The choices we make every day affect others. Choices such as how we spend our time, where we choose to live, where we buy our goods, and what type of items we buy can have profound implications for others. Sometimes these choices mean child slaves are harvesting our cocoa or young women are working 15 hr days, 7 days a week to make our clothes.
Everyday Justice (Mar 21-24) was a weeklong series of events hosted by InterVarsity Christian Fellowship to raise awareness of injustices related to choices we make everyday. We also wanted to spark conversation about what role Jesus plays in fighting injustices like these in the world.
For many of us, this was something we didn’t realize was happening. But as we did we research we realized some of the following facts:
- Coffee farmers often are unable to get prices for their crop that even cover the costs to produce. Many have to resort to growing illegal drugs alongside the coffee to be able to make a profit.
-The US State Department’s year 2000 Human Rights Report acknowledged that some 15,000 children between the ages of 9 and 12 have been sold into forced labor on cotton, coffee and cocoa plantations in northern Ivory Coast in recent years.
-In August of 2002, a report found that approximately 284,000 children were working on cocoa farms across West Africa, many of which are involved in dangerous tasks such as use of machetes and applying chemicals without proper protection. About 2/3 of them are estimated to not attend school.
-Often times in sweatshops, women have to work 12-14 hour shifts, to only be paid .06 an hour making clothing.
-There are an estimated 27 million slaves in the world today.
So this week we set out to engage the campus with this injustice, and what we believe Jesus says about injustices like this, through various events. Here’s a picture of a demonstration we did that profiled stories of children who have been enslaved through various means. Along with this demonstration we also had 150 different students sign a letter and mail a piece of chocolate back to the president of M&M/Mars asking them to include slave-free chocolate in their candy.
In addition, we engaged the campus in conversations about Jesus through this proxe station that used a quiz of the above facts to see how aware/unaware they were of injustices in the world surrounding their everyday purchases.
Throughout the week we saw countless students engage in this issue and commit to looking at the products they buy. In the midst of this we were able to share the Gospel with over 60 students, see 1 student make a decision to follow Jesus, and see new students join our fellowship. Praise God for the work He did to build more of His Kingdom on campus and in the world as a response to this week.
