Working Children in Bangladesh/mapfotoagency.com

Working children in Bangladesh, this photo documentary was assigned to Mahmud by SaveUK, a British charity, to show the life of the working children in Bangladesh....mapfotoagency.com

Duration of the photo documentation: May-June 2011 in Dhaka, Kurigram and Khulna.

Text: Katja Buhrer & Mahmud

Photo: Mahmud/Map;

Photo and text credit: Mahmud/Map/SaveUK

Childhood is cut short for most Bangladeshi children. Around half of all primary school students in Bangladesh drop out before they complete year five and join the workforce. In the process they forgot not only an education, but also the chance to escape the cycle of poverty. They also miss out on a childhood.

Child labour is ubiquitous in Bangladesh. Widespread poverty and social norms combine to create a workforce of more than 7 million children nationwide, or one in five kids aged 5 to 17. Young children scavenge for paper and plastic, populate urban factories and other hazardous environments; work in tea stalls. Others work behind closed doors as “domestic servants”, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation and outside the reach of regulation.  More than 80 per cent of working children are found in rural areas engaged in family jobs and in agriculture, many are employed satisfying the world’s demand for shrimp and fish, a vital export market for Bangladesh.  

Typically, children work 28 hours a week to earn 222 Taka ($US3) a week. But the cost is not just a child’s future, but the country’s. Working children get stuck in low paying and low-skilled jobs, reinforcing lower productivity, profits and ultimately poverty.

In a country where 83 per cent of the population live on an income of less than $US2, children leave or become infrequent attendees at school in order to work and boost the family income. 

Boys make up about three-quarters of all working children. And rapid urbanization as the country battles climate extremes threatens to swell the number of child workers. Already in slums around one in five children between the ages of 5 and 14 are child labourers.

The Bangladeshi Ministry of Labour and Employment has recently adopted a policy, which provides a framework to eradicate all forms of child labour by 2015.

In the meantime, children deserve a childhood. Even if it is for two hours, the children who come to the Learning and Recreation Centres make friends, discuss problems, find solutions and participate in forums to have their voices heard – all part of a brighter future.

Save the Children, UK has been working for children globally in 60 countries and since 1970, in Bangladesh. It has helped improved the lives of thousands of children by focusing on better nutrition, health and education, working with local partners (NGOs and Government Agencies) to promote children's rights in Bangladesh, eliminating Child labour and improved work environment, ensuring child participation in raising their voices in collaboration with local partners and the government.

At present, it is working on three thematic issues and of these are to improve the lives of the working children both in urban and rural Bangladesh.

Kulsum and her three children
Hazi Babul Road, Islambagh Nama Para, Lalbagh
Rapid urbanisation means more children are leaving their villages and moving to the city in search of work. At Lalbagh, one of the most densely populated areas in Bangladesh, STC’s centres are struggling to accommodate new arrivals, who are often at risk of lower salaries and longer working hours.

Like many, Kulsum and her three children were drawn to Dhaka by the promise of job opportunities. They work in the same garments’ factory but the gap in income is substantial. “I earn 500 taka per week while each child receives between 200 and 250 taka for the same period,” Kulsum says. The Prodipon centre is a stone’s throw away from the factory and social workers are gradually coaxing the family and employer into allowing their children to visit. “We need money to survive and the combined income is essential for survival,” the mother retorts.

Nipa and friends

Nipa and her friends at the Islambagh centre are one example where STC has succeeded in convincing employers to carve out recreation time for their child workers. The girls may work longer hours than most adults, but their boss allows visits to the centre during power cuts and other periods of downtime. 

Nipa, Maya and Shima work together sorting plastic scotch tape. “We have to fill six sacks with the scotch tape and receive a salary of taka 250 on Thursdays,” Nipa says. The hours are long - 8am to 8pm with a lunch break – but the shop owner lets the girls visit the centre during their break and “when there is a power failure and not much to do,” Nipa explains.  

Learning and Recreation Centres (LRC)

Save the Children works to restore a child’s right to education and leisure through a network of learning and recreational centres (LRC) across the country by the Non-State Actors (NSA) project. Delivered through 31 drop-in centres, working children who have never been to school are now acquiring basic reading and maths skills in five locations of Lalbagh, Dhaka; Kurigram Pourashava; in selected Wards of Khulna City Corporations, and also in two remote Union Parishads of Paikgacha and Koira Upazilas of Khulna district. LRC’s are open from 9 am to 5 pm, six days a week. To support their need, the Child Facilitators (CFs) are trained 

in basic teaching skills and have orientation on child rights issues.

Equipped with educational materials, toys, puzzles, art and craft materials, musical instruments and comic books, the centres create a place where children can play and relax while not depriving poor families of the income many depend on.

Children are given valuable information about their rights and how to avoid risk and exploitation. They are provided with free primary health care and social workers also make referrals for other services including income-generating activities for parents, so they become less reliant on their children’s income over time.

In short, the centres offer respite from the hardship of daily life and the chance for children to act their age. 

Babu Bhai says, walk, walk
Whirl happily…
He says, laugh and sing………
Freeze, he suddenly commands 
And we become motionless holding the pose.
It is not easy but fun it is.

Koli the artist 
Rupsha, Khulna
Koli wants to forget her past as a child domestic worker. A year back “when time was bad as father died suddenly” Koli was forced to begin work. 

Child domestic workers are vulnerable to exploitation, abuse and have little recourse to help as they are cut off from their families. Almost all work seven days per week and more than 90 per cent live with their employers. Many victims of child trafficking and prostitution were engaged in child labour beforehand. 

Prodipon admitted Koli to the Rupsha High School in grade seven. Her mother encourages education and teaches the younger siblings at home. “Our eldest brother has a job now and he looks after us,” Koli says. “My older sister was also a member of the children’s committee. Since she is in college and older, she works as an advisor now. Whenever I am at the centre, I take the paper and the colour pencils and draw. That makes me feel good.”

Today, she is illustrating the wallpaper to be presented during an upcoming event in Khulna. She is known at the centre for her drawings. 

Kamal, 
Doz Factory, Lalbagh, DhakaMany of the jobs performed by Bangladeshi children are considered hazardous and put their physical and mental development at risk. In Bangladesh children work in five of the worst forms of child labour, namely road transport, battery recharging, welding and tobacco factories.

It is estimated that 1.3 million children are involved in hazardous work, including heavy industry, smuggling, drug selling and sex work, that damages their health and well-being and leaves them physically and emotionally scarred.

Kamal works as an assistant in a factory that produces metal chips. It is dangerous work and he has to concentrate hard as he works with sharp metal objects all day.

“This machine that I work with is a risky one,” Kamal says. A boy named Bijoy lost his leg in this machine. I don’t know what he does now.”

“The salary is not bad. I get 720 taka per week. Not many people will pay that to a minor.” When there is less work he and some of his colleagues visit the centre, which is not far from the factory. “But we can’t indulge more than an hour in play or gossiping away from work,” he says. 
Kamal was previously enrolled in school, “but education costs money. It is for people who have money and for poor children, work is the answer,” he says.
“I feel restless at home and being at the centre, meet others and play few games.”

Milon
Delowar Steel Factory, Shahidnagar, Dhaka
Milon’s family moved to Dhaka four years back. He works with hydraulic machines at Delowar Steel Mills and earns 1500 taka a month, of which he keeps 100 and hands the remainder over to his mother.
“My parents tried hard to send me school, they even used stick,” Milon recounts.

Putul, happy soul at the LRT
West Shahidnagar, Dhaka

Actions speak louder than words when summing up Putul’s thoughts on the learning and recreation centres. While waiting at her house, news was sent to the centre for Putul to return home for a family portrait. Half an hour later there was still no sign of her. We eventually returned to the centre and found her playing happily with her friends at the Amligola Centre. 
“It is so much fun to be at the centre spending time with friends and not be busy at home making jewellery,” Putual says. 
Putul works with her parents making ankle chains, pendants and necklaces. The family also employs three more children – Eti, Salma and Sohel, who arrive at work after having spent the morning at school. They are from families migrated from Shariatpur, one of the southern districts of Bangladesh. Each earns 800 taka per month. 

Giving up work in favour of school is not an option for children from poor families. Not only must they supplement their parents’ income, but indirect costs involved in school including uniforms, transport and books make it unaffordable. This is why STC’s centres, which accommodate work schedules and provide flexible education, are vital. 

Putul’s mother supports education, but only in conjunction with work. “I worked in a garment factory and the earnings weren’t enough to have a decent living,” she says. 
“I employ three children and encourage them to continue school like my own children. But attending school is not enough for children from poor family like us.”
“They need to work, to contribute. Everyone hopes to have better living.”
Putul comes to the LRC with her little brother best friend Monika.  

Ayesha, living on the fringe
Goroikhali, Paikgacha, Khulna

“Work under the sun is hard, it drains our energy quickly. But that is the reality,” says Ayesha.

“Everything is trouble for us poor people. The shikhon (learning) centre gives us a little respite on a land without shade, with water shortage and little hope.”

“My mother questions at times, what good is the centre when it doesn’t provide food? Would sweet word feed us?”

Ayesha left school several years ago when her father married for the third time. Her mother is the second wife and she is now one of 11 children.

“There is always a shortage of food at home. The parents put pressure on us, saying, work, and bring money.”

Ayesha and her friends Khadiza, Jobbar, Parul and Hafiza work in the shrimp ponds owned by the rich people, removing algae and weeds.

“It’s hard to find work everyday,” Ayesha says. “While we gather in the centre, we talk about our fate, try to read and write and have realised that we can still remember the old lessons at school and it feels good.”

Billal, the motivated factory owner
Shahid Nagar, Dhaka

Billal of Delowar Steel Factory understands the importance of entertainment and recreation for his child workers. “I also worked as a child and through hard work and wit, I have become an employer,” Billal says. He attends Prodipon meetings and finds them useful. “They make sense when they talk about the needs of a growing child.”
“If one works, he will not die of hunger.”
“In my factory, I let people go an hour earlier. The young workers look for opportunity to be away from work for an hour and more.”

Bangle factory
Nogor Beltoli, Amligola, Dhaka

As the cost of living rises, so too do the number of child workers.
“Full-time school is a luxury for a poor family,” says one factory owner, pointing out the incidental costs like books and pencils, school uniforms and tiffin money that come with school.
“Food prices are now sky high, so a wage of 500 taka is not enough anymore.”
“In each family, at least one child should work.”
He stresses the importance of informal and flexible schooling arrangements.
“If NGOs try to take children away from work during the day, they lose money. Can’t you run schools at night, after work hours and provide food for them?” he asks.   

Ritu, the mask maker
Notun Bazar, Khulna

“It’s like a holiday here,” says Ritu of the Notn Bazar learning and recreation centre. “The toilet is clean and I don’t have to queue, the water’s filtered. I can also run here if my parents are angry and hit me.”

Ritu is a regular visitor at the centre. On the way to and from school she will spend time there playing with friends, drawing, making paper masks and dolls.

“In my slum house there is chaos, shouting. It is hot and humid and in a tiny space there are too many people trying to sleep or rest.”

Bag factory children workers
Chompatoli, Lalbagh, Dhaka

“It is 18 hours of work some days and never less than 12 hours otherwise,” says the owner of a bag factory who employs mostly child workers.
Many employers don’t distinguish between adult workers and the needs of child workers.
“If a worker is away for entertainment or recreation for an hour, away from his duty, who would pay for the costs of ten bags that would be produced during the time of absence,” he remarked.

The number of children employed in bag factories in old Dhaka is much higher than other cottage industries. A child worker receives only food and lodging for the three-month apprentice period. Thereafter they can earn between 300 to 350 Taka per week with a half day off on Fridays.   

Al-amin
Doz factory, Lalbagh

Al-amin is 12 years old and has already been working in a hair clip factory for two years, making him somewhat of a veteran in an industry where boys change jobs frequently.
His father died when he was one year old. “I had to start a job early since mother needed my income,” Al-amin says.
He can earn 720 taka per week with overtime. A typical day is from 8am until 5pm, but in the case of overtime he works until 10pm. Occasionally he will also work on Monday, his day off.
“This brings in an additional 60 taka for my mother,” Al-amin says. If he is not working on Mondays, he plays cricket with his friends.
“I have learned to read and write alphabet and can write my name, my mother’s name,” he says of his time at the centre.   

Rubel, the tray operator
Shahidnagar, Dhaka

For many children their workplace doubles as their home, making the LRCs a vital escape and source of education and life skills.
Rubel, who is 12 years old, joined Shuvo Food Products three months back and now works 12-hour days to earn 1200 taka per month.
“The owner is not so unkind with his words if I am late returning to duty from the centre, provided there’s no work,” Rubel says.
“But at work, you get slapped or verbally abused from time to time.”
“That is the fate of a poor worker and I need to keep my job to send my mother some money in the village. I talk to her over mobile phone every few days.”
The factory owner provides food and children sleep inside the factory. If sick, he pays for medicine too. Rubel plays football or cricket on Fridays. He also visits the nearest LRC at Amligola when there is a power cut or during his lunch hour.
Rubel dreams to be biscuit factory owner someday.

Meeraj at the Art competition
Lalbagh Fort, Dhaka

An art competition was arranged for the LRC children as part of a celebration marking the anniversary of poet Nazrul’s birth.  Meeraj won first prize having drawn according to the theme, while others drew from their heart.
“Visiting Lalbagh Fort for free was fun and we were treated by the elders nicely,” Meeraj says.
“They gave us paper and pencils, watercolour and crayons and treated us with savouries.”
“They let us play a little on the lawn and promised to mount my work with a glass frame for me.”

His father is a rickshaw puller and he works as an earring and pendant employee in a factory.
“I could draw from an early age. But my skills improved in the centre as the Apa showed me new techniques, provided papers and colour pencils and sent me to attend art classes.”

The curator of the Lalbagh Fort spent time with the children giving away prizes and promised to arrange a daylong event at the end of the year for the LRC children in Lalbagh Thana.

Farukh, the responsible one
Velakopa, Kurigram

“We have a cow and calf. I collect fodder and feed them. But I can’t take them for a bath on my own,” Farukh says.
“I need others to help me doing that. I go to the Madrasa in the morning. They teach Arabic, Bangla, English and maths. The Madarasa is closed for 18 days for the mango and jackfruit season.”

Farukh and his two friends, Ashik and Dabir, come to the centre at the edge of the village as they please. ”We have all the time in the world now. We like to play puzzles, make maps with broken pieces and play carom board. My tutor comes in the evening to coach me at our house. At the centre, apa (the centre manager) sings for us and we also sing with her. She tells us stories and helps to practice writing and reading. It would be good if we had a football to play with. The girls have ropes for skipping.”
His father is a rickshaw-puller in Kurigram, while the mother stays at home. 

Jesmin and rusell
Khulna

Jesmin and Rusell, siblings, cut firewood which they sell with their mother. They live on the log yard. Their father takes the chopped wood on his cart to be sold. 
“Apa from the shikhon centre took me to the UCEP School and got me admitted. I am only one in my family to continue their education,” Jesmin says. “There are days when the workload is heavy and I have to skip school. I wish there was food in the centre after school.”

Firoz, the truck owner (in his dream world)
Dipu Para, Kurigram

O Garial Bhai (O brother Driver)!
Where is the car heading for?
Dhaka.
How much will the fare be?
Fifty Taka.
With a seat or without?
I will get you a seat.

Joy and Limon, Cousins
Dipu Para, Kurigram

Both Joy and Limon work as bidi workers and fill tobacco into the shells at home. It is a job that makes other forms of child labour appears well paid.

Joy, the older cousin, makes 3000 sticks, while Limon can only manage 1000 pieces.
“The wage is very little, four taka for a thousand sticks,” says Limon. “Joy was never interested in school. While I would send him to school, he would run away to play with friends leaving his books under a tree.”
“Now at the centre, he reads and writes a little. Since it is not a routine and he can come for an hour or two whenever he pleases, he likes it. He can write his name now”, Joy’s mother says.

Limon takes it easy and plays more at the centre. He is only seven years old and “you don’t expect a lot from him,” his mother says.
“Like most children in our neighbourhood, they grow up working. Education is luxury when we can’t make ends meet.”
“A little education with fun and care in the learning centre is a distraction for our children. At times when we are cross with children, they will run to the safety of the centre and the teachers will defend them.”

Choto Sohel and Boro Sohel
Choto Katra, Dhaka
While most children play games, these brothers make them. Boro and his younger brother Choto earn 110 and 73 taka per day respectively making snakes and ladders board games.
“For three years we have been making the game boards and have lost interest in playing even one round,” Boro says.
The job requires non-stop attention from cutting and pasting boards, drying them under the sun and packing and delivering the finished product to the shops. 

 Monika and Mukta, bidi shell makers
Char Velakopa, Kurigram

Climate change is destroying the land and livelihoods of many poor villagers, forcing children to pick up the slack in the family’s income. 

Monika and Mukta fund their own education. “Bidi making is daily labour that pays for the children’s education,” their mother Paruli says. 
“All my three children attend school though it is hard.” 
“We work so hard and yet, can’t find comfort. We have made this village a home since seven years after our former home was eroded by the Dharala River.” 
The girls earn just four taka for one thousand shells. “We can make a maximum of 4000 shells in a day,” the sisters say. Both love using the skipping rope at the centre and are some of the best players in the village. “The brother and sister at the centre help us to do the lessons from school.”

Priya and Dola
Rasulbagh, Dhaka

Almost half of Bangladeshi primary school students drop out before they finish year five, only to enter the workforce. Even for those children who make it to the centres, work is never far from their minds. In old Dhaka, for every child that attends a centre there are many more that can’t. To reach out to these children, STC educates employers about the mutual benefits of learning and recreation, including fewer accidents and increased productivity.

Both Priya and Dola work in a family business making cotton flower buds. They stopped school a few years back while they were in grades three and five due to work pressures. 
“The centre is a relief from non-stop work. I go with my youngest sibling once there is a power cut and read and write, play carom board or just gossip,” says Priya. 
“My mother is tight on me and says, first work and recreation later.”
“Apa [the centre manager] tells us about health and the value of education. We all sing in unison. It is fun.”
Once the fan begins to circle overhead once more and the children realise that the power has returned, they hurry home. 

“The work pressure makes the children adult at a tender age”, a social worker says. 

Rusel Mir
Rupsha Ghat, Khulna

Rusel likes to sing, copy others and dreams that one day he will own his own car workshop.
“The centre is not bad,” he says. “No one scolds you there like they do at work.”
Rusel’s mother carries water for the fish traders at Rupsha Ghat while he sorts the fish, cleans the fish trays and also carries water in two shifts, early morning and afternoon. For this he earns 80 taka per day.
“When there is no fish, there is no work and plenty of time to play and I go to the centre to draw and paint and play with others. I left school during third grade. I can write my name and do not like to read books.” 

Shahjalal the singer
Nolgola, Dhaka

For many children who work in cities away from their families or who travel long distances to work, the learning and recreation centres are home away from home. Shahjalal and Tania cross the city every day to work as scavengers. The siblings sell their bounty to the same vangari dokan(waste product shop), earning each 600 taka per week in the process. The LRC has become their refuge as they travel long distances to work. “We need rest. Our home is a small shack and hot and suffocating,” Shahjalal. 
Shahjalal likes to make cars with Lego and tune his harmoni (harmonium). He is an enthusiastic singer and with the slightest encouragement will perform his favourite songs.”

I am the sinner, Lokman, the culprit
And I need is your help,
Without your mercy, what will happen to my soul!

Shima, trouble at home
Lalbagh, Dhaka
 
“I wish I could stay in the centre away from the misery at home forever,” says 13 year old Shima. Her father is a drug addict and, according to Shima, beats her when high and unable to obtain money from her mother. “I don’t feel like going home after school. I prefer spending time at the centre with friends. Here I can forget the troubles at home, my abusive step-father.” 
Prodipon has helped enrol Shima in school to continue her studies. She is in year eight now and is known as a good singer, dancer and also member of the children’s committee.
Shima and her younger brother, Shumon, come from Keranigonj, across Buriganga River.

Yasin, rickshaw van puller
Khulna
“My school days were over once I became a van puller three years back,” recounts xxxx year old Yasin. “My father is also a van puller and so it was natural that I would do the same job.”
“While he carries heavy loads, I only transport people in the first part of the day and earn about 150 taka per day.”
Yasin visits the centre after lunch. “I like it here. The apa (sister) and bhai (brother) talk nicely and advise us on life skills. They take us to places during events. Last month we went to Royal Hotel to attend a seminar.”

Zahid and Munshi, discrimination among the children
Nababganj, Dhaka

Work brings with it other challenges for children, including stigmatisation. By combining working children with those who do not work, the centres try to build friendships and tackle discrimination.

Zahid and Munshi team-up collecting garbage from home. “We carry it to the dump and find the items that bring cash. It is good money but it’s filthy and smelly.  I have been to the centre a few times and realised that the other children call me a dump boy. Some did not want to mix with me.” 

Child labour will only be eliminated when parents appreciate that the economic return on education is greater than that of child labour. This will only occur when the quality of Bangladesh’s education system improves markedly and incidental costs to families are brought down substantially.

There is little evidence that shows that child labour is required for poverty alleviation. Only 8.1 per cent of families whose children are involved in hazardous child labour would slide into poverty if their child labour income was forgone, according to a 2005 report by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. In fact, an International Labour Organisation report found that if child labour were eliminated and replaced by universal education, by 2026 the economic and social benefits would exceed costs by 6.7:1, and 7:2:1 in Asia.

Research reveals that working hours are negatively correlated with school attendance. About half of all child labourers do not attend school at all, and among child domestic workers only 11 per cent go to school. Consequently, child workers are unable to escape low paying and low-skilled jobs that perpetuate the intergenerational transmission of poverty.