | |
'And they're all keen to show me round | 0:05:07 | 0:05:09 | |
'so we set off straightaway for the plantation, | 0:05:09 | 0:05:12 | |
'which is about 20 minutes' walk from the village. | 0:05:12 | 0:05:15 | |
'It's estimated that, in Africa, | 0:05:19 | 0:05:20 | |
'between 56 and 72 million children work in agriculture.' | 0:05:20 | 0:05:25 | |
The ground's really uneven, it's boiling, boiling hot, | 0:05:27 | 0:05:29 | |
so humid and sweaty. | 0:05:29 | 0:05:31 | |
'Hot and humid are exactly the right conditions for growing cocoa, | 0:05:33 | 0:05:36 | |
'but horrible to work in. | 0:05:36 | 0:05:39 | |
'All the same, there are 600,000 small, family farms, like this one, | 0:05:39 | 0:05:44 | |
'all over Ghana...' | 0:05:44 | 0:05:46 | |
Do they grow on the trunks? | 0:05:46 | 0:05:49 | |
'..and they produce most of the country's cocoa.' | 0:05:49 | 0:05:51 | |
They grow, like, up the trunk? I did not know that! | 0:05:53 | 0:05:56 | |
'Today, Patrick's uncle is giving me a crash course in cocoa production.' | 0:05:56 | 0:06:01 | |
-I had no idea at all that cocoa pods grew up, around the trunk. -This one. | 0:06:01 | 0:06:07 | |
-Oh, it's good. -That one's ripe? -This one is ripe. | 0:06:07 | 0:06:11 | |
-And... -And this one, it's not quite ripe. | 0:06:11 | 0:06:14 | |
And they just keep going, up and up. It's amazing. | 0:06:14 | 0:06:18 | |
I can't believe how magical this place is. | 0:06:19 | 0:06:22 | |
There's trees literally everywhere. | 0:06:22 | 0:06:24 | |
I didn't realise they grew so close together. | 0:06:24 | 0:06:26 | |
And the way that all the cocoa pods wind themselves around the trunks, | 0:06:26 | 0:06:29 | |
it's just amazing. | 0:06:29 | 0:06:31 | |
One thing that I've really noticed is the leaf litter. | 0:06:32 | 0:06:35 | |
I think you can probably hear it. | 0:06:35 | 0:06:37 | |
I'm scraping through so many cocoa pod leaves. | 0:06:37 | 0:06:40 | |
Obviously, in leaves there can be hidden snakes, | 0:06:40 | 0:06:43 | |
so it's not surprising that lots and lots of children get bitten. | 0:06:43 | 0:06:46 | |
'In Ghana, it's illegal for children under 13 to work. | 0:06:51 | 0:06:55 | |
'After that, they're allowed to do light work | 0:06:55 | 0:06:57 | |
'that won't interfere with their schooling. | 0:06:57 | 0:06:59 | |
'11-year-old Patrick is one of the lucky ones, as he attends school. | 0:07:01 | 0:07:06 | |
'But many thousands of children in cocoa-growing areas | 0:07:06 | 0:07:09 | |
'don't go to school regularly because they're working so hard in the plantations.' | 0:07:09 | 0:07:13 | |
Wow. That's nothing like chocolate. | 0:07:16 | 0:07:19 | |
Just eat and see. | 0:07:20 | 0:07:22 | |
-You can eat it! -Hmm. -What does it taste like? | 0:07:22 | 0:07:25 | |
-Don't chew it! -We don't chew it. -Ah! | 0:07:26 | 0:07:29 | |
-We don't chew it. -No? Aaah. | 0:07:32 | 0:07:34 | |
My mouth doesn't taste very nice! Can I spit it out? | 0:07:34 | 0:07:37 | |
Well, that was a huge disaster. | 0:07:43 | 0:07:45 | |
Instead of just, basically, sucking the white pulp, | 0:07:45 | 0:07:48 | |
which is beautifully sweet-tasting, I took three of these into my mouth | 0:07:48 | 0:07:51 | |
and bit into them and, right in the middle, is the cocoa bean | 0:07:51 | 0:07:54 | |
which happens to be the most bitter thing I've ever put in my mouth. It was absolutely disgusting. | 0:07:54 | 0:07:58 | |
'Back in the village, | 0:08:04 | 0:08:06 | |
'I discover that, as well as helping out on the farm, | 0:08:06 | 0:08:09 | |
'Patrick has his own nursery for cocoa plants, | 0:08:09 | 0:08:11 | |
'which he wants to show me.' | 0:08:11 | 0:08:13 | |
-Oh, wow, Patrick. So, here are all your cocoa plants. -Yes. | 0:08:13 | 0:08:16 | |
Where did you get them from? | 0:08:16 | 0:08:17 | |
-Farm. -The farm. And how long have they been here for? | 0:08:17 | 0:08:21 | |
-Nearly three weeks. -Three weeks? | 0:08:21 | 0:08:25 | |
-And how long until they are fully grown? -Don't know. | 0:08:25 | 0:08:29 | |
-One week or two weeks. -So, in two weeks they'll be ready. | 0:08:29 | 0:08:34 | |
-So, you'll sell the plants to cocoa growers, basically? -Yes. | 0:08:35 | 0:08:39 | |
Then they plant them in their plantations. | 0:08:39 | 0:08:41 | |
-How much do they pay you for each plant? -20 pesways. -20 pesways. | 0:08:41 | 0:08:46 | |
'That's about 15 pence a plant, | 0:08:46 | 0:08:49 | |
'which goes towards Patrick's family's income | 0:08:49 | 0:08:52 | |
'and makes them relatively well-off. | 0:08:52 | 0:08:54 | |
'I'm beginning to realise that if the children didn't work on the farms, | 0:08:55 | 0:09:00 | |
'they'd go short of money and food. | 0:09:00 | 0:09:03 | |
'It's a tough choice. | 0:09:03 | 0:09:04 | |
'Early next morning, I set off with another group of children | 0:09:07 | 0:09:11 | |
'from the village on their long walk to the cocoa plantations. | 0:09:11 | 0:09:15 | |
'In the heart of the forest, it's surprisingly busy. | 0:09:19 | 0:09:22 | |
'Kids are on their way to school, gathering firewood | 0:09:22 | 0:09:24 | |
'and making sure that their best shoes are kept nice for school.' | 0:09:24 | 0:09:29 | |
Oh, gosh, they're moving quickly. | 0:09:32 | 0:09:35 | |
'Nearly all the boys here help out on their families' farms. | 0:09:35 | 0:09:40 | |
'They're just some of the millions of children who work on farms all over Africa every day. | 0:09:40 | 0:09:44 | |
'They're an invisible workforce. | 0:09:46 | 0:09:48 | |
'I'm interested to hear what they've got to say about their working lives.' | 0:09:52 | 0:09:56 | |
Tell me about a typical day during the harvest season. | 0:09:56 | 0:09:59 | |
TRANSLATION | 0:09:59 | 0:10:02 | |
'Cocoa growing is a hazardous occupation for these children.' | 0:10:19 | 0:10:22 | |
So, what happened when you hurt yourself? | 0:10:22 | 0:10:25 | |
Ow. Does that happen often? | 0:10:27 | 0:10:28 | |
A snake! Was it poisonous? | 0:10:33 | 0:10:34 | |
Does it make you afraid to come back out? | 0:10:39 | 0:10:41 | |
'The cocoa farmer they're working with today | 0:10:45 | 0:10:47 | |
'says he feels responsible for their well-being.' | 0:10:47 | 0:10:50 | |
How do you feel when they injure themselves? | 0:10:50 | 0:10:52 | |
'In spite of the hazards they face, the children told me that they enjoyed working | 0:11:05 | 0:11:09 | |
'as a team of friends.' | 0:11:09 | 0:11:10 | |
Do you like working with all the other children? | 0:11:12 | 0:11:14 | |
'I'd always thought that children who had to work would be unhappy | 0:11:33 | 0:11:36 | |
'and resentful. But meeting these kids has made me re-think that. | 0:11:36 | 0:11:40 | |
'All the same, just because they don't seem to mind, | 0:11:41 | 0:11:44 | |
'doesn't mean it's right. | 0:11:44 | 0:11:46 | |
'To find out more about 11-year-old Patrick's everyday life, | 0:11:51 | 0:11:55 | |
'I'm spending the day with him at home.' | 0:11:55 | 0:11:58 | |
Thank you very much, Patrick. | 0:11:58 | 0:12:00 | |
'Patrick and his auntie Regina have invited me | 0:12:03 | 0:12:05 | |
'to look around the house.' | 0:12:05 | 0:12:07 | |
-So, is this where you sleep with your family? -Yes. | 0:12:10 | 0:12:13 | |
And there's your little brother, fast asleep. | 0:12:13 | 0:12:15 | |
How many people sleep here at night? | 0:12:15 | 0:12:18 | |
-Ten. -Ten. Wow. Ten people. | 0:12:20 | 0:12:24 | |
-Is this one of Patrick's brothers or sisters? -Yeah. -Hello. | 0:12:26 | 0:12:30 | |
-Desmond. His name is Desmond. -Desmond. Hello, you're beautiful. | 0:12:30 | 0:12:35 | |
-He doesn't know what to make of it all. And who's this? -Kwami. -Kwami. | 0:12:35 | 0:12:41 | |
Fast asleep on the floor. | 0:12:42 | 0:12:44 | |
-Is he ill? -Yes. | 0:12:44 | 0:12:46 | |
'One-year-old Kwami has malaria, | 0:12:48 | 0:12:50 | |
'a disease which is carried by mosquitoes. | 0:12:50 | 0:12:53 | |
'The cramped living conditions mean that serious diseases like malaria | 0:12:56 | 0:13:00 | |
'and typhoid, which is caused by poor hygiene, | 0:13:00 | 0:13:02 | |
'are both common here, in the village, | 0:13:02 | 0:13:04 | |
'and they can be deadly, especially for babies and children.' | 0:13:04 | 0:13:08 | |
-Regina, what are you drinking? -Medicine. -Medicine. What is it for? | 0:13:10 | 0:13:15 | |
-What do you drink it for? -For typhoid. -For typhoid. -Yeah. | 0:13:15 | 0:13:20 | |
-Is this it here? -Yeah. -Let's have a look. | 0:13:20 | 0:13:23 | |
-Wow, we've got a real selection. -Cocoa leaves. -Cocoa leaves. -Yeah. | 0:13:25 | 0:13:29 | |
-Mahogany bark. -Yeah. | 0:13:29 | 0:13:30 | |
-And this one. -Star fruit. -Star fruit, yeah. | 0:13:33 | 0:13:37 | |
It's got a very smoky smell, actually. | 0:13:37 | 0:13:39 | |
-And then, you just pour it into your cup? -Yeah. -And it helps? -Yeah. | 0:13:41 | 0:13:45 | |
'It's a poor substitute for the vaccination against typhoid | 0:13:46 | 0:13:50 | |
'that I had before I came here, but it's all they've got.' | 0:13:50 | 0:13:54 | |
-Is typhoid a real problem round here? -Yes. It's a problem. | 0:13:54 | 0:13:59 | |
'The village is completely dependent on cocoa farming for its living. | 0:14:01 | 0:14:05 | |
'It's hard to believe that chocolate, | 0:14:05 | 0:14:07 | |
'which we all think of as a luxury, a treat, | 0:14:07 | 0:14:10 | |
'starts off in a place where there are no luxuries at all.' | 0:14:10 | 0:14:13 | |
So, tell me what's happening here. | 0:14:13 | 0:14:15 | |
'The traditional way of drying the beans is to leave them | 0:14:23 | 0:14:26 | |
'for six days in the plantation, wrapped in banana leaves. | 0:14:26 | 0:14:29 | |
'This stops them being eaten by animals. | 0:14:29 | 0:14:32 | |
'Then, they're put on drying mats, all around the village | 0:14:34 | 0:14:38 | |
'for another week or so. | 0:14:38 | 0:14:40 | |
'I was amazed to discover that there are no machines involved at all | 0:14:41 | 0:14:45 | |
'in the production of cocoa here. | 0:14:45 | 0:14:47 | |
'Everything is done by hand, just as it was 200 years ago, | 0:14:47 | 0:14:51 | |
'when slaves here first cultivated cocoa for the European market. | 0:14:51 | 0:14:56 | |
'As well as helping with cocoa production, | 0:14:59 | 0:15:02 | |
'children are expected to do a lot of household chores. | 0:15:02 | 0:15:04 | |
'Even ones that involve heavy lifting. | 0:15:05 | 0:15:07 | |
'Patrick often has to collect the family's water. | 0:15:09 | 0:15:12 | |
'He's going to take me to the bore hole which provides a clean supply | 0:15:12 | 0:15:15 | |
'for the whole village.' | 0:15:15 | 0:15:17 | |
This is the bore hole. Show me how to do it. Do you have to just pump? | 0:15:17 | 0:15:22 | |
And that will bring up the water from deep underground, nice and clean, I can see. | 0:15:25 | 0:15:29 | |
Fantastic. We can cook the dinner now. | 0:15:36 | 0:15:39 | |
Shall I have a go? See how easily I can carry this on my head. | 0:15:46 | 0:15:49 | |
That's so heavy, I can barely lift it above my head. | 0:15:50 | 0:15:53 | |
Ah, wow. | 0:15:55 | 0:15:56 | |
It's really, really, really heavy. | 0:15:58 | 0:16:01 | |
I'm spilling it everywhere! | 0:16:03 | 0:16:07 | |
'Everything I take for granted at home - | 0:16:13 | 0:16:15 | |
'turning on a tap, doing the washing in a washing machine, | 0:16:15 | 0:16:18 | |
'cooking on a cooker, even taking a shower - just doesn't exist here. | 0:16:18 | 0:16:23 | |
'It means that everything takes an effort and everyone has to help out. | 0:16:25 | 0:16:30 | |
'Childhood here is hard work. | 0:16:31 | 0:16:34 | |
'This evening, I'm going to be eating with Patrick's family. | 0:16:40 | 0:16:44 | |
'I'm not sure what's on the menu, but I get a bit worried when I see what the neighbours are having.' | 0:16:44 | 0:16:49 | |
Bush meat, and I can see lots of legs. | 0:16:51 | 0:16:54 | |
I think I can see a jawbone right there! | 0:16:54 | 0:16:56 | |
It's a very small animal, whatever it is. | 0:16:56 | 0:16:59 | |
'It's a bush rat and it's served up with fufu, | 0:16:59 | 0:17:02 | |
'which is pounded cassava and yam.' | 0:17:02 | 0:17:05 | |
It's very interesting. | 0:17:05 | 0:17:08 | |
'It's the end of the day, and back in Patrick's yard, | 0:17:11 | 0:17:14 | |
'his family are also getting ready to eat.' | 0:17:14 | 0:17:16 | |
I'm just sat watching Patrick's dinner cook | 0:17:16 | 0:17:19 | |
with his gorgeous sister, Precious. | 0:17:19 | 0:17:21 | |
His mum's just finished adding some spices to the soupy mix. | 0:17:21 | 0:17:24 | |
I'm really surprised by how many chickens and goats... | 0:17:24 | 0:17:27 | |
I don't know if you can see them, just scratching around. It's brilliant. | 0:17:27 | 0:17:32 | |
'It takes quite a while to cook a meal for ten people on an open fire. | 0:17:36 | 0:17:40 | |
'I'm just relieved that we're not having bush rat for dinner.' | 0:17:40 | 0:17:45 | |
Patrick's mum's showing me how to make a rice dish | 0:17:45 | 0:17:47 | |
and I think she's going to mould it together in her hands. | 0:17:47 | 0:17:50 | |
-Using a saucer to pull it out. That looks really hot. -Hot. -Very hot. | 0:17:52 | 0:17:59 | |
Ha! | 0:18:00 | 0:18:01 | |
-It's absolutely boiling. -It's hot. -Ow. Is this cold water? -Yeah. | 0:18:02 | 0:18:07 | |
It's not as good as yours. | 0:18:07 | 0:18:09 | |
Patrick's mum has some skewers of fish and she's taking them off | 0:18:14 | 0:18:18 | |
and rinsing them in water. So, the fish are going into the soup. | 0:18:18 | 0:18:21 | |
'I've been made to feel so at home by Patrick's family, it's brilliant. | 0:18:21 | 0:18:27 | |
'Seeing how they make ends meet on about 70 pence a day - | 0:18:27 | 0:18:30 | |
'about the same price as bar of chocolate at home - | 0:18:30 | 0:18:33 | |
'it does make me wonder why we don't pay more for our chocolate. | 0:18:33 | 0:18:37 | |
'If we did, it might make their lives quite different.' | 0:18:37 | 0:18:41 | |
I slept quite well. | 0:18:43 | 0:18:44 | |
The electricity kept cutting out, so my fan was intermittent. | 0:18:44 | 0:18:47 | |
So it was boiling hot, but it's all part of the experience. | 0:18:47 | 0:18:50 | |
And I'm having a brilliant time. | 0:18:50 | 0:18:51 | |
'What the last few days have made me think, | 0:18:53 | 0:18:56 | |
'is how easily we take for granted the chocolate we eat. | 0:18:56 | 0:18:59 | |
'At home, chocolate means enjoyment, celebration, a taste of luxury. | 0:19:00 | 0:19:05 | |
'Here, it's just a way of earning the bare minimum. | 0:19:05 | 0:19:08 | |
'Patrick manages to combine education | 0:19:10 | 0:19:12 | |
'with helping out on the cocoa farm, | 0:19:12 | 0:19:14 | |
'and I'm curious to see what his school is like.' | 0:19:14 | 0:19:17 | |
It's eight o'clock in the morning, I'm visiting Patrick's school. | 0:19:19 | 0:19:23 | |
It's brilliant to be here, | 0:19:23 | 0:19:24 | |
all the children are so beautifully turned out. | 0:19:24 | 0:19:27 | |
Patrick's already been really busy cleaning the school, | 0:19:28 | 0:19:31 | |
picking up rubbish. | 0:19:31 | 0:19:34 | |
'In Africa, it's quite usual for children to be responsible | 0:19:34 | 0:19:38 | |
'for cleaning the schools themselves. | 0:19:38 | 0:19:40 | |
'When I saw the teachers carrying sticks, | 0:20:04 | 0:20:07 | |
'I wondered what they were going to be doing with them. | 0:20:07 | 0:20:10 | |
'I didn't realise they'd be using them on the children. | 0:20:10 | 0:20:12 | |
'The children here treat it as normal. | 0:20:15 | 0:20:18 | |
'After cleaning up, it's time for Patrick to join everyone else | 0:20:23 | 0:20:27 | |
'for prayers, as this is a Catholic school.' | 0:20:27 | 0:20:29 | |
THEY PREY IN GHANAIAN LANGUAGE | 0:20:29 | 0:20:33 | |
'Ghana is a mainly Christian country, | 0:20:33 | 0:20:36 | |
'a legacy of its history as a former British colony. | 0:20:36 | 0:20:39 | |
'There's free education for all Ghanaian children | 0:20:45 | 0:20:48 | |
'up until the age of 15. | 0:20:48 | 0:20:50 | |
'But because they have to provide their uniforms and books, | 0:20:51 | 0:20:54 | |
'it often means that children can't afford to attend school. | 0:20:54 | 0:20:58 | |
'Patrick's more fortunate.' | 0:20:59 | 0:21:01 | |
Patrick attends school every day, from eight till two, | 0:21:01 | 0:21:04 | |
and he's going to show me what one of his classes is like. | 0:21:04 | 0:21:07 | |
'They're learning about prime numbers. | 0:21:07 | 0:21:11 | |
'It's noisy in class and difficult to concentrate. | 0:21:11 | 0:21:14 | |
'Very few of the children have exercise books.' | 0:21:14 | 0:21:17 | |
What is it? | 0:21:22 | 0:21:23 | |
Looking around, it seems that only a few people actually have books. | 0:21:23 | 0:21:27 | |
I think everyone's having to remember | 0:21:27 | 0:21:29 | |
everything they're being taught. | 0:21:29 | 0:21:32 | |
Three divided by three? | 0:21:32 | 0:21:34 | |
-One. -One. -One. | 0:21:34 | 0:21:35 | |
'To me, it seems a very old-fashioned way of learning. | 0:21:35 | 0:21:39 | |
'It's quite repetitive and boring.' | 0:21:39 | 0:21:42 | |
Two times three times three. Do not include one. | 0:21:42 | 0:21:46 | |
-Hurry up. -I'm quite shocked by the discipline in this classroom | 0:21:50 | 0:21:54 | |
-cos the teacher's walking around with a stick. -Go to classes. | 0:21:54 | 0:21:59 | |
More than half of children from cocoa villagers | 0:21:59 | 0:22:02 | |
finish their primary education without being able to read or write. | 0:22:02 | 0:22:07 | |
When I met some children out in the cocoa plantation, | 0:22:10 | 0:22:13 | |
I asked the farmer they were working for | 0:22:13 | 0:22:16 | |
what he thought of them missing out on school. | 0:22:16 | 0:22:19 | |
TRANSLATION | 0:22:19 | 0:22:20 | |
Do you think it's right that you should be working in the cocoa plantations? | 0:22:24 | 0:22:27 | |
Or that you should be at home playing? | 0:22:27 | 0:22:30 | |
TRANSLATION | 0:22:30 | 0:22:32 | |
-Do you like school? -Yes. | 0:22:35 | 0:22:38 | |
Why do you like school? | 0:22:38 | 0:22:40 | |
What would you like to be when you're older? | 0:22:43 | 0:22:45 | |
TRANSLATION | 0:22:45 | 0:22:47 | |
A doctor. | 0:22:50 | 0:22:51 | |
Do you want your children to become cocoa farmers when they're older? | 0:23:04 | 0:23:07 | |
'So, what do these children think about the chocolate that we eat? | 0:23:29 | 0:23:33 | |
'I've brought some for them to try.' | 0:23:33 | 0:23:35 | |
It's too smooth, sweet. | 0:23:36 | 0:23:38 | |
'Because we add a lot of milk and sugar to our chocolate, | 0:23:40 | 0:23:42 | |
'the children don't seem to like it very much. | 0:23:42 | 0:23:45 | |
'In fact, the children in this village don't eat much chocolate, | 0:23:48 | 0:23:51 | |
'as I discover later, when I go with Patrick to his local sweet shop.' | 0:23:51 | 0:23:55 | |
So, which sweets do you like best, Patrick? | 0:23:55 | 0:23:57 | |
I love the way they sell toothbrushes at the sweet shop. | 0:23:59 | 0:24:02 | |
There's a mixture of things here. | 0:24:02 | 0:24:03 | |
But, interestingly, I can't see any chocolate. | 0:24:03 | 0:24:06 | |
'Of course, chocolate would melt in the heat here.' | 0:24:06 | 0:24:10 | |
Can I see them? | 0:24:10 | 0:24:11 | |
'The local sweet shop is one of the few places | 0:24:11 | 0:24:14 | |
'which offers treats for the children. | 0:24:14 | 0:24:16 | |
'It's a welcome break in their routine. | 0:24:16 | 0:24:19 | |
'There isn't much for the children to do here.' | 0:24:19 | 0:24:21 | |
I like this, Patrick, it's good. | 0:24:21 | 0:24:23 | |
'There are no playgrounds in the village, | 0:24:23 | 0:24:26 | |
'no books, no iPods, no toys. | 0:24:26 | 0:24:29 | |
'But the children always find something to play with. | 0:24:29 | 0:24:32 | |
'And, as I've got to know them, I've become very attached to them. | 0:24:32 | 0:24:37 | |
'Now that it's time to leave, I feel very sad. | 0:24:40 | 0:24:42 | |
'But today, I'm moving on to Accra, the country's capital and main port. | 0:24:44 | 0:24:48 | |
'After the simplicity of the cocoa village, | 0:24:51 | 0:24:53 | |
'it's a bit of a shock to the system | 0:24:53 | 0:24:55 | |
'to be back in all the noise and commotion of the city.' | 0:24:55 | 0:24:59 | |
I love bustling towns because there's so much to look at | 0:24:59 | 0:25:02 | |
and there's always people trying to sell you things. | 0:25:02 | 0:25:04 | |
Thank you very much. Thank you. | 0:25:04 | 0:25:08 | |
'And after all the chocolate, | 0:25:14 | 0:25:15 | |
'I can't resist a nice, cool drink of coconut milk.' | 0:25:15 | 0:25:19 | |
Thank you. | 0:25:22 | 0:25:23 | |
It's delicious. | 0:25:26 | 0:25:27 | |
'Here, in Accra, I'm going to talk to Bright Appiah. | 0:25:29 | 0:25:33 | |
'He's the director of Child Rights International, which campaigns against child labour. | 0:25:33 | 0:25:38 | |
'He says it continues to be a problem, | 0:25:38 | 0:25:40 | |
'partly because of parents' traditional attitudes to their kids.' | 0:25:40 | 0:25:45 | |
Because I strongly believe that people do not respect | 0:25:45 | 0:25:48 | |
the dignity of children. | 0:25:48 | 0:25:49 | |
They feel that children are their property | 0:25:49 | 0:25:52 | |
-and they can use their child to do anything at all. -Anything they wish. | 0:25:52 | 0:25:56 | |
Who's really to blame? | 0:25:56 | 0:25:58 | |
Is it us as consumers, spending too little on our chocolate? | 0:25:58 | 0:26:01 | |
Is it the government? Is it the farmers themselves? | 0:26:01 | 0:26:04 | |
Or even the chocolate manufacturers? It's such a long chain, isn't it? | 0:26:04 | 0:26:08 | |
There's a chain of responsibility, that you have mentioned. | 0:26:08 | 0:26:12 | |
All of us need to look at it. | 0:26:12 | 0:26:14 | |
But I think that the final consumer of the product | 0:26:14 | 0:26:17 | |
has a lot of say in all these matters. | 0:26:17 | 0:26:21 | |
Because if children are doing this, you know, | 0:26:21 | 0:26:25 | |
we can also speak out and tell them that, yes, enough is enough, | 0:26:25 | 0:26:30 | |
we need to give children their place. | 0:26:30 | 0:26:32 | |
'As the sacks of beans are made ready to be shipped to Europe | 0:26:36 | 0:26:39 | |
'on the final stage of their journey, | 0:26:39 | 0:26:42 | |
'I want to hear what the chocolate manufacturers are doing | 0:26:42 | 0:26:45 | |
'about replacing the main ingredients in the process - child workers. | 0:26:45 | 0:26:50 | |
'Back home in the UK, I'm in London to meet Nick Weatherill | 0:26:57 | 0:27:01 | |
'who's from the International Cocoa Initiative. | 0:27:01 | 0:27:04 | |
'They represent chocolate manufacturers, governments | 0:27:04 | 0:27:06 | |
'and other organisations | 0:27:06 | 0:27:08 | |
'and say they're committed to getting rid of child labour. | 0:27:08 | 0:27:11 | |
'He says that parents have no choice about whether their children work on the farms.' | 0:27:11 | 0:27:15 | |
It's clear that if a poor African household, a family, | 0:27:15 | 0:27:20 | |
doesn't have enough money to feed themselves, | 0:27:20 | 0:27:24 | |
then they will use whatever resources they've in got the house, | 0:27:24 | 0:27:28 | |
and that includes their own children, to increase the income they can get. | 0:27:28 | 0:27:32 | |
'So, will child labour in the cocoa industry | 0:27:32 | 0:27:36 | |
'ever be a thing of the past?' | 0:27:36 | 0:27:38 | |
With all of the right factors in place, | 0:27:38 | 0:27:40 | |
and that means consumers demanding that their cocoa isn't contributing | 0:27:40 | 0:27:46 | |
to the problem of child labour, governments putting in the right resources | 0:27:46 | 0:27:50 | |
so that kids can go to school, | 0:27:50 | 0:27:52 | |
companies ensuring that farmers are getting sufficient revenue | 0:27:52 | 0:27:57 | |
from their production. If all of this happens then, | 0:27:57 | 0:28:00 | |
we really believe that we can solve this problem. | 0:28:00 | 0:28:04 | |
Oh! | 0:28:04 | 0:28:05 | |
'It's been a privilege to meet Patrick | 0:28:05 | 0:28:07 | |
'and the children of Akyem Ofoase | 0:28:07 | 0:28:09 | |
'and I'm really sad to have left them. | 0:28:09 | 0:28:12 | |
'I'll never look at chocolate or eat it in the same way again. | 0:28:13 | 0:28:17 | |
'But most of all, I'd like to think that by enjoying chocolate | 0:28:18 | 0:28:21 | |
'and giving cocoa farmers a better deal, we might also, one day, | 0:28:21 | 0:28:25 | |
'be giving these children the right to a childhood.' | 0:28:25 | 0:28:28 | |
Applause. Yeah! Very good. | 0:28:32 | 0:28:36 | |
Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd | 0:28:44 | 0:28:47 |