Photo: facebook/Lilibeth Sabado
World Day Against Child Labour, observed every year on June 12, always brings me back to my own childhood and to the mission experiences that shaped my understanding of what childhood should be.
Growing up in Suva in the 1980s, children were allowed to be children. We were cared for not only by our parents but by aunties, uncles, grandparents, and neighbours. We played outside, did chores, learned respect for others, and were taught to love our families and communities. Every school holiday, we travelled to my grandmother’s village, where we enjoyed the simplicity and joy of village life.
I had a good childhood - full of fun, security, and guidance. Our home provided shelter, education, nurturing, and daily prayer. The advice we heard over and over was simple but powerful: work hard in school, get a good education, strive for what you want to become. No one expected us to work for survival. No one imagined children being forced into labour.
It wasn’t until my cross‑cultural mission work in the Philippines and at the US–Mexico border that I truly understood the reality of child labour. I saw it with my own eyes. I heard the stories. I met children who lived on the streets, children forced to work to support their families, and even children pushed into prostitution. These were real stories, they were faces, names, and lives.
Sometimes we were able to help, and sometimes I felt helpless. But I carried them in my prayers, visited them often, and held onto the belief that even small acts of compassion matter.
Child labour is not just an economic issue — it is a moral one. It is a violation of childhood itself. And it is a reminder that while some children grow up surrounded by love and protection, others grow up fighting simply to survive.
As people of faith, as members of communities living in this world, we have a responsibility to raise awareness - in our churches, villages, schools, and especially among our leaders. We must advocate for stronger protections, better policies, and a deeper commitment to safeguarding every child’s right to a safe, nurturing, and joyful childhood.
Let us continue to pray, speak, and act until every child, everywhere, is free from labour and free to simply be a child.
Sainiana Tamatawale is a Columban lay missionary.
Related links
- Read more from the current Columban eBulletin
