A major problem that is affecting our society and the world today is child labour. Child labour can be seen as children below the working age being forced or compelled due to circumstances to work at the expense of enjoying basic privileges such as education, good health and protection.
Child labour in present times has increased tremendously in the developing countries including Ghana. Even the developed countries are not left out of this problem. They have their fair share of it. Most of these victims of child labour in the Ghanaian society end up as hawkers, workers in sand weaning sites and stone quarries which are very prominent in or near the city of Accra and other parts of the country [e.g quarries around Achimota and Kwabenya] and many other products or items one can think of especially on the street of Accra where one can see a lot of children trading in all kinds items including sugarcane , plantain chips, cold water in polythene bags and other items which they did not produce themselves.
Without the timely intervention of benevolent individuals or some NGOs, almost all or some of these victims end up as armed robbers and prostitutes[in the case of Ghana] thus posing serious health hazards and dangers to their lives. In the Ghanaian society a lot of factors contributes to the problem of child labour with the major one being poverty.
I would like discuss few of such contributing factors to child labour in my community and the Ghanaian community at large. Increased number of broken homes in recent times have resulted in single parenthood. Under such conditions, the single parent may not be financially sound to cater for a child/children. In this case a child is sent to out onto the street or elsewhere to labour or work to earn a living and to pay for his/her school fees if the child is desirous to be in school otherwise he/she is denied of basic education. The practice of marrying two or more wives [polygamy] in Ghana, especially in the rural areas] has a bearing on this. The notion of some people, is that, the more children one has the wealthier he/she is. But this in our modern society /world is not always true in the sense that, as more children are born into the family the more money you need to cater for these children as they grow and become more expensive to look after. Thus the inability of the parents to provide them with the basic needs compel these poor and innocent children to engage themselves in all kinds of odd and exploitative jobs to keep them surviving.
I had the opportunity to interview a girl of twelve years who sells cold water in my community. According to her, they are six in the family and the parents are not in a good job to be able to provide for their basic needs. For this reason she has been asked by the parents to sell the cold water [i.e. iced water] so as to earn a little money to support herself and the family.
In many communities in Ghana as well as mine, child labour is a very common feature. Some of the items produced and sold by these children to earn a living include table napkins, plantain chips, ice water and etc. By producing and selling these, most of these children are able to cater for themselves, pay their school fees and sometimes to support their families.
Elizabeth Dogbe
17 years
West Africa Secondary School
Parents have a major role to play in ensuring the proper upbringing of their wards and also to provision of shelter, clothing and food. However due to financial constraint, parents send their wards to sell on the street in order to bring money home but the section 91 of the children's act states that, the minimum age for a person to work in a hazardous condition is 18 years. Hazardous work according to the act is work which poses some danger to the health, safety and morals of a person.
It is very disheartening to see children of school going age selling all kinds of items often under the scorching sun and in the rain. These children who are sent to the street to sell become victims of sexual harassment, rape and drug abuse and some are even knocked by careless drivers.
I would like to share the experience of Adjei Kwesi, a child who is now a victim of child labour. Adjei's story began when his father divorced his mother. His mother, burdened with depression and debts abandoned her son to his fate .At the age of eleven [11], Adjei was on his own. He managed to travel from in the interior of Ghana to the capital city Accra. He spent the night in the corridors of shops in the city and naturally found himself in the company of other street boys. His new found friends work as porters in some markets in the city of Accra.
Now, due to irresponsible parenthood, and as well as poverty Adjei finds himself as a porter in a market close to the railway terminal in Accra.
Vadze Bright
16 YEARS
WEST AFRICA SECONDARY SCHOOL
In the community where I live and in other communities in Ghana, child labour is such a common problem that people do not pay much attention to it or even recognise it as such because it is seen all over the place every day and for this reason people see it as normal but in the real sense this is not the case but rather a problem in our societies or communities.
A situation where under aged children are compelled due to circumstances beyond their control to do odd and difficult jobs just to earn a living is truly a situation to be given a serious thought. For this reason, my fellow students and I would like to see an end to this regardless the source of intervention since it is a world wide situation.
There are several conditions and situations which contributes to such unfortunate scenario where some children find themselves in labour when they are not supposed to and I would like to mention or talk about just a few from my community.
Single-parenthood as a result of death or divorce compels some unfortunate children to end up in child labour to earn some income for themselves and the whole family at times. A single parent who can not afford to cater for a child or children advises his/her child to find any kind of job to keep him or her going since that can be the only way out for survival. Irresponsible parenthood is another common factor that leads to children taking to odd jobs in the communities.
With some parents, responsibility towards their children stops as soon as they realise that they can be on their own regardless of their age. Some illiterate fathers believe that since children inherit matrimonially, they are bone fide properties of the mothers so they [mothers] have it as a duty to cater for these kids till they come of age. Such fathers do not care what these children do for a living. Now if the mother's financial position is not strong enough to support these children, they resort to any kind of labour if they fail to get some help from elsewhere.
General economic hardships also see parents sending their wards or children to the streets to labour for their daily bread when they themselves can not cope with these difficult economic situations. This is a common feature seen in almost every community or street in Ghana. One interesting factor due to such economic hardships is that some parents leave home so early and come so late that these children may not even see them for their needs especially money for food simply because they can not afford or they don't have the money at all. This often result in child delinquency leading to the problem of child labour because the child simply has to survive by finding him/herself a job to do.
The commodities, items or areas of labour in which these children find themselves include the following; selling iced water in the communities and on the streets, working in stone quarries and selling these products to building contractors, working as house helps in some well-to-do homes, baby sitting, as porters in the market places and etc.
To be sure whether the fault is from the children or parents, here are some few things which some children of between 9-17 years had to say when I interviewed them on the University of Ghana campus close to where I live. Here they are known as "ANY-WORK-BOYS' who normally render services to the university students.
''I was in class five when my parents asked me to stop schooling so that when they get money, I can continue since there was no money for my school fees. So on this campus, I work for the students and they pay me some few cedis. I use the money I earn for food and sometimes for clothes. When I earn more money, I send some home for my parents'' Another boy had this to say: 'My mother says my father died when I was seven years old and so I did not have the opportunity to be in school again since I was sacked for school fees. My mother works in a restaurant as plate washer and she advised me to come and find a job on this campus to support myself. I always try to come here early before the other boys come for all the jobs. Sometimes I provide money for food for the whole family''
With this interview and other factors mentioned earlier on, one can say that some kind of help is need from both the government and individuals in our society to stop or minimise this unpleasant child labour problem.
I am happy to say that some individuals and some NGOs have taken some bold steps ahead. I wish to see some more action from all quarters.
Liberty Akutse
17 YEARS
WEST AFRICA SECONDARY SCHOOL