The History Expedition, a film that shows children across Karnataka working their tiny bodies for an even tinier wage, was recently aired at Bal Bhavan. This project by the Bornfree Art School, had rescued child labourers armed with cameras covering child labour across 27 districts of Karnataka, Canacona of Goa and Krishnagiri District of Tamil Nadu. These adolescents managed to take 25,000 photographs of children working hard for a wage.
According to the Documentary, 50 per cent of the world’s child labourers are from India, out of which 75 per cent are girls working mostly in fields.

Terrible conditions
According to the research done by The Born Free Art School, one child labourer dies every four days in Karnataka. Three children employed in the domestic sector are subject to sexual or physical harassment everyday.
Children are forced to work in mines as well for a daily wage of Rs 35. The 2000 hectares of private mines in Bellary employ more than 200000 children.
According to John Devaraj, the director of the History Expedition, some of the people who employ these little children believe that they are helping the children. The man believes that children can free other children. The Rainbow Warriors is one such club that consists of children who want to stop child labour. It is open to everyone aged under 18. The next project by the Bornfree Art School will be a cycling expedition from Bangalore to Lahore and is scheduled for January next year.

The children
Mioi Nakayama of Japan, a project coordinator says that the experience has been an eye opener. According to Nakayama, around 15-16 workshops have been conducted by the school.
She praises Elsa, a child labourer who was rescued and educated. “Elsa now teaches the students mathematics, Hindi and Kannada,” says Nakayama.
Madhu, an ex-rag picker of Jayanagar agrees with Nakayama. “Elsa teaches well and I can understand better,” says the boy who was never interest in his lessons before Elsa took over.
Jayaram, aged 15, worked in a bar and restaurant for two years after he left school. He was caught by the police for stealing and has been in jail twice. Now Jayaram is a changed young man who dreams of being an artist.
Lafreeda, a young orphan whose new name was inspired by Frida Kahlo the famous Mexican painter, had a stint with silk factory. Silk Factories prefer child workers due to their height. Children have been known to go deaf due to the loud clanging, rattling and shattering noises produced by the machines. The poor ventilation and strong stench result respiratory ailments. “I want to help other children,” says Lafreeda.
Anthony Dass, who is currently in the 9th standard at St Josephs, had dropped out of school in the 1st standard to look after a petty shop. He ran away in the 7th standard and painted signboards in Tilaknagar, where he met Jayaram and joined the school. He wants to be a drummer some day.

Current mind set
 John Devaraj talks about how people these days treat all children differently. He says a person treats their child in a different manner from how they treat their young maid. Most of us are against child labour, but we do not actively try to stop it.
In our busy lives, we forget that a child who is meant to be carefree is just as busy as we are and perhaps doing something a lot more dangerous than what we are doing. Young Anand, a coconut vendor, should have been in school studying and playing to his heart’s content, not getting his hands cut everytime he served a coconut. Little Kiran should have been sleeping in his bed instead of working in a hotel till after midnight.
While most of us may not be actively involved in stopping child labour, the Bornfree Art School has definitely given a lot of these youngsters hope.