A ray of hope for Colombian children

(May 2010)

Article published in Union View n°18, , also available at http://www.ituc-csi.org/IMG/pdf/VS_migrant_EN-2.pdf

Work in mines, sexual exploitation, domestic labour, gang recruitment... Colombia's disadvantaged children run a high risk of being dragged into the worst forms of child labour. The national trade union centre, CGT, is working to mitigate this risk through education and awareness raising.

The CGT general workers' confederation is one of the most experienced trade unions in the fight against child labour. In the early eighties, it had already begun raising consciousness about the negative effects of child exploitation among its members in the informal economy. "During the trade union meetings held at weekends, some adults would come with their children who, for the most part, were child labourers," explains Myriam Luz Triana, CGT national finance secretary. "We started to organise games and to communicate with these children whilst their parents attended the meetings. We learnt a great deal about the home life and experiences of these children, about the conditions and types of work they were involved in, etc. Little by little, we brought together a group of around 150 of our members' children and their friends. We would take them once a week to the park in front of the CGT office in Bogota to eat and play a series of games aimed at raising their self-esteem and helping them to understand their rights as children, etc."

In 1996, the CGT decided to go a step further and offer the children extra tuition. CGT members contacted school heads and teachers, asking which children were having difficulties, then went to meet them and tried to convince their parents to let them take part in these catch-up activities. They then asked the children enrolled if they knew of any children not attending school who would like to join them. Programmes of this kind are currently underway in Facatativa and Bojaca, two small towns not far from Bogota, and Ciudad Bolivar, one of the poorest areas of the capital. Between 25 and 40 children in Ciudad Bolivar go to school in the morning and then to the CGT office between 2.30 pm and 5.00 pm. They are all in school, as the office is located in the least disadvantaged part of Ciudad Bolivar, the part located at the lowest altitude. It would be too risky for the CGT to carry out these activities in the higher areas, where paramilitaries are present in large numbers and it is best to keep a low profile, especially as trade unionists.

The CGT's school catch-up programme is a response to the difficulties children have assimilating certain subjects during normal school hours (due to the excessive class numbers, which mean that teachers are unable to devote the necessary attention to weaker pupils). The level of education reached by their parents is another obstacle. "I wanted my son to take part in the CGT's activities as he was not doing very well at school, among other things because there was no one in the house to help him with his homework," explains 38-year-old Gloria, who lives in Ciudad Bolivar. "I would like to be able to help him, but I did not even reach secondary school level. He is doing much better at school since he has been receiving help from the CGT teachers."

                                   Improving children's behaviour

The union asked an educator, Luz Mila Triana, to develop games to facilitate understanding in certain subjects. "In the case of maths, for example, we organise card games in which the children have to calculate," she explains. "To teach them reading and good values at the same time, we give the children texts to read and they have to reproduce what they have read in games." Aside from the better school results, the children's parents are delighted at the change in their behaviour towards other family members, friends, etc. "Before, my son had a tendency to be violent at times with other children, but there has been a huge improvement since he has been attending the CGT's classes," says Luz Marina from Facatativa. "The educators teach him respect for others, including older people."  

These changes in day-to-day behaviour may seem surprising considering the short time spent with the CGT teachers in Bojaca and Facatativa (three to four hours a week, whilst in Ciudad Bolivar in Bogota, they spend three hours a day). It would seem that the influence of people outside the family circle and school plays an important role, all the more so thanks to the playful environment in which the activities take place. Luz Mila Triana: "We organise games that help children to distinguish between good and bad behaviour, etc. If, for example, a child mistreats one of his classmates, we create a game where the roles are reversed, so that they understand how the other person feels. We also try to help them understand the realties their parents and teachers, etc. are faced with..."

                               Keeping children out of bad company

In addition to these improvements, the programme plays a crucial role in preventing child labour. "Our activities prevent the risk of children being exposed to drugs and bad company (such as gangs), or being pushed into work by their families," notes Claudia Castro, coordinator of the CGT programme in Ciudad Bolivar. Claudia is one of the five people employed by the CGT who are former child labourers and were part of the initial group of 150 children that benefitted from the trade union's activities. As a child, she worked in the production of fireworks and emerald mines. 

The CGT estimates that some 5,000 children have been involved in its programmes to date. "But when we carry out our awareness raising in schools, we reach even more people," underlines Myriam Luz. "The teachers and children pass on what we say to their communities, even if not all of them join our school catch-up programmes. In addition, all of our informal economy trade unions continue to receive regular awareness raising about child labour."

The CGT may not have recruited new members thanks to the programme but, as Myriam Luz points out, that is not the aim: "We may be mistaken not to think more about ourselves, but the most important thing is the children. We have received many thanks from their parents, who understand that the CGT goes beyond the usual trade union activities, and they speak to other workers about it." The CGT general secretary, Julio Roberto Gomez Esguerra, agrees entirely: "It all brings us recognition, even from the non union community, families, etc. Creating a positive image of the CGT is a long-term investment, a seed that may grow."

                                                                                    Samuel Grumiau

Box:

Better school results

"I take part in the CGT's school catch-up activities every Friday, and they have helped me to pass the exams in subjects I was having difficulties with. I sometimes had a little difficulty understanding things, but the main problem was that my family didn't have enough money to buy the books needed for studying. Other children taking part in the CGT's classes have lent me their books and, since then, my results have been good."

(Ronald, aged 12, attends the CGT programme in Facatativa).

Box:

Long-term commitment

"For the CGT, the fight against child labour is not a fad; it is something we do with or without international financial support. In Ciudad Bolivar, one of the poorest areas of Bogota, the people living there were surprised to see us stay, as they were used to seeing "charity" organisations coming to help them, to advance their political aims, and then leaving when the elections were over."

(Myriam Luz, CGT national finance secretary)

"They put a weapon in my hand and a cigarette in my mouth"

Fifteen-year-old Jableidy escaped from the guerrillas and the worst forms of child labour. She is now a monitor for a CGT programme to help disadvantaged children.

I am originally from El Rubi, in the department of Santander. I started working at the age of eight: I did the housework and had to prepare food for my father and 16 coca workers. My mother and I wanted me to go to school, but my father would not allow it, as according him, "schooling is for donkeys". The situation was becoming dangerous in the region, a group of guerrillas tried to win me over, they placed a weapon in my hand and a cigarette in my mouth; they tried to get me to join them.

I didn't start going to school until I was ten, when my mother left my father to come and live in Bojaca, not far from Bogota, where it is safer. I am 15 now and am in the process of making up for the gap in my education relative to the other pupils of my age. The CGT's school catch-up programme has helped me in all the subjects I was having difficulties with, and has allowed me to pass all my exams. My dream is to be a singer, and also to continue with my education to become a teacher or a psychologist so that I can help children in difficulty.

I am only working on Sundays at the moment, from 6 am to 6 pm. I sell tickets in the car parks where tourists come to park, and fetch water from the wells for the toilets. I earn 15,000 pesos (7.70 dollars) a day. I used to sell rings before I got this job (I used to earn about 5,000 pesos for working from 7 am to 5 pm); I have also worked on the market, and as a domestic labourer, ...

Every Friday afternoon, I am one of the monitors at the CGT programme, and am in charge of the other monitors. I like teaching, being a leader. I know that some children are shy, but I get on easily with everyone. I try to talk to the children, to advise them not to work, telling them that they can get cut or burnt at the market, for example. I don't like telling them too much about my own experience, because it distresses me, but I like to show them affection and encourage them to go as far as they can with their studies.