I'm going to have to take a stand against child labor despite the obvious complexity of the matter.
Walking around Ouidah, one is confronted at every turn by this issue. Children are at work performing numerous tasks: baby sitting, sweeping, clearing fields, selling food, sewing garments, and repairing cars and motorcycles. Africa has a vibrant "apprentice" system where pre-teens work alongside adults to learn a trade.
Many times, child labor seems unremarkable and innocuous, even if somewhat unusual for a westerner. A 10-year-old girl carrying a baby on her back or a similarly aged boy selling matches and candies in front of his house doesn't raise an eyebrow.
But the youngsters who appear 8-12 years old and who haul water atop their heads to a workshop, change tires on automobiles, or sell acasa as they stroll about town (fermented corn paste--see the picture above) seem to cross the line of acceptability regarding children's rights and protections.
On the face of it, child labor seems abusive in that it steals "childhood" from the boys and girls who work late into the night to earn a living. Scratch the surface a bit and you'll find that some of the apprentices cannot speak French because they haven't been (and won't be going) to school. The lack of formal education will lead to perennial disadvantage in terms of the perks provided by literacy and the language of the state.
Finally, child laborers effectively displace adults who could be earning a living performing the tasks (perhaps for a higher wage) completed by children. Nobody knows the unemployment and underemployment rates in Benin, but nearly 40 percent of the population lives below the poverty line, and 58 percent of the population is functionally illiterate.
Conversations with locals will often lead to a defense of child labor, even when it means abandoning formal education and living a life as an illiterate. Thoughtful and intelligent people note that many children do not succeed in school and may not learn anything to help them land a job by struggling through the Beninese education system. They argue that Africa's apprentice system gives individuals an opportunity to earn a living and advance one's station in life. This may be the only hope for some of society's poorest people.
People who defend the apprentice system that employs children charge that opposition to the practice is yet again an instance of the imposition of values from the privileged west. Outsiders coming from a place of opportunity and comfort have difficulty walking in the shoes of a poor African, and they (we) never have to live the consequences resulting from the ethical and legal positions they would impose.
My friend Patrice, himself a poor young man working as a barkeep, defended the apprentice system in simple terms: "Poor kids and their families have no money. The job allows the child to have some money and to eat. Are you going to give the child money to eat?"
Obviously, Patrice's simple scenario ignores the possibility that social and political systems can provide better alternatives to child labor as a response to scarcity. But his perspective does convey a daily, urgent reality faced by thousands of children on the continent.
Thanks for putting me on the spot Patrice. I'm not sure where I stand now on the issue of child labor.
