Rosa Ordonez’s school is noisy and packed with kids. And the lessons can be overwhelming for the 10-year-old. But Rosa is happy to be there even though she has a tight schedule to keep. Being in school in the afternoon with friends sure beats her day job.
Just last year, Rosa was like millions of youngsters across Latin America who spent most of their time at work, never having the chance to step into a classroom – a situation caused by poverty. Rather than beg for money, the children work to help support their families.
In Guatemala, 80 percent of the population lives in poverty and two-thirds of that number, 7.6 million people, live in extreme poverty. This means most children learn early on what it means to struggle for a living.
In the morning, Rosa sells a sweet corn drink in the market for one Quetzal (13 cents), making about 18Q ($2.35) a day. Carrying a white bucket filled with the drink and a few cups, she and her mother, Juana, walk around the local market in search of their next customer. In the afternoon, she’s in school.
Rosa’s classmates, Ana Alicia, 10, and Elena, 11, clean houses and sell tomatoes at the market. And, when 16-year-old Ana Maria Tevelan’s father died a few years ago, she had to drop out of regular school to work. She sells handicrafts at a booth in the market in the morning while her two younger sisters (who are in regular school in the morning) sell doll magnets in the afternoon when Ana Maria is in school. Ana Maria says they make 70 percent of her family’s income. None of these girls can recall ever having a day off.
Yet amid their tales of hardship – and they have many – things are getting better.
CARE has teamed with schools, local partners and the Ministry of Education on a pilot program to give working children the opportunity to attend school on weekdays from 2 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
“When children start out as unskilled laborers, they generally stay that way and never climb the ladder,” says Carlos Perez, manager for CARE’s Primero Aprendo (First I Learn) program in Chicicastenango. He started life as a child laborer himself, later becoming the first in his family to graduate from school. “Education gives them a shot at something more. By giving children the opportunity to go to school, we hope to help them develop new skills and eventually break the tradition of child labor being passed down from generation to generation.”
CARE’s Primero Aprendo pilot program started two years ago targeting children aged 6 to 16 in six countries in Central America. To date, it has helped put 2,000 children like Rosa, Ana Alicia, Elena and Ana Maria in school.
“Parents everywhere know what makes for a good childhood,” notes actress and CARE Ambassador Sarah Michelle Geller after meeting with students and parents at a school in Chichicastenango. “They’d far prefer that their children go to school and play than spend their days working,” says Gellar. “But in too many families if the kids don’t work, everyone knows, the family won’t eat. Child labor isn’t about disregard for the needs of children; it’s the result of desperation bred by poverty.”
In order to get more kids in school and break the cycle of poverty, parents have to be convinced of its importance. CARE staff and teachers are going door to door, talking to working families about the Primero Aprendo program.
“There’s still a traditional belief that once girls are married they don’t have a use for education. So there isn’t much value put on education from the start,” says Gellar. “Education empowers girls to better understand their rights. When they know their rights and have solid skills, they will be able to make good decisions for themselves and their families. They can become leaders in their communities. These girls would likely never be in school were it not for this CARE program aimed specifically at child laborers.”
