"How Does One Place A Price Tag On Human Life"

My name is Renaldo. I am a eight year old boy living in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. Every day I have chores to help my family. This includes going into the center of town to collect water. I always have to bring my little brother Sergio with me. We like to watch the different townspeople that we encounter.

The first is Rosa, who brings her slave, Francisca, and her small child to help her do laundry. It is essential that the family's clothes are clean and presentable, since they hold such a high place in society. Francisca came from the Gold Coast to Brazil when she was a child. She has been Rosa's personal hand maid since she was eighteen, when Rosa got married. Francisca keeps her small child with her because there is no one to look after him at the house. If Rosa's husband chooses, he can let Francisca's son be a free man later in life. It is dependent on the master of the household whether the child will be required to serve the family.

Francisca also has to help dress Rosa, and assist her in getting ready for the day. She helps her bathe once a week. She helps delegate tasks to the other slaves, and helps Rosa run the household. On top of all of this, Francisca is also a mother and must help raise her child and maintain their lives.

Also in the square I see a slave being whipped. I recognize him, and remember that his name is Pedro. His master, Jose, is obviously very upset with him. I hear shouts about Pedro not making it to the square on time to help with the sugar delivery. It is very difficult to see another human being whipped directly in front of you in such a public manner. It is clear that Pedro is embarrassed, and I had to make my brother turn away, so that he wouldn't become upset. Pedro is usually a diligent worker, so it is also surprising that he has not lived up to his masters standards.

Pedro came from the upper part of New Guinea only five years ago. His best friend is Napolean, and he works with him and Napolean's brother Elkipo on Jose's sugar cane farm. They plow the fields, and harvest the sugar. The work is hard manual labor, and wears their once strong bodies thin. They also work with animals on the farm. They have a llama that they call 'banah gordura". Pedro recently was given more responsibilities on the farm, and Jose must think that he isn't living up to those. The beating is rough, and very hard to watch.

It feels like slavery is all around us, today especially, because of the slave auction going on in the square. There are slaves everywhere, and you can hear the fear in their screams. Sergio is visibly upset, and is very confused about what is going on around him. This unusual disturbance in the square has put all of the regular townspeople on edge.

There are many visitors from the outskirts of the town that came to purchase new slaves. I see three in particular that are dressed very well, and appear to have a lot of money. Two are seated in the shade, and are cooling off waiting for the auction to resume. They discuss the different slaves up for sale, and plan bidding strategies. They are lavishly dressed and clearly have a lot of money. They have an air of arrogance surrounding them, and this is how I know that they are visitors. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to have enough money to be able to own another human. The idea of having total control over another's life is hard for me to wrap my mind around.

I step closer towards the auction to see what all the commotion is about. On one side of the area, I see about twenty large men, all bulky and clearly strong enough to work on a sugar cane farm. These are men built for physical labor, but I know that they will be beaten and broken down soon enough. On the other side, is the men looking to buy a new slave. They all were given paddles, and will have to bid for each slave that they want to purchase.

The largest man is brought to the forefront, and offered up for the highest amount asked that day. He starts yelling about his family, and his wife and daughter. There are no women or children slaves present, so it quickly becomes clear that they are back in his home country. It takes a while for the bidding to take place. The man eventually goes for almost triple his initial value.

It scares me that someday it could be me or Sergio trying to out bid another man for a slave. How does one place a price tag on another human life? In my mind, each man is an equal, as long as they can do the same amount of work, at the same level of rigor as the one next to him. I don't want to ever have to force someone into helping my business succeed. I would like to think that maybe one day people who work on my farm will be paid fairly, and will be able to live freely.

Lyle Hunt, Claire Keogh, Kelly Wedlake