麻豆社

The Cock Who Turned into a Chicken

Nabi proudly handed the money to his Mum. She counted it and kissed him.

"You're such a good boy," she said, smiling, "I really don't know what we'd do without you."

Nabi beamed, he was so pleased to be able to give his mother money every week, and when his younger brother and sisters thanked him, it made him feel grown up and responsible.

He worked at a carpet factory, and, being small for his age, his nimble fingers were able to work fast at knotting the woollen threads, so he was paid, he thought, quite well.

When the whole family depended on his wages, that was a good thing.

At the end of every day, he was very tired. The old bus which collected the children from the camp to take them to the factory left at six in the morning, and they were at work by seven.

He didn't mind working at the factory, and the manager, Mr Siddiqui, some times praised him for his work, but Nabi didn't like Mr Siddiqui much. He strutted about, a little, Nabi thought, like a cockerel in a chicken yard. To Nabi's ears, he sounded a bit like a cockerel when he was shouting at a child who had made a mistake.

His "What have you done THEEEEERE?!!!!!" could easily have been 'Cock -a-doodle DOOOOO!'

Occasionally, as Nabi lay in bed at night, he thought about being an engineer.

His Dad, who was dead, had really wanted him to be an engineer, but he wondered how he could be, when he wasn't going to school any more. Then he thought, 'There's still plenty of time,' and the sound of the others sleeping securely around him made him feel so good that he didn't worry, and he quickly fell into a deep sleep.

Then, one evening as he was eating, a man called at their shelter, and spoke to Nabi's mother outside. After a little while he came in and Nabi's mother said, "This is Mr Bayan, he's a teacher, and he wants to ask you some questions."

Mr Bayan sat down, and asked Nabi about working at the factory. He asked what sort of work he did, how long he worked there every week, and how much money he was paid. Nabi was a bit crestfallen when he said, "Mmm, not very much, is it?" He thought he earned quite a lot.

Then Mr Bayan asked if anyone ever got hurt at the factory.

Nabi thought for a moment, " Yes," he said, "several children have hurt their hands." And he said some names.

"You see," Mr Bayan said, " I want to get some of you children back to school..."

"But we can't..." Nabi interrupted.

"I know, I know," Mr Bayan held up his hands, "your family needs all the money you earn. What I want to do is to see if we can get the factory to pay more, so you don't have to work so long. Then you'll have time to go to school."

Nabi's mother was unsure, "I don't know," she said, "Won't the factory just get rid of all of them, and get other children to do the work, if you ask for more money?"

"I'll make sure that doesn't happen," Mr Bayan replied. "Would you like to go to school again, Nabi?"

"Oh yes. I want to be an engineer."

"Well, you'll never be an engineer if you don't go to school."

Nabi thought for a moment, he so wanted to be an engineer. "I'll help you, if you like," he said to Mr Bayan.

"I could do with some help," Mr Bayan pulled some sheets of paper and a pen out of his bag. "I'll tell you what you can do," he said. "You just told me about some children who've been hurt. Can you go and see them, and write down their stories? You'll have to be careful, because some people may not like you doing it. Are you sure you want to?"

"Oh yes, I'm sure," said Nabi, and he looked at his mother.

"It's all right," she said, "I'll come with you."

So Nabi collected the stories and handed them to Mr Bayan.

A few days later, he was sitting in the factory when he caught sight of Mr Siddiqui. He was walking beside a smartly-dressed man, but now he didn't look like a cockerel. He had his hands behind his back, and was leaning forward slightly, nodding at everything the smart man said.

Now, Nabi thought, he looked more like a chicken.

Later that day, Mr Siddiqui announced that they were all to work fewer hours in the day, but were still going to be paid the same amount! Nabi couldn't believe it. It was going to give him time to go to school.

That evening, Mr Bayan called round. "You're only getting your rights, Nabi," he said. "All children have a right not to work all the time, and to be paid properly for the work they do, and," he added, "to be safe at their work. The smart man you saw works for the government, and the government has agreed that children have these rights."

"All children?" Nabi asked.

"Virtually all the children in the world have these rights," Mr Bayan looked sad, "but, Nabi, you've been lucky. There are plenty of children who are not getting their rights."