Untitled Document

Brief Profiles of Child Labor victims in Gilgit

1- The real example of child labor is 12 years old Inamullah who is working in a Tandoor (tandoor is a typical Pakistani shop where bread is cooked and sold). He belongs to a very far-flung village of the region. Here he is working with his uncle in bread making and helps him to earn some money. He came from a poor family, which consists of ten people including his old father who is no more able to work to run the family. These unfavorable circumstances forced this young boy to come to Gilgit with his uncle to earn some money for his family. He told on asking that here he sees the young children like him who go to school but for him it is a dream. He is very much interested in education and says, "I wish I could go to a school". Hardly twice a year he goes to his hometown, which is, about 250 km away from Gilgit town. In spite of all these hardships of life this innocent child is optimistic about his future, as he is hoping to become a skilled bread maker in the years to come.

2- In Gilgit, automobile workshop is a big industry and many families are sending their children to these workshops, hoping that after some years they will grow into skilled technicians. So a lot of child labor is employed in this Industry. A typical example of this labor is 13 years old Muhammad Ali. He belongs to a far away village from Gilgit town. His father is a mason and belongs to a poor family. His father brought him to Gilgit and recruited him in an automobile workshop. He assists the technicians an all their work at the workshop. He also resides with his fellow workers where he also does the major works of cooking and washing as well. He is here for the last four years. He faces a lot of difficulties at workplace in the summer season, because it is very hot in Gilgit as compare to his hometown where weather remains very pleasant in the summer. He is given just a subsistence amount to meet his ends, as he is not a skilled laborer yet. He is very respectful to his senior peers as he considers them his teachers, and hopes to learn from them.

photo: Muhammad Umar and Adil Shah working in a small restuarant

3- There are some children, who are dedicated to their education and have a keen interest in getting education, but due to family compulsion they are also forced to work to earn money and so such people continue their education along with their work. So here is such an example. Muhammad Ummar who is just 12 years old assists his father at his small restaurant. This young boy also goes to a government school, and he is in grade 5. He works in the restaurant after the school hours. Umar said that he works in the restaurant till late night, there he serves the guests and also washes the utensils. He further said that after working for such long hours he couldn't concentrate on his studies. He said that his fellow colleagues at school perform very well, whereas he couldn't. His father is very happy with him, though he doesn't want Umar to work at the restaurant but it is the poverty which forced him to do so.

4- Some times young children are unfamiliar about the importance of education due to lack of good learning environment in institutions. So lack interest in learning and they want to do something to get money and they prefer wealth, so they directly go for doing some jobs, even they get chance to go to school.
Fifteen years old Sardar Karim is such an example; he told us that, although his family sent him to school but the school was a government one, which is poorly administrated. According to him he did not see any good future from this standard of learning in school, so the automobile technicians persuaded him to join them. Ultimately he joined the automobile workshop and he is working for last three years, but now he realizes that wealth is not the only important thing, but it is too late for him now to return.

5- Arif Hussein, a 12 years old boy, belongs to a far-flung village of the north. He works in an automobile workshop. His father is driver. He has no interest in education so he learns to repair vehicles. He works for 12 hrs a day and he is not given any money because his teacher is of the view that at this stage Hussein's work is of no value, and he is learning free of cost.

6- Sometimes unexpected and uncertain situation in the family forces the children to quit their education and do child labor. Fourteen years old Rajab Ali's case is a living example of such a situation. Two years back this boy was leading a happy life and going to school in his village. Unfortunately his father who was the bread earner of his family died in an accident. Rajab Wali has three sisters and two brothers and he is the eldest of them. After this tragic accident he has got all the responsibilities of feeding his family, even he might need to help his mother in paying the school fee of his younger brother and sisters. As his late father was a poor man so he did not left any thing behind. Rajab needs to haunt a source of livelihood. Currently he sells groundnuts at a footpath of Gilgit, and hardly earns rupees 60(1 US dollar) a day. He always remembers his happy days at school, and still very much curious to get education.

7- Iftikhar is an eleven years old boy. His father has passed away and his elder brother forced him to work somewhere. He sells socks, sitting on pavement through out the day. His master gives him only 50 rupees a day, which is less, than a dollar.

8- One more reason for child labor is increase in fees and other expenditures on education. In Gilgit town majority of the school going children go to private schools, which charge fees from the students. It is impossible for a common person to send his children to such schools. On the other hand though the government schools offer free education but the quality of education in these schools is abysmal. In this situation it is very difficult for a student of government school to compete with a student of standard educational institution, so many of the parents think it as wastage of time to cry for the moon. In this situation parents prefer their children to learn a skill so that it would help them in future to earn their livelihoods. Here is a true example of such a case, Azmat is a boy of 10 years, and his father is a laborer. He knows the importance of education but he can't send his child to a good school. His father told us that he does not waste his child's time in getting a useless education. Therefore he sends him to an automobile workshop.

Bulbul Jan working in the fields

Rehmat Karim selling pakoras on the footpath

Safdar serving tea in a small restuarant

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