Some information on slavery in China and Africa

I was taking my own advice today and reading up on some of the things about which I feel strongly. I read about the slavery in China. WOW! I always learn more and more...even though I don't want to, I know it is important to. I found a website with interesting statistics, some of which I would like to share with you! This excerpt came from humanevents.com. It was an older article. Unfortunately, I think the situation is the same or worse. "...millions of Chinese work for meager wages under constantly abusive work conditions. Today China makes approximately 75 percent of the world’s toys. As noted by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), U.S. companies such as Disney, Mattel (maker of the Barbie doll), Hasbro, McDonald’s (Happy Meal toys), and Warner Brothers utilize factories in China to produce toys for virtually all major U.S. retailers, including Toys-R-Us, Wal-Mart, and Target, as well as for direct marketing. Still, the AHRC documents that working conditions in the Chinese toy manufacturing industry are abysmal, just one notch above 21st century slave trade standards. Consider this AHRC description of a Chinese toy worker’s story: Average age of a worker in a typical Chinese toy factory: between 12- and 15-years-old. Typical wage of workers in Asian toy factories: from as little as 6 cents an hour up to 40 cents an hour (in U.S. dollar terms). Typical number of hours worked in a day during busy periods: up to 19. Typical number of days worked per week: 6. Young workers work all day in 104-degree temperature, handling toxic glues, paints, and solvents. Workers weakened by illness and pregnant workers, who are supposed to have legal protection, are forced to quit. The typical profile of workers in these factories involves single young women migrants from rural areas to the cities in search of jobs. " Also, over the holiday I talked to my brother, who takes a very active part in speaking out against slave labor in China and other parts of the world. He refuses to purchase products made outside of the US, or from companies who sell ANY product made outside of the US. He is a kind person, who is well educated and well informed. He watched a news report about the slaves in China who make the Marti Gras beads. He related the entire program to me. It was heart wrenching. I don't want to say to go make yourself cry, but IF you WANT to learn more, I am pretty sure you can find the program on youtube.com. Tonight, I did a little research also on blood diamond slaves. I found the website realdiamondfacts.org. It was informative, to the point and easy to navigate. The site also provided links of where to learn more about this topic.