April 9, 2012 Jennifer Lopez 8-73

The Hardships and Pain of Living a Life as a Child Labourer

How was your childhood? Did you disobey your parents? Did you fool around in school

and not take your education seriously? Did you secretly throw away your dinner while your

parents were not looking? Well the life of a child labourer is the complete opposite of what we

experience or experienced. In the novel Iqbal by Francesco D’Adamo, it showcases a boy named

Iqbal who stands up to rude masters as he works in hazardous working conditions. He also tries

to gain the rights that have been denied from children who work as child labourers. Masters,

working conditions and having human rights denied are factors of the horrible life child

labourers experience. Children who live in the developed world need to acknowledge the fact

that they have a great life filled with freedom and lots of opportunities that they should not take

for granted as many children in the world don’t get to enjoy a caring and safe childhood.

    Many masters make the overall life of a child labourer even harder than it already is.

Masters make children work for very long periods of time, for example in the novel Iqbal,

children are forced to work from dawn to dusk. (D’Adamo VI) Masters will do anything to keep

children working and money going into their pockets. In the novel Iqbal, Hussain Khan, the

master gave the two policemen each a baksheesh to keep their mouths shut about the rumour of

child labour happening in his house. (D’Adamo, 60) Masters are not gracious, they pressure

children to work and lie to them about the debt they have to pay. How does a master lie about a

debt? Well in the novel Iqbal, Hussain Khan has a slate for each worker and on each slate are

multiple tallies. (D’Adamo, 4) Never did a single child have all the tallies on their slate removed.

Fatima, in the novel Iqbal has been working at the carpet factory for 3 years and yet her slate was

still filled with tallies. (D’Adamo, 20) We need to demand that masters treat their workers fairly

and encourage them to hire adult workers.

    The people child labourers work for are hard to deal with. Can you imagine the places

child labourers have to work! Hearing someone describe a child labourer’s working conditions is

disturbing and painful to my ears. Children who work and live in factories, work in hazardous

conditions, some work in very hot summer conditions, in dirty courtyards while the place

children remove their waste is just a Turkish toilet behind a filthy curtain. (D’Adamo, 1 and 3)

April 9, 2012 Jennifer Lopez 8-73

When children are not working, they are probably getting punished for doing something horrible

like cutting a carpet. In the novel Iqbal, punishment would be getting sent to the Tomb. The tomb

was an old cistern with slippery steps where it is so hot that there is no air to breathe. (D’Adamo,

38) Most children who work for multiple hours in factories are very malnourished, just like the

adults and children who are experiencing the drought and famine in Somalia. The conditions

people have to live through in Somalia are so deadly that 1 child dies every 6 minutes.

(Famine, War, Drought Relief, http://action.usaid.gov/home.php)

In addition to the horrible conditions child labourers work in, child labourers work in

places where their rights have been abused and denied. One right child labourers have been

denied from is the right to protection from any kind of exploitation as many child labourers have

been exploited and used to make money. (Children’s Rights,

http://globalclassroom.unicef.ca/en/professional_development/childrens_rights.htm) For

example, Iqbal was exploited into child labour because Iqbal’s brother was sick and needed

medical care. (D’Adamo, 19).

To be raised by your parents is a right, many of us in developed countries take for granted as

many child labourers don’t get to see their parents for three years and yet most of them are

younger than ten. (Children’s Rights,

http://globalclassroom.unicef.ca/en/professional_development/childrens_rights.htm)

Many child labourers have been denied of their right to be protected from being hurt and

mistreated, in the body or mind. (Children’s Rights,

http://globalclassroom.unicef.ca/en/professional_development/childrens_rights.htm)

Child labourers are harassed by strong, rude words and abused physically and mentally by the

master. We have many rights, rights that we shouldn’t take advantage of. We should care about

the rights we have because they are rights we will have forever but they can be denied from us

instantly.

April 9, 2012 Jennifer Lopez 8-73

As you can see the life of a child labourer is difficult as they have lost a lot of their rights

and so did they lose their entire childhood. Now that you received a brief tour on the life of child

labourers, now you can make a difference! One way you can do this is by spreading the facts and

details included in this essay. Another way is to create posters or ask for donations and mail them

to organizations. As you can see reading about the life of a child labourer is heartbreaking,

imagine experiencing their life! That’s why not only should we care and enjoy our life to the best

of our ability but we should make people more aware so another child does not have to

experience the hardships of being a child labourer.