Vijay’s* father was dying, and his mother did not have the money to save him, so she exchanged her eleven-year-old son’s labor for 10,000 Indian rupees (an advance paid in exchange for manual labor), thinking it would save her husband. Alas, the father died, and the child was deprived of an education and taken by the villager who advanced the money to work far away from home.
Vijay’s* father was dying, and his mother did not have the money to save him, so she exchanged her eleven-year-old son’s labor for 10,000 Indian rupees…
Vijay’s work was to herd 500 goats. Out in the fields, eating one meal a day, his work was to make sure the goats were fed and safe. Be it sunshine or rain, Vijay stayed, ate, and slept with the goats making sure they did not stray away or get lost. Walking miles and miles each day herding the tribe, pitching a coop, securing nets at night, making his bed beside the coop in the company of snakes, field rats, scorpions, bugs, millipedes and other insects, his life was a monotonous cycle. Vijay says, “At first, I was afraid not knowing where I should go, what bit me, what to do when I was hungry. I was confused with many questions but then I accepted my reality. I was destined to do this and there was no way out. I was scared to fall asleep because I was scared to dream!”
Human Rights Watch, India** states that India has the largest number of working children in the world. Children are often easy targets, mostly exploited due to the ignorance of the parents who agree for quick money in urgent situations. These children are robbed of their childhood, their right to education, and end up living scarred lives that take a long time to heal. Many children lack the security of a family, access to education, food, and shelter yet so many of us take these valuable things for granted not understanding God’s thoughts toward us, and the great plans He has. When we choose to surrender, listen, obey, and follow what God tells us to do, our future is secured because we trust and believe in the ONE who holds our future! God’s Word grants us the assurance of future and hope, the kind that rises above our past scars or our insecure futures.
“These children are robbed of their childhood, their right to education, and end up living scarred lives that take a long time to heal. Many children lack the security of a family, access to education, food, and shelter yet so many of us take these valuable things for granted not understanding God’s thoughts toward us, and the great plans He has.”
Finally, Vijay was found and rescued. Today, he is back at school unafraid to dream – his dream to become a pilot, the first in his community. His perpetrator was brought to justice but many more like little Vijay still await rescue. Timely intervention and legal actions boost towards ending impunity but sharing God and HIS thoughts of giving each of them a hope and future propels them into their destiny. Even as we reflect on who God is for us and on the plans, He has for us, let us remember the many who still search for this God of Freedom, Life, and Joy!
*Real-life incident and pseudonym used to protect identity **India – Human Rights Watch
Our Daily Masala 