World

A young worker
in Burkina Faso
carries a sack of
cocoa beans to
a waiting truck.

ood
Millions of African children are forced to do
dangerous, backbreakingjobs. Why?

> ^ ^ acouba is not sure
^ ^ how old he is—prob-
^ ^ ably 13. He lives with
k his family in Burkina
I Faso, a country
I in western Africa.
When Yacouba was a small child, his
uncle took him to nearby Cole d'lvoire
(Ivory Coast). There, he worked six
days a week picking crops. "1 worked
with the cocoa, the coffee, or other
crops, depending on the season,"
Yacouba recalled. "It was difficult and
heavy [work], and I hated it."
1 0C6te d'lvoire
JUNIOR and other
SCHOLASTIC West Afri-
/ JANUARY 22, 2007
can countries produce more than 70
percent of the world's cocoa. Child
workers use machetes to slice open
football-shaped pods to get the valu-
able cocoa beans, which are later used
to make chocolate. It is dangerous
work because machetes often slip from
tired, sweaty hands. Children also
have to carry huge bags full of cocoa
beans. Like all cocoa workers, they are
exposed to unhealthy pesticides.
Yacouba never got a penny for his
work, although his employer did feed
him and buy him clothes. "The farm
owner was mostly kind," Yacouba
said. "But if I didn't do my work prop-
erly, he would hit me with a stick."
AWorldwide Problem
Such treatment is common among
the world's 218 million child laborers.
Words to Know
• domestic:
Lsub-Sahara a term used to
describe countries on the conti-
nent of Africa that are south of the
Sahara Desert.
 astksi ers, up 1.3 million from 2000. Poverty
runs deep there. About 44 percent of
About Our Cover the people living in sub-Saharan Africa
In this photo, Kamwala Bijicka, 13, carries earn less than $1 a day.
a sack full of earth and rocks at the Matempu Africa has other troubles as well.
Mine near Mbuji Mayi, a city in the Democratic Many countries—the Democratic
Republic of the Congo. Kamwala and his Republic of the Congo and Sudan,
brothers cannot return to school until their fees for instance—are wracked by wars
are paid. The diamond mine where they work and unrest. Also, AIDS has hit Africa
belongs to people hoping to find their fortunes harder than any other continent. The
buried deep in the soft earth. disease has killed or disabled millions
of parents. Many children in those
families have been forced to become
breadwinners.
Instead of attending school, they toil instance, Brazil and Guatemala have
long hours each day, often six or seven begun to pay some poor parents a Importance of Schools
days a week. At least three quarters of small fee to keep their kids in school Guy Thijs, head of the ILO's child-
them work in dangerous, brutally hard and out of work. The International labor program, said that two things
jobs, such as harvesting cocoa beans. Labor Organization (ILO), a United must happen to end child labor. First,
Millions of girls work as domestic ser- Nations agency, estimates that the countries must pass laws that prevent
vants (see "Teen Diary,"p. 12). number of chiid laborers dropped by kids younger than 15 from work-
According to Linda Golodner, co- 28 million between 2000 and 2004. ing full-time. Those laws must be
chair of the Chiid Labor Coalition, enforced. Most countries have laws to
poverty is the main force behind child Africa's Troubles protect kids from child labor. But many
labor. Poor children must work to help But in sub-Saharan Africa, the governments do not enforce them.
support their families. "The other rea- problem continues to grow. In 2004, Second, and just as important.
son is greed," Golodner told JS. "[The that area had 49 million child labor- Continued on next page ^
employers] who use children know
that they don't have to pay children as
much as they do adults. Children are
very compliant [willing to carry out
orders without protest]."
In recent years, child labor has
declined worldwide. Some countries
where it once was a problem now
enjoy good economic times. Children
are less likely to work when their
parents can get jobs. Also, many coun-
tries now discourage child labor. For

"[The employers] who

use children know that
they don't have to pay
children as much as
they do adults."
— Linda Golodner

JUNIOR SCHOLASTIC/JANUARY 2 2 , 200? 11

 World/
lid labor is caused
by poverty."
—Guy Thijs
countries must provide schools for all
of their young people. Poor kids who
attend school make 30 to 40 percent
more money as adults than those who
worked as child laborers. "Child labor
is caused by poverty," Thijs told JS.
"But it is also one of the most impor-
tant contributing factors to poverty."
Many children in Africa are denied
access to education. But some coun-
tries are making progress. In Tanzania,
for instance, a private group called the
Good Hope Center, which works with
the ILO, finds child laborers and gets
them into school.
The center recently helped David,
who is 13. He had been supporting
himself since he was 7. David mined
tanzanite, a valuable bluish-purple gem-
stone. It was difficult, dirty work that
paid almost nothing. It was also danger-
ous. He easily could have been killed
by underground gases or a collapsing
12 JUNIOR SCHOLASTIC / JANUARY 22, 200?
mine. According to the ILO, about 1
million kids face similar conditions in
mines and rock quarries worldwide.
A combination of overwork,
unclean water, and lack of food had
made David sick. The Good Hope Cen-
ter got him medical treatment—and
gave him a chance to dream again.
David now attends school. "My dream
is to become a pilot," he said. "[My
fellow students and I] see a bright
future for our lives."
—Sean Price
VJooU Poll
Zahra, 18, began as a domestic
worker 10 years ago. She worked
for families in Casablanca,
Morocco, in North Africa. When
she was IF, a human-rights
group helped her leave her job.
[My first employer] hit me a
lot. When I broke things or didn't
do something, she would hit me.
If I went out and didn't come back
quickly, she would hit me. She hit
me with her hand on my face or
she would pull my hair....
I slept in a small room, a stor-
Think About
1. What are some of the reasons child
labor is on the rise In sub-Saharan
Africa?
2. Do we have a responsibility to
know ifthe things we buy were
produced from child labor? Why
or why not? What would you do if
you knew?
age room. There was no lock on
the door, and the window looked
out onto a ventilation shaft
I woke up at 6:30 or 7 a.m. and
[got to bed] at 11 p.m. I had no
real rest breaks I would wake
up, fix breakfast, wash dishes,
clean the house. Every week I
had to scrub the toilet. I would fix
the beds, clean the windows. The
hardest chore was scrubbing the
sinks and floors and clothes. They
had a washing machine, but they
made me wash by hand.