Child workers in Bolivia

Nothing tugs at my heartstrings more than the sight of children in poverty, and I have found this issue quite confronting here in Bolivia… One thing that struck me as different from other places that I have been is the prevalence of children that I have seen working… Even during the day, when you would imagine that most children would be at school, children aged from as young as 5 or 6 will roam the streets selling newspapers, or selling candy or chewing gum from little boxes that they carry around with them. Some older children work by polishing shoes in the main thoroughfares or in the busy city squares, while I found others working in shops, markets or even in the family business. Even in the hotel where I was staying, an absolutely delightful family-owned establishment, the youngest employee was only 11 years old.

It was a Tuesday morning, on one of my first days in Sucre, I was sitting reading the newspaper in the main square, when a young grubby child of perhaps 8 years old approached me, with his shoe-shine box in hand. Hearing him begging, not for money, but to be able to clean my shoes for what amounts to a couple of cents in Australia, really made my heart twist, and the difference between my own upbringing and his couldn’t have been more great. In Australia there are laws that prevent them from working, whereas in Bolivia it seemed to be the norm. But as I was wearing thongs (flip flops) at the time, there wasn’t much I could do for him. He still seemed hopeful, though, and he sat down next to me, commenting on how much he liked my shoes, mentioning that he needed a new pair himself. That drew my attention to his shoes. They were several sizes too small, and falling to bits. As we sat talking, he quizzed me about what was in the newspaper and seemed really curious to find out what had happened in the world. His name was Jorge, and I liked him immensely. I asked him why he wasn’t in school. He told me that he generally does go to school during the day, and usually just works in the afternoons and evening cleaning shoes, but sometimes if his family needs money he has to work instead. He told me he earns between 1 and 5 Bolivianos a day ($0.20-$1.00 Australian) but he gives it all to his mum. He said that on some days, he makes a little more, and he can keep it for himself.

I wanted to give Jorge something, but really didn’t need my thongs shining, and I didn’t want to just offer him money for nothing, so instead I asked if he wanted something to eat. His eyes lit up like I’d offered to buy him a brand new toy car… So I took him over where a lady was selling hamburgers. He couldn’t take his eyes off them, so I bought him a burger. Before I had even finished the transaction, we were surrounded by several of his friends, all of whom wanted hamburgers. I didn’t have a lot of money at the time… Probably I had enough small change to buy the burgers, which were not expensive, but I started to panic, and imagined more and more children arriving wanting to be fed, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to feed them all. I felt overwhelmed by the situation, and so left hastily, apologising to Jorge, explaining that I couldn’t feed them all. It was an eye-opening and emotional experience, in which I gained an insight into the tragic lives of these Bolivian children living in poverty.

While walking to my Spanish classes on the very last day I was in Sucre, I took a somewhat circuitous route, and happened to walk past the office of an NGO called ‘Nanta’ whose focus is exactly this issue: child labourers in Bolivia. I went inside and spoke with one of the volunteers, a lovely indigenous man, with an indigenous name that I forget now. We talked about the issue of poverty, and the problems associated with it. He told me that over 65% of people in Bolivia live below the poverty line, which was a statistic that completely shocked me… I also learned that a recent study had been completed in Sucre and found that 8% of the child workers did not attend school at all… I took a moment to wonder about those children, the ones that will never go to school. What hope do they have for the future, if they don’t even have a primary school education?

Nanta works with these child workers, both the ones that attend school and the ones that don’t. They get by mostly on donations from Europe, from tourists, as well as occasional grants from international aid agencies. They do so much wonderful work, treating the children not just as charity cases, but they have a real focus on holistic education as well. Each day they provide meals for between 80-100 child workers in a communal kitchen. The children pay a small token amount, whatever they can afford. Normally they pay around 20-50 Bolivian cents (4 cents – 10 cents Australian). There is also a homework club during which volunteers help children keep up with their schoolwork, incredibly important for those children that miss days of school. There are classes teaching art, music, sport, and also a medical service. They teach basic literacy to the children that have never been to school and encourage them to learn to read, and eventually to go to school. They have volunteers from several countries, nurses, teachers, anyone with a desire to help, really.

I was so moved by the my encounter with Jorge, and a number of other children that I met and chatted with over the couple of weeks that I was in Sucre, that it felt like fate that I was able to find the Nanta office. I wish that I could have found it earlier, as I would have loved to have taught some English classes, or helped out with some of the group activities that they organise…. But when I left Sucre that evening, I left feeling glad to know that Jorge and the other children have people that are looking out for them, that they have a place that they can go. And I felt a strange premonition that I wasn’t leaving for the last time. I pictured myself back there, teaching children like Jorge, and I felt such a sense of purpose and belonging… I don’t know when, but I imagine that I’ll be back.