Stand with me.
Realize, and get angry.

The children of the world are your children. We need to realize that geography and luck allows our children the luxuries that fuel this horrible labor issue. We need to understand as a planet, that our sons and daughters are the sons and daughters of the Congo. We need to stand together to pressure our leaders to take action and lead the world into a bright future.

As North Americans, it is easy to turn a blind eye on the troubles that infect the world. Basic rights and privileges that are taken for granted everyday by a society used to getting what they want. Each one of us needs to see that there is injustice around the world. We need to action this injustice to right the wrongs that are done to our children.

In the Congo, children work, mining coltan to in conditions that are dangerous and deadly. They do this to feed their families, they do this instead of school, they do this because they are told to. Would you let your child work an open pit mine? This needs to be addressed and needs to be brought into the light.

As parents we all need to be angered by this. As parents we need to look for solutions. Closing the mine is not necessarily an option immediately. The few cents they make a day is all that sometimes supports whole families. We need to look at alternatives. We need to help, we need to bring an infrastructure to a world that has seen horrible war and lose.

I challenge the U. N., the leaders of the world and each of us. We need to wake up as a planet, we need to see that the world is our nation. the imaginary boundaries on a map do not define our responsibility. Let's adopt the children of the world and build a planet for them to live on. If we help the children become the adults of the future we will change the world nation.

Learn more about this author, Paul Rees-Jones.
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