January 26th, 2015

'There was once a little boy called Akash. He lived in a village beside a river with his mother, his father, his two older brothers and 2 younger sisters. His house was very small, maybe as big as your lounge room. It had walls made of mud and straw, and a roof of leaky straw. At one end of the home was his mother's kitchen area. At the other end was a wooden bed and four mattress rolls. Under the eaves of the roof nested a family of pigeons.'

This is how the the story of Akash and the Pigeons begins. It's a story of a boy sold into slavery in the fashion industry. I wrote the story at the request from Stop The Traffik as a children's resource for their Freedom Sunday initiative. Illustrator Alex Hammond agreed to do the artwork to accompany the story and her drawings capture the emotions of Akash's story powerfully.

I wrote the text of this story with group use in mind. It is designed to be read (or told) aloud and has accompanying notes to help churches and families empower children to thoughtfully engage with the issues raised. The downloadable story and accompanying visual aids are available free of charge from the Stop The Traffik website. Just follow this link: Akash and the Pigeons for the story and this one for the flashcards. 

If you use the story in your church or group, I'd love to know how it is received and what children's responses to it are.