The X Factor of partnership

One of the benefits of running your own organisation is that you don't have to take part in job interviews anymore.  I've done quite a few job interviews in my time and I hate them - a couple of years ago my summer holiday was ruined by a phone interview that I had to do on the second from last day!  Last week I took part in a phone interview to secure funds for a project Children Unite has applied for.  I guess this is the closest thing to a job interview I have these days.  When I explained what I was doing to my daughters they said it sounds like the final of X Factor (a TV talent show that grips the nation every winter when we've got nothing better to do)!!

But this ‘job’ interview was so much more enjoyable than any other I have been involved in.  It was partly because I didn't do it on my own.  Children Unite has developed a proposal for a research project in collaboration with one of our partner organisations in Nepal (CWISH), so two of the staff from CWISH, Writu and Milan, were at the interview too.  I was, of course, still nervous about the interview but it was a well organised 'discussion' - the funding agency sent out questions a week beforehand.  And Milan, Writu and myself were relatively well prepared (having emailed each other about our answers).  I definitely felt part of a team as we answered the questions.  

The other factor in my 'enjoyment' of the interview was that I think our research project is great!  I have a lot of confidence in it and believe it is well thought-out and achievable...I know this sounds a bit like I'm blowing my own trumpet but as I read through our proposal in preparation for the interview I felt confidence and excitement about the project rather than trepidation and nerves.  I think this is because Jonathan and I visited Nepal in March, met with Milan and Writu and discussed at length how Children Unite and CWISH would like to work together - and this project is the result!  The development of this project is the perfect example of how we would like to build partnerships through Children Unite.

So, here I am, waiting for news on how we did....does our proposal have the 'X' factor!  But whether we are victorious or not I am confident that the experience of partnership and collaboration I have had throughout the process has been beneficial and rewarding

But fingers crossed anyway!  

Review of BBC Drama: stolen

Damien Lewis as DI Carter in Stolen

Jonathan and I forced ourselves to watch ‘Stolen’ a BBC drama about the trafficking of children to the UK last night.  We tend to avoid ‘work’ related TV in the evenings - I go for costume dramas, he goes for Top Gear (shamefully gender stereotypical choices I know! Jonathan adds: and in case you are wondering, I detest Jeremy Clarkson, but I like the witty banter of the show!).  Our two daughters ended up watching it too.

Everything around the issue of trafficking feels sensational and usually focuses on the sexual abuse of children. However, we were nicely surprised by this drama piece.

We were, of course, more interested in whether the drama would highlight the issue of domestic servitude.  And it did! Rosemary, an eight-year old girl from ‘Africa’ was trafficked into domestic work.  I thought her story was told very well. They highlighted her desire to go to school and the way she was punished for wearing the school uniform of one of the children she was working for – told she was bad and stupid and shoved out on the balcony.  In particular, I liked her rescue – by the cop with a heart DI Carter - she was not a grateful recipient to her saviour, she wouldn’t hug him and pushed him away - it not your typical Hollywood ending!

However, the key figure in it was of course, the cop with a heart, who was investigating the trafficking cases.  Too much of the ‘drama’ was focused on his personal life – some of which seemed completely implausible which started with bringing his daughter to play with a trafficked child (what? When he knew the ‘traffickers’ were trying to find her).  And our two daughters thought his daughter was just ‘too nice’!! The trafficker then threatening to harm DI Carter’s daughter and wife, left ‘things’ (couldn’t figure out what it was in the plastic bag on his car windscreen) and just seemed incredibly blasé about being questioned.

 Gloria Oyewumi plays child domestic worker 'Rosemary'

Two other storylines of trafficking were also told – of a boy from Vietnam who was trafficked to work in a cannabis factory and another boy from Eastern Europe who ended working in some kind of warehouse (which people slept in?). I was pleased that other situations of exploitation were shown.  And particularly pleased the drama showed that children are trafficked to WORK not simply that they are trafficked to be ABUSED.  I really liked the splitting of the screen occasionally to show where everyone was bedding down for the night – this highlighted the very different situations children can find themselves in.  However, there were a lot of question marks for me around these two storylines – who stabbed George (the boy from Eastern Europe) and why?  Which of the two boys from Vietnam was the one who escaped – the new boy or the old boy?  As a result their stories felt incomplete. It felt a little bit like the drama was originally about Rosemary, then they tagged on two other examples of trafficking but this obviously wasn’t quite enough so they added a big chunk of work-life balance tension from the cop-with-a-heart.

Having said that the acting was very good from all the cast – our hearts were with Rosemary of course – and I think we both saw children we have met reflected in her performance.

GUEST BLOG: Jonathan Blagbrough, Co-Founder and Programme Director of Children Unite

I have just returned from Toronto, participating in a workshop on modern slavery.  As the only practitioner in a room full of academics I began the meeting feeling rather out of my depth - overawed by the eminence and sheer brainpower of my fellow contributors. As time went on, however, I realised that I did have something important and valuable to say.

The focus of my presentation was 'listening to child domestic workers', which, in an earlier incarnation I had titled 'what child domestic workers have taught us' - but you get the idea. I had guessed that, amidst the complex theories and intricate critiques (not to mention some seriously big words), the voices of those people actually living the exploitation we were discussing would get lost, and it was this gap that I wanted to fill. The point I made, mainly through the words and images collected from child domestic workers over a number of years, was that we owe it to them to better understand their situation, and that we must do so by listening to their experiences and perspectives - not because we like to be nice to children but because it is their right to be heard.

My talk was greeted by an interesting mix of reactions. It was encouraging to find some that had found the practical emphasis and focus on children's voices a refreshing antidote to other more scholarly presentations. But the lack of feedback following what I had to say - which had been plentiful for others - indicated that something had not quite hit the mark. Was it the subject matter? Hardly; while literature on child domestic workers is not vast, it is not a new topic. Was it my critique of current theories, such as the trafficking framework? Unlikely, given that many of the workshop papers critiqued the creeping use of 'trafficking' as a catch-all for contemporary slavery practices. Was it my style of practical analysis? Possibly. However, as virtually the only person in the room who was explicitly talking about children and their rights, I came to the conclusion that this was the main source of the 'disconnect'. I was surprised. As someone who has lived and breathed children's rights during my career, I assumed that a group of scholarly lawyers and sociologists were similarly aware and engaged. It reminded me that much of what I take for granted - the assumptions I make and my understanding of the world - is not as intuitive to others as I had thought. I was also reminded that we still have a job to do to explain why children's rights is so important.

I ended up enjoying this meeting hugely, not only because it challenged me intellectually but because it gave me an opportunity to reflect. While so many of us see time for reflection as an unaffordable luxury in our time-pressed world, I began to truly understand its value. Listening to people - really LISTENING to what they have to say - whether they be inspiring scholars in Toronto, or child domestic workers around the world, is equally important and benefits us all. As one child domestic worker from India puts it: "I am happy they ask us. I have much to tell about my struggle.


click here to view Jonathan's presentation slides


click here to view Jonathan's presentation notes