Working children fight for their rights
The "man -eating mountain" is called the Cerro Rico in the Bolivian Potosí - a symbol for the exploitation of Latin America's indigenous people. Thousands died to promote silver and tin for the Spanish colonial men. "It is a Potosí value" has become a fixed saying to express the great value of something. And the Cerro Rico still appears to many as a promise on wealth. Numerous mining cooperatives go into the mountain uncontrolled and uncoordinated, still work and die children in the insufficiently secured shafts. The mountain is so perforated that in 2011 a 700 square meter crater opened at its summit, which had to be poured out with concrete.
Today, social worker Luz from Terre des Hommes partner organization PASOCAP (Pastoral Social Cáritas Potosí) has come to the mountain. The air is thin at an altitude of over 4,000 meters, and it is dusty. Two boys are playing with a spinning top in front of a mine. Luz learns that although they don't work in the tunnels, they earn money guarding the mine entrance. They attend school. Luz tells the two children about the services offered by PASOCAP. "There are games, a theater group, homework help, meals, and counseling services for working children ," she explains. In addition, the on-site bakery offers an opportunity to earn money and receive training that is much more secure than working in the mountains. She invites the two boys to check out the open meetings at PASOCAP.
A right to worthy work
At the center of Pasocap, 30 young trade unionists are now exchange ideas about the situation of working children in Bolivia. It is not easy: by 2014, an absolute ban on child labor was made in Bolivia. Nevertheless, the number of working children was and is very high. An estimated three million children between the ages of five and 17 work in Bolivia, which corresponds to almost 30 percent of the total population. There is not only exploitial child labor, many children work, for example, as street sellers, shoe cleaners, load carriers or in restaurants.
But if you work in illegality, you cannot defend yourself against exploitation, you are not entitled to social benefits or minimum wages. That is why thousands of children organized in children's unions had campaigned for a law that was supposed to legalize child labor in exceptional cases. Dangerous activities such as work in the mines should continue to be prohibited, instead children should be secured by the youth welfare office, including all social benefits and basic employee rights, which gives children time for school and leisure and gets them out of illegality.
In 2016, the law was accepted by Parliament, but a short time later under pressure in particular of the International Labor Organization (ILO) by the highest court of Bolivia again declared unconstitutional. The working children in Bolivia are angry, and she makes it even angry that the ILO does not want to listen to the young trade unionists despite numerous inquiries. "You will continue to work on the street because it is a question of survival," explains Luz. “And it doesn't matter whether there are 1,000 laws that ban child labor. They are fighting for their right to work «.
A place to be a child
It is Saturday, in the center of Pasocap there is a bustle. The smell of fresh baked goods is in the air, in front of the center people stand in line to get a bag of the still warm rolls. Bake and sell young people from the project in the bakery. They operate and manage the business independently, it is carefully billed and registered. After a short time everything is sold out.
In the hall of the theater group, children whiz back and forth and look for their props and costumes together, the older children help the younger ones. The social worker Luz is everywhere. She supports the children in the theater rehearsal, talks to them about problems in family and work, offers concrete assistance or simply a shoulder to leave.
Then the demonstration starts. The piece developed by the children and adolescents is about violence in the family and manages to present this serious topic in an entertaining way, accompanied by a lot of music and dance. The children who are not on stage themselves sit on their chairs, fever and call the actors tips. Those who don't keep it inside play football outside.
Despite a good economic development, poverty in Bolivia is still so great that in addition to school attendance, children will work for an unforeseeable time despite a ban to ensure their survival. At least you will always find a protected room in the center of Pasocap in which you can be carefree, play and laugh and forget your worries.
Your support for strong children!