Child slavery and chocolate

In "Chocolate's Child Slaves," CNN's David McKenzie travels into the heart of the Ivory Coast to investigate children working in the cocoa fields. (More information and air times on CNN International.) By David McKenzie and Brent Swails, CNN Daloa, Ivory Coast (CNN) - Chocolate’s billion-dollar industry starts with workers like Abdul. He squats with a gang of a dozen harvesters on an Ivory Coast farm. Abdul holds the yellow cocoa pod lengthwise and gives it two quick cracks, snapping it open to reveal milky white cocoa beans. Abdul is 10 years old, a three-year veteran of the job. He has never tasted chocolate. During the course of an investigation for CNN’s Freedom Project initiative - an investigation that went deep into the cocoa fields of Ivory Coast - a team of CNN journalists found that child labor, trafficking and slavery are rife in an industry that produces some of the world’s best-known brands. It was not supposed to be this way. More about the Harkin-Engel Protocol It didn’t.

http://thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com/2012/01/19/child-slavery-and-chocolate-all-too-easy-to-find/

Independent A common theme in the numerous comments we’ve received to-date on the film Bully, centers on one of the film’s most moving characters, Alex Libby, a sweet-natured Iowa teen who had been bullied for years. Since many viewers were worried about him and were understandably empathetic, we thought it might be good to give you an update on Alex. First of all, to cut to the chase in the happiest of ways: this year Alex worked as an intern for the Bully Project itself, in their offices in New York City! Last year, Alex was featured on CNN, and as you can see from this clip he’s evolving into a confident young man passionately hoping to help others who are being bullied: Alex was also featured, along with Kelby Johnson, in a piece Anderson Cooper did on the film and bullying, called “The Bully Effect.” As his mother says in the clip above, the family eventually left their Iowa town for Oklahoma City, where they found a school they felt had a better environment for both their kids.

Animal Homelessness Is a Community Challenge Our relationships with the animals we keep are highly personal. They provide us with unconditional love, and we take on a personal responsibility for making sure that they are well cared for. But when the bond between an animal and his guardian is broken, as when an animal is lost, abandoned, or surrendered to a shelter, who then has responsibility for the animal and his care? Most people would say it's the local animal shelter's responsibility. And that's true. Teenage girl is dogs best friend While most teenage girls are busy doing their nails and downloading the latest music, Faye Carey is helping re-home dozens of abandoned dogs. The 16-year-old Waikato teen volunteers with her local branch of Animal Control, giving abandoned animals a second chance at life. She has set up a Facebook page, Animal Re-home Waikato, where she advertises puppies and dogs who need adopting. It all started when Faye underwent a week of work experience at Animal Control last November.

Alex Lin, Teenage Activist He's overseen the recycling of 300,000 pounds of e-waste. He's successfully lobbied the Rhode Island state legislature to ban the dumping of electronics. He's used refurbished computers to create media centers in developing countries like Cameroon and Sri Lanka to foster computer literacy. He’s Alex Lin and he’s just 16 years old. “I don’t see anything uncommon in it,” says Lin, a high school senior from Westerly, Rhode Island. Alex Lin - Turning E-Waste Into E-Treasure Alex Lin was a boy who was just reading the newspaper one day. He read an article about something called e-waste. He learned that it is the waste generated as people upgrade electronic devices.

Teen star making a difference for shelter animals - National Dogs Lou Wegner is more than your typical teen. Wegner doesn't spend all of his free time shooting hoops, skateboarding or texting his friends - he has more important activities to engage in - lifesaving endeavors. This inspiring young man is a singer, actor, swordsman, and animal activist.

This article is talking about children working in the cocoa fields in the Ivory Coast. Some ten year old kids have been working for the farm for three years and have never tasted chocolate. All they know is work. The only thing they are able to do is crack open a yellow cocoa pod, they don’t know anything else. In Sweetgrass Basket, Mrs. Dwyer is teaching them how to work all the time. All she wants them to do is work. Her intention is to turn them into obsessive workers. by anmaraymond Oct 31