PB 68: Rights for Peru’s child labourers

Report from Peace Boat’s 68th Global Voyage:

March 6, 2010 Callao, Peru – MANTHOC and MNNATSOP – Rights for Peru’s Child Labourers

More the 2.5 million children in Peru have to go to work in order to support themselves or their families. UNICEF says 19 per cent of the nation’s children aged 5-14 work to some degree. “What laws do you have in Japan to protect working children?” asked a teenaged Peruvian girl. The group of guests from Peace Boat sat silent for a few moments before one participant explained that most young people in Japan don’t work unless their trying to earn money for things such as clothes and cell phones. The girl and her friends appeared slightly surprised at the response; for them, a job isn’t a privilege. Organisations around the world try to ensure children don’t have to start working at a young age, but the reality is that some children must earn money to support themselves or their families. Children in Lima and throughout Peru work in factories, shops and internet cafes, or at markets; some have to sell snacks on buses or work on the streets playing music or washing car windows. Unfortunately, many youngsters don’t know their rights or have the education to seek out employment where they’re not exploited and underpaid.

Eleven year-old Carmen (left) works at an internet shop. Her story was the same as almost all the other children Peace Boat participants met at MANTHOC: With the assistance of MANTHOC* and MNNATSOP** – partner organisations with centers located all over the country – children and adolescents are standing up for their dignity and safety and learning skills to find jobs that offer sufficient pay. “There are laws in Peru about child workers,” says Olga Rivera Roman. “(They) only refer to children over the age of 14, but in reality there are children younger than that who are working.” Ms Rivera has worked with MANTHOC for 15 years and is currently president of the association, which actively works with more than 3000 young people nation-wide. In Peru, she explains, there are more than 2.5 million child labourers and many of them work in “precarious” situations.

Amauta developed as a community during the years of Peru’s internal conflict. Much of the area’s population was displaced during that time and migrated to Lima, where they built wooden shanties up the sides of the city’s sandy desert mountains. Fifteen year-old Stefany, a junior high school student who works as a vendor, extended a warm welcome to 68th voyage participants at the MANTHOC center in the Amauta A district of Lima, and offered the group of 35 visitors some insight into their situation. “Kids work because our families don’t have money,” she says, “so we need to support them … and improve our quality of life.” According to Ms Rivera, families in Amauta generally live on $100-150 USD a month, earned by the parents, which is not nearly enough to support an entire family.

Participants who spent the day with the kids at MNATHOC and MNNATSOP didn’t let language barriers stop them from understanding each other. In more than three decades of work, MANTHOC – a Christian organisation – has given these children a voice and brought them into the public eye, encouraging them to push society to change how it treats child labourers. The NGO strives to make sure children who must work do so in adequate conditions – for no more than four hours a day – safe from mistreatment and abuse (both physical and sexual). The other important goal, Ms Rivera says, is guaranteeing that the children still have the opportunity to go to school and study. The organisation itself offers specialized education programmes and job training workshops. A small number of children can also work for MANTHOC through alternative work projects, making fair-trade goods – sold in Peru and internationally – as well as in one of the hostels the organisation has set up.

MNNATSOP’s music programme – just one of a number of skill-training projects – also helps kids earn money to survive and focus on their talents, not getting into trouble. Partner-organisation MNNATSOP formed in 1996 as spin-off from MANTHOC, in conjunction with other child labour groups. While the goals and activities are quite similar, the younger, secular organisation has grown so large it now assists more than 14,000 children, including those living on the streets. “(They) organise the children who work so that in the future we don’t face exploitation,” says MNNATSOP and MANTHOC member Samuel, age 15. “We can’t wait for the future for our rights. We need society to protect our rights now.” MNNATSOP conducts major campaigns for children’s rights, including the ¡Más Respeto! (More Respect) campaign which aims for global recognition of child workers and the contributions they make to society. Each year the world marks International Worker’s Day on May 1, but this is an acknowledgement of adult labourers; MNNATSOP wants children to be included as well. The organisation wrote in a 2008 newsletter that studies suggest children and adolescents contributed one per cent to Peru’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), but their labour doesn’t figure into statistics.

The children and staff at the two NGOs showed much appreciation for the Peace Boat visit. Having explained earlier about fair-trade alternative work programs, the kids gave individually made souvenirs to each participant. Before arriving at the port of Callao, guest educator Yoshii Yutaka – a freelance photographer living in Lima – introduced Peru’s child labour issue to 68th voyage participants and told them of a Japanese connection to MNNATSOP: the legacy of Nagayama Norio. Mr Nagayama was born into a severe poverty in post-war northern Japan. His family was so poor that his father died in a ditch in winter when Norio was only five, and his mother abandoned him. After moving to Tokyo as a teenager and continuing to live in poverty, he murdered four people in 1968. He argued, before being sentenced to death, his harsh living conditions led him to his fate. He wasn’t executed until 1997, but in prison he wrote novels about his life and hardships. Mr Nagayama originally used the money from his book sales to compensate his victims’ families. After 28 years in prison he was put to death by hanging, and at that time he decided to leave what savings he had to help prevent other disadvantaged children from winding up like him. With the help of people such as Mr Yoshii, MNNATSOP received support from Mr Nagayama’s estate.

*MANTHOC – Movimiento de Adolecentes y Niños Trabajadores Hijos de Obreros Cristianos (Movement of Adolescent and Child Workers, Children of Christian Labourers). More information at www.manthocperu.org (ESP only)  **MNNATSOP – Movimiento Nacional de Niños/Niñas y Adolecentes Trabajadores Organizados del Perú (National Movement of Organised Child and Adolescent Workers of Peru). More information at www.mnnatsop-peru.org (ESP only) With translation assistance by Leonardo Uego (Spanish-Japanese)