Children & Their ”Work”

I see children working everywhere. Not just housework either. I see them selling peanuts on street corners and peddling newspapers to passersby. They sell candy of the ferry and shine shoes at the dala dala stand. These children are everywhere. Because I see then during school hours, I am left to assume that they are not attending school. They have been sent out by their families to earn a living or contribute to family household care. In rural areas, it is common to see children, young children, herding animals for the family, sometimes several kilometers from their house. I was astounded more than once to see a boy as young as five out herding goats all day. Frequently children are exposed to dangerous situations and subsistence through the work they perform

These families are dependant on the labor these small ones do whether it is the actual task they perform or the money they make. Poverty takes children out of school and away from an education that can defeat the cycle of poverty for them. It seems to be an unending cycle because if these children do not finish standard seven they are not eligible for vocational training programs or even a driver’s license. They stay in the cycle of poverty subsistence farming or running small businesses that provide meager income. They may make enough to feed themselves but not enough to improve their living condition or send their children to school. It is a perpetuating cycle. Intervention of some sort is needed. Who is to say what will be the best if anything will be effective.

There is an issue of child rights that comes into play in each of their work environments. Children are being put in dangerous and harmful situations. Their work environment is not only the things that are harmful; when children are out of the supervision of people who are responsible for them, they are more likely to be exploited by people who would take advantage of them. This leads to further harms and increases the likelihood of violence against them.

Child labor laws have been passed but enforcing them is a challenge...like many other laws here. There is not the value placed on an official childhood here. At home, many steps are taken to preserve then sanctity of childhood. Adults spend much of their time and energy to give children a childhood experience. Everything from toys to Little League is geared to extending and preserving childhood. There are still holes in the system, and children still can be exploited, but there is more of a safety net in place and far harsher punishments for those who would harm children.

Seeing more child protection in Tanzania is a matter of a perspective shift. Understanding why the current system is the way it is takes a cultural understanding that I can’t confirm that I have at this point. I’m not sure why children are put in dangerous labor situations and denied an education. My best guess is that it is all due to poverty. It seems to be the root cause and contributing factor to many of these situations where children are set-up to be in the poverty cycle for the rest of their lives. There are the few cases that break out of the mold but it seems to take an extraordinary outside factor to make it happen.