Child Labour in Malawi

Child Labour in Malawi Theories of child labour rely on the universal concept of a child and a set age limit of responsibility and working life, however in many developing countries this concept does not exist or cannot exist because of poverty and lack of education.. Work can also not be limited to paid employment, as many children often help out in domestic work at home, a phenomenon not limited to the developing world, as it can be seen in the responsibilities of children who are carers in the UK. So with the differences in the social aspects between the countries in the developed and developing worlds, can we apply the theories of development, modernisation and dependency to the concept of child labour in the Malawi province when it is a largely western construct- this paper will discuss child labour in relation to these theories and attempt to draw conclusions on the notion of child labour in a developing countries. A child according to UNCIEF is a person under the age of 18 years and the convention states that international law that state parties must maintain that all children benefit from special protection measures and assistance (www.unicief.org). It goes on to state that a child must have access to education and health care and must be knowledgeable about and contribute to the process of attaining their rights. Conversely, the notion of a child is a challenging one according to James et al, in their book Constructing and Reconstruction Childhood, the writers go on to state how childhood is a social construction, and has different forms in different societies. (Prout et al, 1967). This view is in contrast to that of the western notion of child that appears to adopt the blanket view of the child and one size fits all. Children globally should be protected and remain in the family unit until they reach the age of 18years. It does not however allow for different cultural approach, or whether a child contributes to the household due to poverty, or indeed the child needs to fund their education (Leonard, 2009). To define a child is a difficult and emotive issue, and definitions and norms surrounding childhood vary over time and place, and within developing societies the move from childhood to adulthood may not be based on age (Johnson, 2012). According to the University of Malawi Centre for Social Research child labour has existed in Malawi for a long time. It goes on to state that it part of the Malawian culture to have children assist their parents in the home, and it was not until the late 1890s that child labour formalised (University of Malawi). In developing countries such as Malawi children are integrated into the household economy at an early age, where according to the International Labour Orginastition where 93.7% of girls and 90% of boys between the ages of 5-14 are unpaid family workers. Paid labour is 3.8% for girls and 4.7% for boys, self-employed is 2.6% for girls and 5.3% for boys (www.ilo.org). In to Whites consortium the writer argues that cultural doctrine in relation to child work appears to be a more general issue when it is raised on the international level of debate. White goes on to say that ethical issues are raised, and he raises the question as to whether the rights of different cultures should be recognised when debating child labour (white, 1999). The discussion continues in Whites paper where globalisation is concerned and takes the form of international debates regarding taking the child labour subject across borders, cultures and political worlds (Kent, 1995: 80). This according to White results in a debate that will never be resolved (Alston, 1994: 16). White believes that with regard to universalism of which he states there are three; cultural relativism that cultures cannot be compared, resulting in according to White cultures that can only be understood in their own terms. The second is cultural relativism as an ethical and political belief, in that culture is immune from critism from outsiders. Whites third cultural relativism pertains to developed worlds view of developing world and how we need to learn and observe and not change (White, Ben. 1999). This would tie in with the notion that west is not always best where the majority countries are concerned. The western notion could be misunderstood an issue raised by Leonard when she notes that children work in many types of work in developing or majority world countries and its the minority that work in the production of goods for the global market (Leonard, 2009). The estimate of child work involved in family based work is 70% (ODonnell et al. 2002). Leonard also argues that targeting child labour will categorises all child work and has a negative effect on the economics of the child and their nation state (Leonard, 2009). This further the debate on Whites third cultural relativism and the need to learn and respect for different cultures and to understand what other cultures define as child work as opposed to child labour and how western notions are not the best way to future development (White, 1999). In the now developed countries of the world millions of children once worked in mines, mills agriculture and on the streets, often in similar conditions to that of todays developing world, but yet the developed countries took several generations to address the issue of child labour according to Hindman. (Hindmand, 2009). It is this western notion of childhood that is imposed on the now developing countries that are sometimes viewed as deviant or backward when they dont adapt the west is best approach to childhood. It is this western notion of development that Frank argues developing countries could never adopt as developed countries have never experienced colonialism. He goes on to argue that many countries such as China and India were quite advanced before they were colonised in the eighteenth century how a peripheral account of development for developing countries would be that the deviancy of developing countries cannot be explained feudalism of traditionalism ( Frank, 1967:1969). It is according to Frank past experience of colonialism and domination that have reversed the development of what he term advanced developing countries and forced them to become economically regressive, and he terms this the development of underdevelopment this he writes signifies as unnatural and was created by historical colonialism (Frank, 1967: 1969). Defining development according to storey, 2009 was for many years straightforward and was seen as equivalent to economic growth of which Gross National Product (GNP) was used as the main indicator and is used in determining the individual total or per capita. This equation is used to determine the development or under development of a country (Storey, 2009). Social scientists Walt Rostow developed the idea that growth consists of five stages in which developing countries moved from traditional society to an age of high mass consumption. But the concept of growth without development came into question in the 1960s and 1970s (Storey, 2009). It was not until 1990 that Human Development Index (HDI) was introduced to accurately measure whether people were better off in terms of health, freedom, education and other aspects of life that were not measured by Gross National Product (GDP). Human Development Index was an alternative to Gross National Product; it does not however include the cultural features that make up a society (Lopez, 2009). There have been critism of HDI no more so than Storey when he states how the Human Development Index is extremely motivated by Western notions (Sen. 1981). Developing countries according to Frank 1990 became a urbanised western areas that are drained of their natural resources. This was prevalent as a result of colonialism and according to Baran 1957 India was at the fore of development in the world in the eighteen century. Their economy was seen as comparatively progressive and their production was the best in the world (Baran, 1957). The policies forced onto India were to result in India becoming dutiful to Britain and resulting in India becoming dependant on Britain and moving backwards from a moderately progressive industrial nation to a regressive agricultural nation (Baran, 1957) According to Frank this was a dependency theory with regard to international capitalism, and resulted in the division of labour that was responsible for the underdevelopment of many countries. The division of labour is the reason for poverty and capitalism regards the division of labour as essential when it comes to the distribution of resources (Frank, 1967). In 1963 an agreement was reached between European Community and its former colonies to address the underdevelopment of the former colonies and to contribute to a equally useful trading scheme with a range of trading measures. But in 1986 the European Union repositioned itself with regard to global economic position. This was followed by the Maastricht Treaty (1992) saw policy changes to include the smooth and slow incorporation of developing countries world into the world economy, this saw the change in the method in which governments approached support and trading treaties, this according to Mc Cann lead to a more globalising focus on the type of help that developing countries would receive. Mc Cann believes that the EU has the capacity and the financial means to give more help to developing countries. But he notes that after 50 years after the first help from the EU under the Treaty of Rome, developing countries continue to experience social and economic marginalisation, and these further impacts on the poorest and most helpless in developing countries (Mc Cann, 2009). The overseas Development Institute briefing paper for 1973 state that the International Munirity Fund (IMF) has become more interested a better balance between supply-side and demand-management, and the progress of economic growth within the said nation. It goes on to say how the IMF insist on reforming info-structure to encourage growth in the economy and this results in cuts to education and hospital which impact directly on children who may as a result of these measures need to work to help their family or themselves (www.odi.org.uk). In an International Monetary Fund (IMF) working paper by de Carvalho Filho 2008, on Household Income Determinant on Income on Child Labour and School Enrolment. The discussion focuses on household income as a problem where child labour and school enrolment is concerned. This plays back to the need for children to work as opposed attending school. It goes on to note the importance of policies that will improve the human capital of poor children and cut inequality in developing countries (www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2008/wp08241.pdf). The paper does not however focus on the determination of the IMF to ensure that the country seeking aid is required to restructure and to cut spending in order to get financial help from IMF in the first instance. According to Aide Internationale Pour Lenfance a nongovernmental organisation, the IMF contribute to child labour when they insist that countries severely indebted to them reduce their spending on education and healthcare increasing poverty and child labour www.aipe-cci.org/en/en-index.html . World Bank Global Child Labour Program was established in 2003 to research child poverty, and to actively address child labour within its lending and non-lending procedures. Another topic within this programme is for the World Bank Organisation to enable greater support between multilateral agencies (www.worldbank.org). In Malawi according to the World Bank Oginasation has a poverty level of 67.34% the WBO plans to transform Malawi form being an importing and consuming economy to a mainly manufacturing and exporting one (www.worldbank.org). Malawi gained its independence from colomlism in 1962, with a history of corruption and high interest loans it is according to an article in the economy watch dated 9th April 2010,one of the poorest countries in the world. It relays mainly on agriculture and its main crop it tobacco that employs a high percentage of children, and has been criticised by the International Labour Organisation for its use of child labour with some children as young as 11 years working sorting tobacco leave ( www.economywatch). . Tabaco growers are worried as the World Health Organisation Agreement on tobacco that will see governments move their economies away from tobacco growing, leaving the poorest vauranable and unsure of what crop they can grow to sell on the world market (www.bbcnew.co). Malawi gets significant financial aid from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and World Bank. The drive to reduce loans has led to server economic policies being implanted by the current government that has imposed severe hardship on the poorest of Malawi

Food Log Analysis Essay

5 day food analysis During the 5 day span I met the calorie requirement of 2850 in daily food intake due to my high activity level. I pretty much had a balanced diet in terms of having each food group represented in my daily intake. I plan on to keeping my muscle mass, so I pretty much had a diet plan before. But going through the calorie tracker in the website made me realize that I was eating too much junk food than intended. It really didn’t have any adverse on my physique due to my early mentioned level of activity but by cutting down on my junk food intake for the week I was recording this log I was able to enjoy good wholesome food, without spending a lot of money in college cafeteria. Not only was I able to do this I was able to feel the effect of having healthy food in my daily workouts. I was more energized to do work and felt the energy throughout the day. I did not need coffee or any other types of energy drink to keep me going through the day. I also was able to watch and track how much of what I was eating during this time period. I usually overeat on the food groups such as meat and fruits while skipping vegetable and grains that are needed for a balanced body. Now I made sure that everything was in proportion and also introduced new foods my daily routine. I plan on to implementing the above mentioned findings on to my diet from now on so that I could avoid the mistakes that I used to commit before.

Analysis Of Willy Loman And The American Dream - 1553 Words

In one of Arthur Miller’s play, â€Å"Death of a Salesman† written in 1949; it uncovers the betrayal of the American Dream. Willy Loman, one of the characters in â€Å"Death of a Salesman† who believes that finding success is very easy, but in reality’s he only finds his success in own imagination. In Act one of the play, Willy Loman stated â€Å"Bigger than Uncle Charley! Because Uncle Charley is not †¦ Liked. He’s Liked, but not well Liked (p21).† This quote expresses that being liked is not the key to success but rather being well liked is the path to success; in another word, personality is the key to everything, because he believes that the American Dream applies to everyone. Throughout the play, Willy Loman had been betrayed many times by the†¦show more content†¦In Willy’s mind, he believes that one day; after paying all his mortgage payments, him and Linda will live in a place full of promise, a place promise by t he American Dream. From this section, we can see how Willy’s house represents his hopes and expansion for the future, but all we can see is Willy starting from something to nothing; which is the opposite from the American Dream. Willy a hardworking 60-year-old salesman, who travels around selling unknown item. Willy salary all depends on his commission, which most of the time he doesn’t earn enough to support his family, he even had to borrow money from Charly and lie to his family that he earns it all by himself. Willy had many opportunities to change his career but he didn’t, because of a man name Dave Singleman. In a conversation between Willy and Howard, Willy asked Howard for a job that doesn’t required much traveling; due to his age, but Howard stated that there wasn’t any job at the moment that does not required traveling, Howard then ask Willy to quite has job and stay at home instead of working as a salesman. (WILLY) â€Å"†¦.And he was eighty-four years old, and he’d drummed merchandise in thirty-one states. And old Dave, he’d go up to his room, y’understand, put on his green velvet slippers — I’ll never forget — and pick up his phone and call the buyers, and without ever leaving his room, at the age of eighty-four, he madeShow MoreRelatedWilly Loman And The American Dream Analysis1075 Words   |  5 PagesHappiness in the American Dream In Arthur Miller’s play, Death of a Salesman, Willy Lomans pursuit of the American Dream is characterized by his selfishness, demonstrating how the American Dream can subtly turn into the American Nightmare. However, Willy’s role is quite important because he often led to failure through the creation of the American Dream and the real world. To fully understand the storyline of Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman, one must evaluate each member of the Loman family. 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Now throw them out!† (1445). In the critical analysis â€Å"Family Values in DeathRead MoreAmerican Dream Derailed in The Great Gatsby and Death of a Salesman1486 Words   |  6 PagesThe American dream originated when immigrants came to America searching for new opportunities and a better life. In the early 1900’s all people could do is dream; however, those dreams gave many different meanings to the phrase â€Å"American dream†, and for the most part, wealth and hard work play a very large role in the pursuit of â€Å"the d ream†. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, and Arthur Miller’s drama, Death of a Salesman, both protagonists, Jay Gatsby and Willy Loman, are convinced

Sleeping Problems Of Children And Children - 1592 Words

Yuchen Shang Engl 101 academic writing Dr. Chism Sleeping Problems in Children If you ask all the parents in the world about the cutest moment of their baby, the most common answers should be while the baby is sleeping. However, young children may demonstrate a variety of difficulties related to sleep. Millions of parent’s sleeping schedule are disordered by those lovely little nightmares. In this Inquiry essay, I have chosen to write about that what may cause sleeping problems on infants that also affect the parents. In the meantime, I will introduce common methods that parents are using to solve children’s sleeping problems nowadays, especially one of the most famous sleeping training method invented by Dr. Richard Ferber and how†¦show more content†¦There are serious health problems caused by sleep deprivation (Perillo, 1994). In children and young adults, hormones which trigger and support growth are released during sleep. These hormones help strengthen our muscles as well as repairing our tissue cells. When one is deprived of sleep, especially kids, their brain stops functioning. This affects their emotional state and abilities. Severe chronic deprivation can interfere with children’s balance. Sleep deprivation also causes production of hormones that causes stress to humans, similarly, sleep deprivation lowers hormone called leptin. This can affect your appetite and general taste for food. Deprivation of sleep also lowers our immune system which can make us vulnerable to respiratory problems as well as worsen lung conditions. It therefore advised to have enough sleep in order to maintain body and shape as well emotions imbalances. Thus, treating sleep problems may have the added benefit of reducing other behavior problems and improving school performance. In addition, child sleep problems may cause problems for parents that lead to marital difficulties, and may be a risk factor for abuse (Kerr Jowett, 1994). Studies show that couples having problems in their marriages may have babies who are affected w ith sleeping disorders. It is further elaborated that marital problems when the baby was nine months impacted on sleeping problems when theShow MoreRelatedWhat Can Families Help A Family Member With A Sleeping Disorder?1285 Words   |  6 PagesMy research question is: What can families do to help a family member with a sleeping disorder? I became interested in learning about sleeping disorders about two years ago when my step father was diagnosed with a sleeping disorder (sleep apnea). I wanted to know more about what exactly a sleeping disorder was and treatments a person needed to care for a sleeping disorder. Before we discovered my step-father had a sleeping disorder we noticed he slept all day struggled staying awake. 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The three main points that will be discussed about Sleeping Beauty in this paper isRead MoreSleep Deprivation, Nightmares, And Sleepwalking976 Words   |  4 PagesNight Terrors, Nightmares, and Sleepwalking At night, you lock the house down, tuck the kids into bed, clean your home, and you might even finish some last minute work. I bet you never thought about the things that can happen at night. As we kiss our children goodnight, our favorite line is â€Å"Goodnight, sleep tight, don’t let the bedbugs bite†. You never thought about your son sleepwalking through the night or even your daughter screaming out her sleep. What about your twins, who are both, having nightmaresRead MoreReflection On Separation Anxiety Disorder1315 Words   |  6 Pagesbe exciting for many children, but can also be the scariest moment of a young child’s life. During such moments, a child may fear that their parent or guardian is leaving them for good and cause anxiety in the child. 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