FIGHT CHILD MARRIAGES

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PUBLISHED IN THE NEW VISION, MONDAY, July 2, 2012
CAROLINE SANYU NAKALYANGO JOY FOR CHILDREN UGANDA



The New Vision, Thursday, June, 28, 2012 ran a story urging parents to support the Government campaign against child labour. This is evident in Kiryandongo and Masindi districts where children at primary school level are being employed as labourers on the tobacco fields. Child labour is a hindrance to children’s education as they almost become comfortable with the little wages they get from the tobacco field owners hence totally give up on Education. Often time’s children have been exposed to the labour market even as early as 13 years. Young girls are brought from the rural areas to come and work as nannies and house keepers in the city. You find a child of school going age taking care of a toddler at home. It is no news that some of these children are being sexually harassed by their employers who in turn pay them some little money for their silence. This is how some of these children are introduced to prostitution hence increasing the spread of HIV. Recently in New Vision a catholic priest defiled a girl who occasionally had been sent by her parents to help the priest with domestic work. Another story is that of Judith, a 14 year old who was about to be defiled by her boss but managed to fight him off and obviously she lost her job at the man’s residence. Young boys too are exploited and work on empty stomachs. After a heavy day’s work, they go away without a single payment. Children that are employed in tobacco‐growing areas are in jeopardy of adopting the vice of smocking which will pilot to poor health in future. Smocking leads to cancer which is a very dangerous disease and hard to be treated. The fact that children are exposed to the labour market reduces their need to be in school as they see it a waste of time. This alone will hinder the government programmes from progressing. Especially on the Education for all children in the country. Parents are therefore called upon to support the government campaign against child labour. They should not send their children to work especially girls as they stand a high chance of being defiled, getting pregnant and infected with HIV/AIDS that has no cure‐Children should be encouraged by their parents to go to school after all education at both primary and secondary level is free to all children in Uganda. In this way they are able to attain basic education and plan for a better future with the knowledge and skills they attain from school. The country needs very intelligent people that can plan for its development. This can not be achieved if children of the nation are Uneducated, exploited as child labourers on plantation farms and are sexually abused by their employers who infect them with the Pandemic.

PUBLISHED IN THE NEW VISION, Tuesday, July 10, 2012

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