Angels With Broken Wings
15 images Created 16 Feb 2018
Approximately the lives of 19.4 million Bangladeshi children are affected in different ways already by consequences of short- or longer-term climate change. A changing climate is already now undermining their lives and diminishing their prospects for a better future.
Twenty of Bangladesh’s 64 Districts are exposed to the highest risk from unpredictable forces of climate change-related disasters that strike with frightening frequency. Millions of Bangladeshi live in coastal areas. Countless families and their children fall victim to flash floods, powerful cyclones, and many others lose their roots by the river erosion. Their farmland remains infertile, or farming communities suffer increasing periods of drought. Many families end up as migrants. Many families who have nothing but some plastic bags with a few belongings search for a better life escape to Dhaka.
At the highest risk are children from families whose lives are already shaped by poverty and inequality. These families are rarely able to provide their children with necessities like protection, nutritious food, clean water, and primary education. Millions of children become adrift in city slums, with compromised health and destroyed educational prospects. Their families are forced to send their children to work, and so millions of children find themselves trapped in exploitive work – all due to the inescapable impact of climate change.
“Angles with broken wings” gives voice to an estimated 3.45 million Bangladeshi children who lost their childhood. Child labor in the bustling shipyards became, for example, their sharp reality. Their families have no choice. The whole family is under pressure to find income to cover their rent and all other costs.
Almost 30 bustling shipyards occupy parts of Old Dhaka's Keraniganj riverfront, where a little number of ships are built. But many launches and steamers of various sizes and shapes are repaired round the clock. About 10,000 workers, who work in these dockyards, earn not more than 1 USD per day. In the frequently sound of hammering echoes, laborers scrape rust and layers of old paint from the hulls of battered cargo ships hauled up on the dockside. It’s a constant work with flame and dust. Without goggles, they are risking serious injury or blindness, they all climb tall rope ladders to the ships' highest points to retrieve items, risking death if they slip. Too many Bangladeshi children work without any protective equipment - without helmets, without any gloves, but often barefooted and with their little hands.
Instead of having a carefree childhood with unforgettable joyful moments, they are daily facing many physical hazards. Climate change is undoubtedly increasing the number of children who are forced to work. They lost all their rights to be a child and became the “Angles with broken wings” our planet hell. Bangladesh has been ranked as one of the "world's worst countries for workers" in terms of workers' rights.
Twenty of Bangladesh’s 64 Districts are exposed to the highest risk from unpredictable forces of climate change-related disasters that strike with frightening frequency. Millions of Bangladeshi live in coastal areas. Countless families and their children fall victim to flash floods, powerful cyclones, and many others lose their roots by the river erosion. Their farmland remains infertile, or farming communities suffer increasing periods of drought. Many families end up as migrants. Many families who have nothing but some plastic bags with a few belongings search for a better life escape to Dhaka.
At the highest risk are children from families whose lives are already shaped by poverty and inequality. These families are rarely able to provide their children with necessities like protection, nutritious food, clean water, and primary education. Millions of children become adrift in city slums, with compromised health and destroyed educational prospects. Their families are forced to send their children to work, and so millions of children find themselves trapped in exploitive work – all due to the inescapable impact of climate change.
“Angles with broken wings” gives voice to an estimated 3.45 million Bangladeshi children who lost their childhood. Child labor in the bustling shipyards became, for example, their sharp reality. Their families have no choice. The whole family is under pressure to find income to cover their rent and all other costs.
Almost 30 bustling shipyards occupy parts of Old Dhaka's Keraniganj riverfront, where a little number of ships are built. But many launches and steamers of various sizes and shapes are repaired round the clock. About 10,000 workers, who work in these dockyards, earn not more than 1 USD per day. In the frequently sound of hammering echoes, laborers scrape rust and layers of old paint from the hulls of battered cargo ships hauled up on the dockside. It’s a constant work with flame and dust. Without goggles, they are risking serious injury or blindness, they all climb tall rope ladders to the ships' highest points to retrieve items, risking death if they slip. Too many Bangladeshi children work without any protective equipment - without helmets, without any gloves, but often barefooted and with their little hands.
Instead of having a carefree childhood with unforgettable joyful moments, they are daily facing many physical hazards. Climate change is undoubtedly increasing the number of children who are forced to work. They lost all their rights to be a child and became the “Angles with broken wings” our planet hell. Bangladesh has been ranked as one of the "world's worst countries for workers" in terms of workers' rights.
