By: Gabriela Yareliz
1] I found out today that Vanessa Paradis and Johnny Depp have separated. This makes me sad. It’s one of those break-my-heart moments. I guess because I come from a broken home, I know what this means for the children invovled. That is always who I think about. When parents divorce, separate or even just leave their children in the care of others- I don’t even see a bad parent. Instead, I see the child standing there with a broken heart.
I really enjoyed a video about Johnny Depp and how he was “stupified” by Vanessa’s beauty when he first saw her.
“I saw a back from about 30 yards away, I saw a back and a neck, and it turned around suddenly and looked at me, and I was stupified. And then it was over.” -Johnny Depp
Watch the video below.
Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis
2] Continuing with the random chain of my thoughts, I was reading the CNN Freedom Project Blog which is to end modern child slavery. There was an excellent article about children in the Ivory Coast who pick the Cocoa beans for our chocolate around the world and no one has passed a law to stop it.
“UNICEF estimates that nearly a half-million children work on farms across Ivory Coast, which produces nearly 40% of the world’s supply of cocoa. The agency says hundreds of thousands of children, many of them trafficked across borders, are engaged in the worst forms of child labor.”
“Scars crisscross Yacou’s legs from a machete. He can’t clear grass in the cocoa fields without cutting himself. During harvest season, he works day after day hacking the cocoa pods. ”
(By David McKenzie and Brent Swails, CNN)
These children are out there slaving away for our chocolate, and they’ve never even tasted it. These children are deprived of a childhood and education.
Video of Children working for Chocolate -CNN
My point? While those who can work with the legal aspects (I hope to be one some day soon) We as consumers play a role. CHOCOLATE STRIKE. How selfish would we be if we continued to give money to those who enslave others?
Many of these children are held against their will and never paid, according to CNN.
The Ivory Coast is also the largest Cocoa producer in the world, for all of the major world brands.
Child Slavery and Chocolate Companies-CNN
Anyway, watch the videos and read the awesome reporting going on about this at the link above. We must raise awareness, because as Martin Luther King Jr. said, and injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
Have a great day; and skip the chocolate.
GABRIELA YARELIZ 