Who made my computer?

1. Who made my computer? Key Stage 2 Photographs by Marcella Haddad Animation stills by “completecontrol”

2. Hello. My name is Perla. I live in a city called “Guadalajara” in Mexico. It sounds like this, “gwad–a-la–ha–ra”. This is our market. This is my Mum, Ana.

3. My Mum works in a factory making computer parts like this one. It is called a circuit board. Perhaps she helped to make one of the computers in your school! How many computers does your school have?

4. Here I am playing with my cousin, Samanta, in our back yard. We like to play homes and cooking with my toy oven. What do you like to play?

5. My mum works very hard. Often I do not see her in the day because she goes to work very early and comes back late.

6. My mum has to stand up all day, so when she comes home she is very tired. Sometimes they make her work an extra three hours, but she is not given a fair wage.

7. Because Mum is not paid very well we cannot afford things like holidays. But we still have fun! Here I am with Samanta at a party at our church.

8. Mum says that women who are expecting a baby are not given a job. The employers don’t want to pay their wages while they take time off to have the baby. What happens in your country? When my mum went for a job she was asked all sorts of questions. They wanted to know all about her. They even asked if she was expecting a baby!

9. Mum and her friends are not allowed to talk together at work about the way they are treated. If they were allowed to talk they could organise meetings. They could complain together to the factory owners. Then things might get better.

10. Samanta and I live in our house with mum, grandma and my uncle, Adan. Uncle Adan is a computer worker too. He is treated badly. His boss is a bully. If he complains he will get the sack. Do you think that is fair?

11. The big companies that buy parts from the computer factories are not based in Mexico. They are based in countries like yours. CAFOD is talking to the big companies, IBM, Dell and Hewlett Packard, to persuade them to help Mum, Uncle Adan and other computer workers. • You can help by • Finding out more • Telling other people • Praying for computer workers

12. I am at a service in our church with Samanta and grandma. Say a prayer with us for my mum and the other computer workers. We pray that they will be treated properly, paid fairly, and allowed to speak together and ask for better conditions.

13. Who made my computer? Key Stage 1 Photographs by Marcella Haddad Animation stills by “completecontrol”

14. Hello. My name is Perla. I live in Mexico. Here I am with my mum. She makes computers.

15. My Mum works very hard. The workers are not treated well.

16. Say a prayer with me. Dear God, I pray that all computer workers will be treated fairly. Amen.