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Child Labor Day Fashion Show a Great Success!
The big white tents went up, the animals paraded in, and a hundred stylish boys and girls wandered through the atrium. Not exactly what you’d expect to see at an Embassy. But for one day, at least, Embassy Yaounde was transformed into a fashion fantasyland!
Wednesday’s “Defilé de Mode” featured a number of Embassy models, including none other than Ambassador and Mrs. Marquardt, reprising their stellar appearance from last year’s show.
An estimated turnout of 500 guests, NGO participants and Embassy employees, along with heavy coverage by the media, made this year’s Child Labor Day Fashion Show a great success. A number of participants from last year remarked that this year’s event was greatly improved, no doubt due to the great number of experience Embassy employees who generously donated their time to making this effort a success, from tent-raisers to fashion models.
The Ambassador extended his thanks to all who made this possible, for “a wonderful job extremely well done!”
The ‘vibe’ in the embassy was one that we can all be proud of, and which profoundly affects our Cameroonian friends,” he said.
The Fashion Show was only one part of the day’s events, however. The festivities also included a Handicrafts Fair featuring a wide variety of items crafted by children rescued from trafficking and child labor. It was a great opportunity that many people took advantage of to pick up one-of-a-kind hand-crafted souvenirs and clothing, in addition to supporting a truly worthy cause.
In addition, NGO representatives presented documentaries and talks about the work they are doing.
One of the more interesting participants was Heifer International, an organization with links to the U.S. that tries to help Cameroonian farmers by providing donated livestock. The name “Heifer” comes from the word for a pregnant cow, and the organization does indeed donate pregnant cattle to farmers, with the request that they in turn will pass the offspring to others. Heifer’s exhibit was a big hit, featuring a live pig, chickens, a sheep, and birds.
The Embassy partnered with the International Labor Organization and Cameroonian non-governmental organizations to create an event highlighting efforts to combat child labor. The models were former victims of child labor, wearing hand tailored garments made by their organization as proof of the benefits of vocational training. The young models were joined by several government officials and Embassy models, who participated to highlight the need for increased awareness about the issue, and to help enable the children, rescued from child labor or child trafficking, to show what they are capable of doing and to prove that their talents are better served in school or in vocational training rather than in cocoa fields, rubber plantations or domestic servitude.
A corporate sponsor, Cotonnière Industrielle du Cameroun (CICAM) chose this event to introduce its new line of fabric by way of a generous donation of 80 bolts of cloth.
In addition to Ambassador & Mrs.Marquardt, a number of dignitaries served as fashion models, including Amu Tutu Muna, Secretary of State for Commerce, Dr. Rabiatou Danpoullo from the Ministry of Social Affairs and Dr.Divine Chemuta Banda, Chairman National Human Rights Commission.
In a special statement read by the Ambassador, Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice said, “Thank you for allowing me be a part of this important event from afar. It is a privilege for me to address such a courageous gathering of young people. You have fought back; you have taken your future into your own hands; and you have changed the course of your lives by learning a trade, returning to school, and preparing for tomorrow.”
For more information on Child Labor, see the 2007 Trafficking in Persons Report, put out by the U.S. Department of State Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2007, and the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC)
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/ipec/index.htm.
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