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Recently,my wife and I visited one of the children that we sponsor
in Thailand.
In preparation for the trip,we looked for gifts that we could bring
for our child and his family. As we made our way through the sports
section of a local discount store,my eye caught sight of a soccer
ball. This was a good quality, brand name ball, selling for just eight
dollars. Not a bad deal! I hate the thought of giving a sub-par gift,
so this find was particularly special to me. Once we arrived in Thailand,
and the moment approached to give out our gifts, I reached into my
backpack to retrieve the ball, and my heart sank as I read, ‘Made
in Thailand’,
This ball had potentially been manufactured
by children younger than its eager recipient.
…and then shipped to Canada where it sat on the shelf of a sporting
goods store,which no doubt, sold dozens of that same model for
exorbitant prices. When the season was over, it was shipped off to
the discounters,where it finally caught my attention in a bargain
bin. At this point I returned it to it’s homeland and into the hands of
a young impoverished Thai boy.
Soccer is the world’s favourite sport. Dirt-poor fans all over the earth
pay small fortunes to watch some of the world’s richest people kick
around a ball hand-stitched by children. In Pakistan, a recent study
discovered that there are more than 15,000 children in Pakistan
being used to stitch footballs. In India, it is suggested that upwards of
10,000 children were being used for this same purpose. Meanwhile,
the sporting goods industry claims to know of only
70 child labourers doing this kind of work.
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