Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Unlike most boys his age, 9 year-old Reinaldo Silva Novais Pereira's most fervent dream is to spend the entire day in school. Instead, every morning, Reinal, as he is called, wakes up before sunrise to trudge off to a quarry. For five long hours, he pounds hard, sharp rocks into gravel for road construction, and then, exhausted and weary, goes to school.

For Reinal, getting an education is a real struggle. He loves learning, but because he only attends classes for half a day, he misses out on the arts and crafts courses that are part of elementary education in Brazil. He works because he has to. His mother who labors alongside him in the quarry needs the income he brings in to support them both. It is hard and dangerous work. The dry air in the Bahia region where Reinal lives, mingled with the dust from the rocks, makes breathing difficult. "It's strenuous and boring. Stones can get into your face. The hammer can hurt you. We sweat a lot," he explains.

Working at the quarry is grueling for anyone but especially so for a child. Sitting on the ground, Reinal breaks stones larger than his hands. The dust and sweat blind his eyes. He is acutely aware that he has no choice: "It's hazardous, but we have to do it to help our mother. It's necessary." Reinal's mother is very unhappy that her son has to work and desperately wants to give him more. But they barely survive on what they earn: the equivalent of $2.50 a day. "I myself worked as a child. The kind of life we have gives little hope," she says sadly. There is no break from the endless routine of hammering rocks, seven days a week, week after week.

The only time that Reinal is able to free his mind is when he is in class. But it is not easy to concentrate after a morning in the quarry. His back and arms ache. Nevertheless, he loves to read, write and sing, and dreams of a better future. He aspires to be a teacher some day. Reinal's only regret is that he cannot attend school full time because he does not have a Bolsa Escola - the scholarship program that replaces a child's income which poor families depend on to survive.

Child labor and poverty are locked up a vicious cycle from generation to generation. In an effort to break it, Brazil, working closely with the UN International Labour Organization (ILO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), has created the Bolsa which allows children to go to school full-time. It also provides for special classes in the arts and other enrichment courses that round off their education. For some, the Bolsa is cash. For others, it might be a goat, or another animal that can generate a steady source of income for the family. Unfortunately, not every disadvantaged child in Brazil benefits from the Bolsa Escola. Reinal is one of the many who miss out. With over two million children in need, resources fall grossly short of the demand. And the local officials in Reinal's town have not yet instituted the Bolsa program.

What's next for Reinal?
Although Reinal is a good student and is keen to broaden his horizons, the demands of work and school are taking a toll. His teachers have already noticed that his development is delayed. Only a full day of classes will help him fulfill his dream of a better life. Until his district introduces the Bolsa, he has no other options.

Like Reinal, more than 7 million children work in Brazil. But child labor is a global problem. Some 246 million children between the ages of five and 17 have to work. Of these, as many as 180 are caught in what the ILO categorizes as the “worst forms of child labor”. This includes slavery, debt bondage, prostitution, pornography and forced recruitment in armed conflict, for example, as a child soldier, as well as involvement in drug trafficking and other illicit activities that are harmful or hazardous to the safety and morals of a child under 18 years of age. These figures probably underestimated the real numbers. It is difficult to count "invisible" child laborers, especially girls working for domestic chores.

Reinal earns money laboring in a quarry but children in Brazil work in other occupations. As many as 560,000 are domestic workers and, in some Latin American countries, 20 percent of all girls, aged to 10 and 14 are engaged as domestics. The figures are even higher in rural areas.Nearly 70 percent of child laborers in the country work in the agricultural sector on coffee, cocoa, cotton, rubber and sisal plantations, of which 30 percent are in the commodities production processes.

How can you help?
Begin by learning more about child labor and what is being done by governments, trade unions, employers, universities and grass roots organizations. Several international legal agreements address the problem. Article 32 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child), states that children should not be engaged in work that impedes their physical and mental development. ILO’s Convention on the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor), ratified by 174 countries, has inspired a world wide effort to eliminate degrading child labor. Go to UNICEF and ILO/IPEC for more information.

The World Bank and UNDP have compiled statistics on child labor and funded programs to educate working children. Another resource is an inter-agency research cooperation project, Understanding Children's Work, by ILO, UNICEF and the World Bank. You can also find out how the UN works to fight poverty that forces millions of children into child laborby visiting the UN Division for Sustainable Development.