5 Tweets Marking World Day Against Child Labour Globally

World Day Against Child Labour is every 12 June. It was launched by the International Labour Organisation in 2002. There is more information about their campaign for 2012 here. Events were arranged around the world. Here are five tweets, with links describing either what events took place on the Day, or highlighting child labour issues in different parts of the world.

1. Ghana:
Ameyaw Debrah - @ameyaw112: GHANA MARKS WORLD DAY AGAINST CHILD LABOUR tinyurl.com/86hkx9z


2. India:
Trivandrum News - @trivandrumnews: World Anti-Child Labour Day Observed - Yentha bit.ly/M64ESe


3. United States:
Child Labor Coalition - @ChildLaborCLC: Terrific blog by former child farmworker Norma Flores Lopez on World Day Against #ChildLabor http://ow.ly/bxmeA @CIFcampaign


4. Sierra Leone
Sierra Express Media - @SierraExpress: As We Celebrate Child Labor Day … - http://tinyurl.com/87mafrl


5. Jamaica:
Jamaica News - @jamiacanewsblog: Message by PM Simpson Miller to Mark World Day Against Child Labour: Jamaica is proud to once again join the glo...http://bit.ly/M3FF29



Finally, a lot of people retweeted The Atlantic's In Focus Photo Essay for World Day Against Child Labour. There are photos from around the world. You can see it here and follow In Focus (@in_focus) on twitter here.

Vital Needs and a Good Idea - in Ghana

I have just spoken to the director of an initiative my organisation, CHW, supports in Ghana, David. He is the founder of Sankofa Mbofra Fie, which runs a school and an orphanage. I wrote about this here.

One of CHW's volunteers said she would like to arrange a collection for Sankofa at her work. This was great news! I phoned David to clarify what the latest needs are. Firstly, he would use money to pay for food for the children. Secondly, he needs to pay money to rent the orphanage building. The contract he had has just run out. He either needs to rent that building again, or move to another one. What a responsibility to have! He is doing such great work looking after these children, and I hope people will contribute to support this.

David also told me, last time I phoned, that he needed funds to photocopy exam papers for the children that attend his school. This time he told me that it would be great if he could have a photocopying machine. That way, he could use it for the school pupils, but there would also be another benefit. Sankofa is based in a small village called Eguafo. If anyone needs to have anything copied they go to the nearby towns of Cape Coast or Elmina. David could then have a small business in Eguafo, as people there could come to him and pay to use the photocopier.

David has to put the other needs - food and rent - first, but I hope it will be possible for him to get the photocopier too. It is a great idea as it will help with the school's needs, and can also help raise funds for Sankofa.

David also mentioned that it would be good if people could donate secondhand football jerseys. It would be possible to post them to Sankofa.

I am so impressed with what David does for the children in Eguafo, and I really hope to be able to offer some more support through my organisation. I was really happy to hear that one of the volunteers wanted to do a collection! My organisation is still small, and we really appreciate everybody's help! If you also want to get involved with David's amazing work, feel free to leave a comment here or email me at catherine "at" chworldwide.org. Together, we can make a difference!

David with some of the boys at Sankofa's school. I was able to bring a bit of sports equipment, like the ball in the photo, during my last trip to Ghana. Now, it would be great to have some more sports equipment and football jerseys, as well as funds for all the things I wrote about.