Child labour, a tale of two children
As poverty and conflict pose multiple challenges, children face the dilemma of working to support their families or attending school
Poverty and conflict robs children’s future in education. Often young boys and girls are vulnerable to entering child labour when their families face financial challenges, often at the cost of their education. Child labour harms a child’s physical, mental and social growth. In the Gambella region of Ethiopia, we spent a day with 13-year-old Ojulu Omod and 12-year-old Ayiwane Aconga who work to support their families but had to quit school.
Every morning, 13-year-old Ojulu Omod comes to the gold mine site before the day gets too hot. He first scoops the alluvial deposits on his wooden pan. Then he continues with wetting and loosing the soil by soaking it in water and sloshing out the sand. If he is lucky, at the bottom of the wooden pan remain tiny glittering particles, gold.
“I started working here three years ago. I saw how people were doing it and I learnt from them. Now, I can do it myself,” says Ojulu.
Ojulu and his friend Aduara keep panning for gold sitting inside a pit for long hours under a scorching sun. They are the youngest in a group where many other young men also do the traditional gold mining. When the boys get tired, they go to the nearby river to refresh themselves.
Ojulu kept panning but luck didn’t strike that day. “Finding gold is not easy, sometimes I get lucky and find some. But there are many days that I go home empty-handed.”
“When I think about my education, I think about my late father, he always wanted me to be a good student.”
The young boy regrets that he quit school at an early age. Even if he manages to get some money mining gold the traditional way, Ojulu feels bad when he thinks about his friends who are still attending class. “When I think about my education, I think about my late father, he always wanted me to be a good student.”
Not far from where Ojulu mines gold, 12-year-old Ayiwane Aconga casts his net to catch fish.
“I wake up early and go to the river,” says Ayiwane detailing his daily routine. “Early morning is a good time for fishing. I brought the fish home and my aunt sells it in the local market. I am happy to support her.”
Ayiwane quits school in grade 5 after he was displaced by conflict. He and his elder brother are now staying with their aunt while the rest of the family is staying elsewhere. Ayiwane was a clever student ranking first or second in his class. “I lost everything to the conflict. Our house was burned down. I had to quit school before the second semester began.” Ayiwane gets emotional when he thinks about his education.
Both Ojulu and Ayiwane want to go back to school. Children caught up with either poverty or conflict face the dilemma of either working to support their families or attending school. Child labour deprives children of their childhood and their future.
Child labour is both a cause and a consequence of poverty. In the Gambella region of Ethiopia, UNICEF is closely working with the regional Bureaus of Women and Social Affairs to help children engaged in child labour get back to school. Social workers who do case management are deployed at the district level to support vulnerable families with psychosocial support and connecting them also to basic services.
