I’m trying to live off the high from our launch…but it’s starting to wane now! Anali left a week a go after 10 days of speaking engagements to help us launch our campaign on the ILO Domestic Workers Convention called ‘SEND your gLOVE’. It was 10 whirlwind days! Anali is from La Casa de Panchita - our Partner in Peru, she was a child domestic worker since she was nine but is now leading a group of younger child domestic workers called ‘my space to grow’. I had met her before when I visited La Casa de Panchita in 2010 (to help run a film workshop – she was part of the workshop) but we didn’t really know each other well. But by the end of her 10 days here I feel very close to her and to Johana her Guardian who translated for her. Anali is naturally quiet and reserved but spoke with a deep conviction at all her speaking engagements. We practiced her ‘speech’ a lot which was an interview where I asked her the same questions and she gave the same answers. But each time she spoke, you could tell from the expression with which she answered that she was ‘back there’ in one of the houses where she was a domestic worker.
At the launch event itself she cried when she was talking about the way employers treat child domestic workers and I was really surprised by this. Selfishly of course, I was thankful that it didn’t set me off (which I have a reputation for!) but I think, I was also caught out by this as Anali was not ‘emotional’ or overwhelmed at any other point. I asked her later why she became upset – she said it was because she was thinking of all the similar stories from children she knew.
The launch event was the highlight for me….all Children Unite’s trustees had put so much effort into it – we had an exhibition of paintings from children around the world (thanks Jenni), a lovely spread of food (where Anali tried her first sushi!), delicious Argentinian wine (thanks Mariela!) and the atmosphere was fantastic – a real buzz. So, thank you to everyone who came and everyone who helped organise it.
One of the highlights for Anali was, I think, going to Parliament and meeting up with a real live Baroness and an MP – she hadn’t expected them to be such warm and friendly people! And for me, I was very interested by a small meeting with ECPAT UK’s Youth Group (a group of young women who have been trafficked to the UK). I was particularly interested by the questions of two of the girls from the youth group to Anali, they wanted to know how she was ‘rescued’ and whether women were encouraged to stop having too many babies in Peru! In turn they told their stories (they were both from West Africa) which sounded, to be honest, brutal compared to Anali’s experiences – I think she was quite shocked that they hadn’t seen their parents for 5 years. Despite the differences though, there was a very strong sense of connection and solidarity between the girls.
So, Children Unite is now officially here…and I’m working like a mad woman to try and follow-up all the leads from the launch….I have to hold on to all the ‘special’ moments from Anali’s visit for as long as possible….fortunately there are too many to write in my blog!
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| launch, London |
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| Methodist Women in Britain, York |
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| Cherwell School, Oxford |
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| Baroness Miller & Russell Brown MP |
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