Laetitia Lemaistre
Intern in Action, September 2002

New York, NY, September 10, 2002—Laetitia Lemaistre ’03, who grew up in Indonesia, spent last spring studying at the School of International Training in Bangalore, India, and working as an intern with the non-governmental organization (NGO) Movement for Alternatives and Youth Awareness (MAYA), an opportunity provided by the School. During her five months in India, she investigated preventive measures taken by MAYA against child labor in the region.

The rural areas surrounding Bangalore have large numbers of child laborers in the silk industry. Lemaistre herself witnessed children between six and 14 working in factories. Many of the children suffer from respiratory ailments, harassment, and beatings in the workplace, while villagers do not always regard education as a priority. MAYA hopes to change this attitude by stressing the importance of education for social and economic advancement.

By attending village meetings and by speaking with local government officials, parents, and educators, Lemaistre realized that the communities needed to take collective action to improve their educational structures. She and MAYA's staff acted as facilitators by creating "Learning Centers," which educate the communities on how they can help themselves through creating governing bodies. In the Learning Centers, they work to improve infrastructure, monitor the attendance of students and teachers, and interview educators to better understand the challenges they face.

"The establishment of the Learning Centers became a community-wide project," said Lemaistre. "Parents would contribute whatever school supplies they could, came in during a lesson to teach a skill such as carpentry or embroidery, and prepared daily meals."

One of Lemaistre's favorite memories of her time with MAYA was collecting the group meal every day with one of the children. They walked through the densely populated neighborhood to collect rice and sambar as community members to smile and start conversations.

"To know that they appreciated my efforts in working with the children was the most incredible feeling," she said.

Lemaistre also worked with children who had been silk laborers and who now hope to re-enroll into the government school system. She helped the children with mathematics and English in addition to arts and crafts projects. The establishment of the Learning Centers allows child laborers to gain self-confidence in a nurturing environment.

Lemaistre feels she has "been transformed by my experiences and realize the importance of education in the alleviation of poverty."

She hopes to pursue future career plans involving children and women in development and further study educational development and international relations.