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For more information:
Reverend Michael Love – 831.429.6800
revmichaellove@umcsantacruz.org
Jim Lucas – 831.464.1359
FILM SCREENING “STOLEN CHILDHOODS” AT FIRST CHURCH OF SANTA CRUZ
Santa Cruz, Calif. – On Friday, March 19 starting at 7:00pm at the New United Methodist Church of Santa Cruz, the documentary “Stolen Childhoods” will be screened for the public. Admission is free but contributions are welcomed for the producers to help offset costs of this film. The Senior Program Consultant, Rev. Pharis J. Harvey, will be on hand for conversation following the screening.
The film “Stolen Childhoods” is told primarily in the words of laboring children, who live on three different continents across the globe, but who share a common fate. It also hears the voices of their parents, people working daily to help them, policy makers and government officials. Children are shown working in dumps, quarries, brick kilns, making charcoal, on fishing platforms, picking tobacco, coffee or vegetables, working in sweatshops, as domestics, making rugs, and selling their bodies on the street.
Child Labor – A World Problem
The film places these children’s stories in the broader context of the worldwide struggle against child labor. “Stolen Childhoods” provides an understanding of the causes of child labor, what it costs the global community, how it contributes to global insecurity and what it will take to eliminate it.
Shot in seven countries: Brazil, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, Nepal and the United States, the film includes slave and bonded labor footage never seen before. It has framing interviews with US Senator Tom Harkin (the leading legislative advocate for global action to eliminate child labor) and includes human rights advocates for children; Bruce Harris, Pharis Harvey, Inderjit Khurana, Wangari Mathai and Kailash Satyarthi.
The film shows best practice programs that remove children from work and put them in school. These programs have been chosen by a team with consultants from the International Labor Rights Fund. The programs range from efforts to save migrant children from toxic exposure to pesticides, to Bolsa Escola, a model Brazilian educational subsidy, now in place in a dozen other countries, that reimburses families for wages lost when children go to school.
In the words of the children, the film shows the effects of public policy, poverty, prejudice and multinational profit on the lives of a most helpless and exploited global work force, namely – children. The film chronicles both stolen childhoods and the lucky former child laborers who can teach the world how to create a more equitable environment.
Founded in 1848, the New United Methodist Church of Santa Cruz is dedicated to trusting in God's life-changing power, embracing all people compassionately, educate and prepare all people to serve faithfully, and offer open minds, open hearts, and an open door. Located at 250 California Avenue, Santa Cruz, the church Pastor is Reverend Michael Love. Nursery child care and Sunday School are available every Sunday from 9am until Church conclusion. Services start at 10:30am. www.umcsantacruz.org
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