Current Events - EXAMPLE

A ten year old working 20 hours a day as a maid? How can this happen in the United States of America? Don’t we have labor laws to avoid this type of situation? I was completely shocked when I read this article. The article talks about how this is becoming more and more common with some wealthy Africans who live in our country. It states that even though having a child as a maid in Africa is illegal, it is a common practice there. As the wealthy Africans immigrate to the United States, the practice is immigrating here, as well. I don’t understand how this could happen. How can a ten year old be expected to work as a maid for the entire day? She isn’t even getting the proper amount of sleep. This really makes me angry. I can’t imagine anyone doing this and treating a young girl in this way. It seems very abusive to me, and I think the police should step in. An adult wouldn’t even be able to work 20 hours a day. And, she only makes $45.00 a month? That comes out to be less than eight cents an hour. How many of you would work for eight cents an hour?

The article also talks about how she doesn’t even get any breaks. This makes me wonder if the girl is even allowed to take time to eat her meals. I can’t even imagine working under these conditions. Some of the girls in these situations are even working for free because they are told that they will be better fed in these homes. It makes me wonder how they were getting fed before. Were their homes so bad that this is better for them? That really makes me think about how thankful I should be to live in the home where I live, and that I am not treated like this. I wonder, too, if these girls get any education at all. It doesn’t sound like they are given any time to do anything like that. Somebody needs to get involved to help these young girls, and it needs to happen now!