DISSERTATION

Titel der Dissertation

Interpretation of Child Labour in Uganda: A Case of

Children’s Work in Fishing Communities in Wakiso
District.

Verfasser

Eddy Joshua Walakira, M.A.

angestrebter akademischer Grad

Doktor der Philosophie (Dr. Phil.)

Wien, 2009

Studienkennzahl lt. Studienblatt: A 092/307

Dissertationsgebiet lt. Kultur- und Sozialanthropologie
Studienblatt:
Betreuerin / Betreuer: [Link].-Prof. Dr. Manfred Kremser
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 For the cause of children, their aspirations

Children hooking fish by author

A shared understanding of childhoods in a variety of contexts

A celebration of multiple views

A re-interpretation of child labour

iii
 Dedication

By author and Jimrex Byamugisha

To the King of Kings Jesus Christ

My mother Deborah Nakalembe

My wife Betty and the beautiful daughters Angel, Deborah and Blessing

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Table of Contents
Dedication ........................................................................................................................................ iv

List of tables and figures ................................................................................................................... xii

List of abbreviations ........................................................................................................................ xiii

Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................................... xv

Abstract ......................................................................................................................................... xvii

Chapter one ...................................................................................................................................... 1

1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 1

1.1 Situation analysis of child labour ........................................................................................ 2

1.2 Child labour in Uganda ....................................................................................................... 3

1.2.1 Occupations ............................................................................................................... 4

1.3 Tackling child labour through legal and policy frameworks ................................................. 6

1.4 Problematising child labour ................................................................................................ 8

1.5 Objectives of the study..................................................................................................... 11

1.6 Research questions .......................................................................................................... 11

1.7 Review of approaches underpinning the interpretation of child labour ............................ 12

1.7.1 Labour market perspective ....................................................................................... 12

1.7.2 The human capital perspective ................................................................................. 13

1.7.3 Social responsibility perspective ............................................................................... 14

1.7.4 The children centered perspective ............................................................................ 14

1.8 The case for interpretive and constructivist theories in guiding this study ........................ 15

1.8.1 Limiting the weaknesses of interpretive and constructivist approaches ........................ 17

1.9 The case for other theories or models .............................................................................. 18

1.9.1 The ecological model ................................................................................................ 18

1.9.2 Social learning theory ............................................................................................... 19

1.9.3 Contagion theories ................................................................................................... 20

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 1.9.4 Agency-structure theories ........................................................................................ 20

Chapter two .................................................................................................................................... 22

2 The research methodology ...................................................................................................... 22

2.1 Research design ............................................................................................................... 22

2.2 Theoretical orientation underpinning the research methodology ..................................... 22

2.3 Study area and choice of study activity............................................................................. 23

2.4 The choice of fishing activity ............................................................................................ 25

2.5 Study participants and selection ....................................................................................... 26

2.6 Data collection methods .................................................................................................. 27

2.6.1 Key informant interviews.......................................................................................... 27

2.6.2 Observation.............................................................................................................. 27

2.6.3 Focus group discussions ........................................................................................... 28

2.6.4 Documentary review ................................................................................................ 28

2.7 Analysis of data ................................................................................................................ 28

2.8 Scope of the study............................................................................................................ 29

Chapter three .................................................................................................................................. 31

3 Child upbringing in fishing communities................................................................................... 31

3.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 31

3.1.1 The shaping of childhoods: Parenting and ecological factors ..................................... 32

3.2 Child upbringing in open spaces in fishing communities: A blessing or curse? ................... 35

3.3 Child upbringing in a sexually perverse environment ........................................................ 39

3.4 “Children are too difficult to control in open spaces”: Common parenting styles at use.... 40

3.5 The irresistible attraction to money for young girls and boys on landing sites................... 43

3.6 Parents weigh in on sexual expressions and practices that harm young children .............. 44

3.7 Children give their views on how children are generally brought up ................................. 46

3.8 Maternalisation of child care: Burden left by runaway fathers .......................................... 47

3.9 Discussion ........................................................................................................................ 50

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 3.10 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 53

Chapter 4 ........................................................................................................................................ 55

4 Looking into the work and life styles of working children in fishing communities ..................... 55

4.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 55

4.2 Investigating child labour in the fisheries sector ............................................................... 56

4.3 The growing importance of the fishing sector ................................................................... 59

4.4 The general living environment for children in fishing communities ................................. 60

4.5 Knowing about the working children on the landing sites ................................................. 61

4.6 Children’s work in the fishing communities ...................................................................... 61

4.6.1 Children’s work in fishing.......................................................................................... 62

4.7 Tolerable and intolerable work for children in fishing ....................................................... 63

4.8 Views of children on tolerable and intolerable work......................................................... 64

4.9 The positive and negative influences on children.............................................................. 65

4.10 Looking into the life of a boy involved in fishing ............................................................... 66

4.11 Girls working in restaurants and bars ............................................................................... 67

4.12 Looking into the work of a girl in a domestic setting ......................................................... 70

4.13 A typical day for Joa combining domestic work and learning ............................................ 70

4.14 Surviving in a harsh environment: Evolving life styles of young people ............................. 74

4.14.1 Using drugs as a survival strategy ............................................................................. 74

4.14.2 Other habits or practices .......................................................................................... 76

4.15 Discussion ........................................................................................................................ 76

4.15.1 Childhoods shaped by poverty and children agency .................................................. 76

4.15.2 Interpretation of work using a constituent approach ................................................ 77

4.15.3 Finding happiness and meaning in life in spite of challenges ..................................... 77

4.15.4 Shaping childhoods and being shaped ...................................................................... 78

4.16 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 78

Chapter five..................................................................................................................................... 80

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5. Children’s interpretation of child labour: Vulnerability, traditional responsibility and children
agency discourse ............................................................................................................................. 80

5.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 81

5.2 The case for children’s participation in interpreting child labour ...................................... 82

5.3 Children’s definition of child labour .................................................................................. 84

5.4 Activities children consider inappropriate on fish landing sites ......................................... 86

5.5 The three dimension discourse on child labour from children’s interpretation ................. 88

5.6 Vulnerability as a reason for working ............................................................................... 89

5.6.1 Vulnerability to poverty drives us to work ................................................................ 89

5.6.2 Vulnerability to bad care givers ................................................................................ 90

5.7 Work as part of children’s traditional responsibility.......................................................... 92

5.8 Children’s agency: When undertaking work is a personal choice ...................................... 94

5.9 Discussion ........................................................................................................................ 97

5.9.1 Reflection on the meaning of child labour ....................................................................... 97

5.9.1 Making meaning of children’s linkage of child labour to poverty ............................... 98

5.9.2 Seeking work as a route to freedom ......................................................................... 99

5.9.3 Work as an exercise of children’s agency ................................................................ 100

Chapter Six .................................................................................................................................... 102

6 Child labour: a traditional child rearing practice ..................................................................... 102

6.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 102

6.2 Training children through work ...................................................................................... 103

6.3 Work as part of traditional child raising practices ........................................................... 105

6.4 Work meant for training varied with the age of the child................................................ 107

6.5 Approaches to training in the traditional system ............................................................ 109

6.5.1 Sending children to stay with traditional chiefs ....................................................... 109

6.5.2 Sending children to stay with relatives.................................................................... 110

6.5.3 Imparting discipline among children ....................................................................... 111

6.5.4 Educating children about work through proverbs and stories ................................. 112

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 6.6 Factors impacting on the traditional forms of training .................................................... 113

6.7 Discussion ...................................................................................................................... 116

6.7.1 Implications of the changing traditional training approach ..................................... 116

6.7.2 Success of traditional training affected by limitations in training contexts .............. 117

6.7.3 Invisible child abuse in the traditional approach to child training ............................ 118

6.7.4 Erosion of collective responsibility in child upbringing ............................................ 118

6.7.5 Variation of work according to age is a good practice ............................................. 119

6.7.6 Conclusion.............................................................................................................. 119

Chapter Seven ............................................................................................................................... 120

7 Child labour as cultural hegemony—a social construct of the West: The non conventional
discourse on child labour ............................................................................................................... 120

7.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 120

7.2 Thoughts held before data collection ............................................................................. 122

7.3 Child labour is a cultural construct of the West .............................................................. 123

7.4 Child labour a ploy to make “us” dependent on the developed world ............................ 128

7.5 The challenge on children rights ..................................................................................... 131

7.6 Views of participants from fishing communities ............................................................. 133

7.7 Views of the elderly about child labour and children’s rights .......................................... 134

7.8 Reflection on the emerging views and conclusions ......................................................... 135

Chapter Eight ................................................................................................................................ 138

8 Child abuse discourse: Child labour is abusive and violent work ............................................. 138

8.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 138

8.2 Renewed efforts to deal with child violence ................................................................... 140

8.3 The local equivalent of child labour: Abusive—cruel—violent work ................................ 143

8.4 Traditional means of addressing abuse........................................................................... 144

8.5 Working for money corrupts morals of young children ................................................... 145

8.5.1 Views of children on working for pay ...................................................................... 147

8.6 Activities that characterise child labour (abusive work) .................................................. 148

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 8.6.1 Working in markets ................................................................................................ 148

8.6.2 Working as house girls (housemaids) ...................................................................... 149

8.6.3 Children’s work on the fish landing sites—largely inappropriate work .................... 149

8.7 Views concerning inappropriate work for children ......................................................... 152

8.8 Efforts against child labour misinterpret ‘normal work’ .................................................. 153

8.9 Discussion of findings ..................................................................................................... 153

8.9.1 Areas of convergence with international view on child labour ................................ 155

8.9.2 Conclusion.............................................................................................................. 155

Chapter Nine ................................................................................................................................. 157

9 “We want practical learning”: Children’s views about school and work .................................. 157

9.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 157

9.2 Protecting childhood? Rejecting children’s involvement in work in favour of education . 158

9.3 Situation of education in Uganda: Increased enrolment, lower survival rates and
achievement levels .................................................................................................................... 159

9.4 Education status of children in fishing communities ....................................................... 162

9.5 Children’s views on education and work......................................................................... 163

9.6 Inside the school: How children feel about education and the subjects they study ......... 163

9.7 Children craving for modern and traditional skills........................................................... 165

9.8 The desire for practical learning from subjects taught at school ..................................... 167

9.9 Pupils’ experiences at school that discourage school attendance ................................... 168

9.10 Distractions outside school: Mistreatment at home ....................................................... 171

9.11 The hidden costs of education that force children out of school ..................................... 172

9.12 Compatibility and incompatibility of children’s work with school.................................... 172

9.13 “Take children away from fishing communities for them to study” ................................. 175

9.14 Parents view the lack of schools as the biggest concern ................................................. 176

9.15 Discussion ...................................................................................................................... 178

Chapter Ten................................................................................................................................... 181

10 Interpreting child labour in light of existing laws and policies: Local peoples’ perspectives. 181

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 10.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 181

10.1.1 Children as complete human beings but with limited rights .................................... 183

10.1.2 Reasons for limiting children’s economic and other rights ...................................... 185

10.2 Child labour in light of international and national laws ................................................... 186

10.3 Gaps in relation to legal provisions on child labour ......................................................... 188

10.4 Child labour in light of national policies and programmes............................................... 189

10.5 The challenge of distinguishing between working children and child labourers............... 189

10.6 Interpretation of child labour by policy makers and implementers ................................. 192

10.7 Comparing the interpretation in policies and laws with views of ordinary persons ......... 195

10.8 Conclusions .................................................................................................................... 197

Chapter Eleven .............................................................................................................................. 199

11 Conclusions: Implications of findings to theory and practice .............................................. 199

11.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 199

11.2 The context of child upbringing in fishing communities .................................................. 199

11.3 Nature of children’s work and lifestyles.......................................................................... 201

11.4 Children’s discourse on child labour .............................................................................. 203

11.5 Child labour as a traditional child rearing practice discourse........................................... 205

11.6 Child labour as cultural hegemony of the West discourse ............................................... 206

11.7 Child abuse discourse: Child labour as abusive, violent and forced work......................... 207

11.8 Children’s views about school and work ......................................................................... 208

11.9 Local people’s interpretation of child labour in light of public policy............................... 210

12 References ......................................................................................................................... 212

Annexes ........................................................................................................................................ 242

Annex 1: Profile of author .......................................................................................................... 242

Annex 2: Statistical picture of child labour in fishing communities ............................................. 244

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List of tables and figures

Table 1.2: Working children and child labourers

Table 1.2.1: Children’s economic activities
Table 2.5: Study participants
Table 3.4: Parenting styles in the fishing communities
Table 3.6: Children’s role models on landing sites
Table 4.3: Exports of Uganda’s fish and its products
Table 4.4: Services from sites where data was collected
Table 4.6.1: Activities embedded in fishing work
Table 4.8: Tolerable and intolerable work in general within fishing communities
Table 4.13a: Activities representing a typical day for Joa (14)
Table 4.13b: Joa’s activities as tracked on Friday 28 September 2007 at Gerenge
Table 5.3a: Children’s understanding of “bad work” based on essays
Table 5.3b: Categorisation of ‘good work’ at home
Table 5.4a: Inappropriate activity
Table 5.4b: Taxonomy of children’s environments in fishing communities
Table 6.4: Activities allocated to children according to age and level of responsibility
Table 8.3: Child labour interpreted as “child torture”
Table 8.5: “Child labour is making underage children undertake work for pay”
Table 8.7: Work considered inappropriate for children below 14 years
Table 9.3a: Percentage of grade 3 and 6 pupils in Uganda reaching defined competency
levels by subject, 1996 to 2006
Table 9.3b: Efficiency indicators between 2000 and 2004
Table 9.4: Education indicators among working children in fishing communities
Table 9.6a: Jobs that children want to do in future (Bulega Primary School)
Table 9.6b: Performance of Kigero Primary school pupils in P.7 national examinations
Table 10.2: Selected conventions ratified by Uganda to protect children’s rights
Table 10.7: Views of local people and children on legal and policy positions that define
child labour

Figures
Fig. 1.9.1: Children’s care environment (Children’s care ecology)
Fig. 2.3: Study areas
Fig. 3.2: The ecology of children’s interactive environment in fishing communities
Fig. 3.8: Multiple vulnerabilities facing children and care givers on islands
Fig. 4.13: Joa’s work and time allocation between School and household
Fig. 5: Children’s construction of child labour
Fig. 5.9.3: A generational conflict
Fig. 6.4: Extent of child participation in household work
Fig. 7.1: Child labour as perceived under the cultural hegemony discourse
Fig. 8.2: What to consider in defining abuse in a work situation
Fig. 8.9: The ecology of violent (abusive) work

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List of abbreviations

ACPF African Child Policy Forum

ACWRC African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child
AIDS Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome
ANPPCAN African Network for Prevention and protection Against Child Abuse
ARVs Anti-Retroviral Drugs
BMC Beach Management Committee
CBOs Community Based Organisations
CBS Central broadcasting Services
CD Community Dialogue
CRC Convention on the Rights of the Child
CSEC Commercial and Sex exploitation of Children
CSOs Civil Society organisations
ECLAC Education to Combat Abusive Child Labour
EFA Education For All
FGD Focus Group Discussion
FUE Federation of Uganda Employers
GDP Gross Domestic Product
HIV Human Immune Virus
ILO International Labour Office
IPEC International Programme on Elimination of Child Labour
ISIC International Standard Industrial Classification
KII Key Informant Interviews
KURET Kenya Uganda Rwanda Together
LC Local Council
LRA Lord’s Resistance Army
MoES Ministry of Education and Sports
MoFPED Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development
MoGLD Ministry of Gender Labour and Social Development
NCC National Council for Children
NGOs Non Governmental Organisations
OCHA United Nations Office for Coordination Humanitarian Assistance
OVCs Orphans and other Vulnerable Children
PE Physical Education
Pr Primary
RE Religious Education
SCIU Save the Children in Uganda
SOMA-Net Social Science and Medicine Network
SSA Sub-Saharan Africa
TVET Technical and Vocational Education and Training
UBOS Uganda Bureau of Statistics
UCW Understanding Children’s Work
UDHR The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
UDHS The Uganda Demographic and Health Survey
Ug. Shs Uganda Shillings
UHRC Uganda Human Rights Commission
UN United Nations
UNCRC United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child

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UNDP United Nations Development Programme
UNESCO United Nations Scientific and Cultural Organisation
UNHS Uganda National Household Survey
UNICEF United Nations Children Fund
UPE Universal Primary Education
UPFC Uganda Parliamentary Forum for Children
UPFC Uganda Parliamentary Forum for Children
USE Universal Secondary Education
WFCL Worst forms of Child Labour
WHO World Health Organisation

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Acknowledgements

I give glory be to the Most High God and to Jesus Christ, the unseen but ever present, for the
gift of life, a sound mind and who through wonderful people, granted me an opportunity to
undertake and successfully complete my PhD studies.

Of the wonderful persons, two stand out most prominently namely: a.o. Univ. Prof. Dr.
Manfred Kremser and Univ. Prof. DDr. Armin Prinz. Without their involvement, I could
never have started as well as completed this long journey. Dear Prof. Dr. Manfred Kremser, I
am grateful and privileged that you accepted to be my supervisor. On account of this, I was
granted a scholarship by the government of Austria through the Austrian Development
Cooperation, and for which I am also highly indebted. Throughout my studies you have
treated me as a colleague as well as your son. God bless you with long and happy life.

Dear Prof. DDr. Prinz, because of your big heart and concern for preserving the heritage of
indigenous peoples of Africa, while at the same time supporting their development, you
contacted Manfred and opened the way for me. You have been my second excellent
supervisor and my medical doctor. Your offer of an office with all the requisite facilities, for
me to work from at the Unit of Ethnomedicine and International Health, made an
indescribable difference in my studies.

The presence and support of Dr Ruth Kutalek at the Unit of Ethnomedicine will also always
resound in my memory. Dear Dr Ruth, I am very grateful.

I cannot forget to thank my dear wife Betty Walakira for the unconditional love and support
throughout my studies. You always knew what I needed to carry with me on my way to
Europe, received me wonderfully each time I came back and looked after our family
wonderfully. Thank you and be greatly blessed.

I am grateful to Makerere University for all the support extended more particularly, the offer
of the study leave and support for my research. Dr Narathius Asingwire, I thank you for
authorising my study leave and all the support you have extended throughout my academic
career. Dr Paul Bukuluki and Mr Constantine Loum thank you for your support both in
Austria and in Uganda. Ms Elke Maurer, thank you for all the assistance while in Austria and
your relentless willingness to help in every way possible. Mr. Jimrex Byamugisha, thank you
for your prayers and professionalism in the area of child labour research. Prof. Edward
Kirumira, Dr Bwana and Ass. Prof. Muhumuza, I am grateful for your support and positive
attitude. Mr. Walekwa Peter, thank you for receiving me in Sweden and for giving me access
to academic materials. Dr Auma Okwany thanks for the literature. Mr. Eric Engleman, thank
you for reading through my work and providing professional comments. Ms Daniela Rieder,
thank you for all the technical assistance in uploading the thesis to the university data base.
Ms Heidi Maurer, thank you for your assistance regarding translations. Mr. Wendo Nabeya,
thank you for reading through my work and providing useful comments. Mr. Essau
Galukande, thank you for professional and spiritual support. Dr David Kyaddondo, Mr. Akol
Peter, Mrs Jovent Obbo, Prof. James Sengendo, Mrs Sarah Kamya, Dr Baale Edward, Mr.
Peter Walekwa, Dr Yvonne Shaffler, Mr. Mukuye Ronald, Mr. Firminus Mugumya, Mr. Eric
Ochen, Ms Rosalind Lubanga, Mr. Ronald Luwangula, Ms Miriam Ampeire, Ms Peninah
Kansiime; I am grateful for the support you extended.

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The Research Assistants who risked sailing on the lake to Kachanga Kave Enyanja (Bussi
Islands) and those who got involved in Gerenge, Kasenyi and Wakiso town Council etc, I am
very grateful for your involvement. Most notable participants; Ismael Nyanzi, Moses
Kibirige, Racheal Nsubuga, Sarah Nalule, Shakira Nagasha, Pauline Namaganda, Annet
Kyakuwa, Aca Lisa and Rashida Kuranyi.

Pastor Jonathan and Susanna Wright of Vienna International Baptist Church, and all church
members, I am very grateful for your prayers and spiritual nourishment.

There are many other persons who contributed enormously to make this work successful. Yet
I cannot mention all of them here. I would like to say that I greatly appreciate your support
and be blessed.

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 Abstract

This study interrogated the interpretation of child labour basing on insider and popular
perspectives of children, and local people in Uganda’s fishing communities on Lake Victoria,
in Wakiso district. Analytical areas involved the context of child upbringing and how it
shapes working childhoods; the emerging discourses on children’s work; views on school and
work; and views on child labour in light of public policy. It was guided by among others, the
interpretive, constructivist, and ecological theoretical frameworks and tools, during
conceptualisation, data collection and presentation of findings.

The findings reveal that ecological factors and parenting behaviour play a critical role in child
upbringing, and shape working childhoods. Poverty, vulnerability and exclusion however,
largely frame the interpretation of child labour. Children abstract child labour as “forced,
abusive and cruel work." They underline vulnerability, traditional responsibility and
children’s agency as responsible for their involvement in work. Adults’ construction of child
labour reveals three discourses: i) traditional approach to child upbringing; ii) a hegemonic
cultural concept of the West; iii) as abusive, violent and exploitative work.

Children crave for practical and affordable learning, involving traditional and modern skills;
however, the school cannot provide it. Hence, they choose work instead of school. Parents
view as unrealistic, most of the provisions in public policy on child labour.

The emerging discourses challenge language use that is not reducible to local interpretations
and call for dialogue in generating the local equivalent for categories such as child labour and
children’s rights. They suggest a need, to identify indicators of abuse that constitute child
labour. In addition, interventions aiming to shape desirable childhoods ought to target
ecological and parenting factors, that induce failures in the child care ecology—comprising
micro, meso, exo, and macro systems; shaping positive child agency; and fostering dialogue
driven interventions.

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Zusammenfassung (Deutsch)

Diese Studie hinterfragt die gängige Interpretation von Kinderarbeit durch die nähere
Betrachtung von vorherrschenden Ansichten der Kinder und der lokalen Bevölkerung der
Fischergemeinschaften im Wakiso District am Viktoriasee (Uganda). Zur Analyse stehen
dabei die Kindererziehung sowie der Einfluss auf die arbeitende Kindheit, der neu
aufkommende Diskurs über Kinderarbeit, Meinungen zur Schule und Arbeit sowie
Meinungen zur Kinderarbeit als Teil von öffentlicher Politik. Zur Konzeptionalisierung,
Datensammlung und Präsentation der Forschungsergebnisse wurden in dieser Studie unter
anderen interpretative, konstruktivistische und ökologische Theorierahmen und –instrumente
herangezogen.

Die Forschungsergebnisse zeigen, dass ökologische Faktoren und der Erziehungsstil einen
erheblichen Einfluss auf die Kindererziehung haben und die Kindheit von arbeitenden
Kindern erheblich formen. Nichtsdestotrotz bestimmen Armut und Vulnerabilität die
Wahrnehmung von Kinderarbeit. Kinder selbst nehmen Kinderarbeit als „erzwungene,
missbrauchende und grausame Arbeit“ wahr. Für ihre Arbeitsbeteiligung machen sie vor
allem Vulnerabilität, traditionelle Verantwortung und den Eigenwillen der Kinder selbst
verantwortlich. Erwachsene konstruieren den Diskurs über Kinderarbeit auf folgende drei
Arten: i) als traditionelle Weise der Kindererziehung; ii) als ein hegemonie-geleitetes
Kulturleitbild des Westens; iii) als eine missbrauchende, gewalttätige und ausbeuterische
Arbeit.

Die Kinder verlangen nach einer praxisorientierten und bezahlbaren Bildung, die traditionelle
und moderne Kenntnisse vermittelt, was Schulen allerdings nicht bieten können. Deshalb
bevorzugen Kinder zu arbeiten anstatt zur Schule zu gehen. Die Haltung der Eltern ist
gleichzeitig unrealistisch, genauso wie die meisten öffentlichen Bestimmungen in Bezug auf
Kinderarbeit.

Die entstehenden Diskurse stellen die allgemeine Sprachverwendung in Frage, die nicht auf
lokale Interpretationen reduziert werden kann, und sie verlangen gleichzeitig nach einem
Dialog, der die Entstehung von lokalen Konzepten von Kinderarbeit und Kinderrechten
zulässt. Diese Diskurse zeigen die Notwendigkeit auf, Indikatoren von Missbrauch zu
entwickeln, die Kinderarbeit klar festlegen. Zusätzlich müssen Maßnahmen zur Verbesserung
von Kindheiten ökologische und erzieherische Faktoren berücksichtigen, welche bisher zu
Fehlern in der Kinderbetreuung beigetragen haben – auf einer Mikro-, Meso-, Exo- und
Makroebene. Weiters dürfen Maßnahmen zum Wohle der positiven Kindsentwicklung und
zum Dialog nicht außer Acht gelassen werden.

xviii
 Chapter one

1. Introduction

The mainstream interpretation of child labour framed in the discourse of children rights
articulates very clearly what should characterise an ideal childhood modelled on the
conditions of the developed world and middle class families around the world (see Lancy
2007; Punch 2003; Boyden 1990; Myers 1999; Stammers 1999; Nieuwenhuys 1996). The
interpretation is reflected in the existing international laws and policies with provisions on
children’s rights as well as their participation in work. On the account of existing diversity
and complexities underlying the reality of children in the developing countries, this view of
childhood idealised as ‘Western’ should not simply be discounted as hegemonic. Rather, it is
important to interrogate its categories such as child labour; children’s rights; childhoods; and
how they are constructed in the communities where they are enacted. In essence, it is not
clear whether people at local community levels in developing countries like Uganda
(including children, parents, and any other valued sources of local opinion), have similar
views as reflected in both international and domestic provisions on child labour; or have
divergent, competing, or complementary discourses regarding what child labour means, or
what it does not mean.

This study presents emerging discourses on child labour from several people in Uganda from
whom data was acquired. They include parents or guardians of children, children directly
affected by the official interpretation of child labour in the fishing communities, community,
and cultural leaders, policy makers, and professionals knowledgeable in Luganda language
and culture. The findings are not to be used as a basis for validation or justification of local
opinion concerning the interpretation of child labour. Rather, to offer in a number of areas,
local interpretations and alternative, or complementary ways of interpreting child labour. This
creates room for dialogue on generating an interpretation that takes into account the needs
and concerns of those who are directly impacted by the laws and policies enacted on child
labour.

This thesis is organised into three major parts namely: i) the introduction; ii) presentation of
findings; and iii) the implications of the findings to both theory and practice. The
introductory part presents the context and statement of the problem, key research issues and
questions, theoretical frame of reference, and the methodology used in the collection, analysis
and reporting of findings. The section on findings comprises seven chapters. The first two
chapters discuss the factors or conditions that shape working childhoods. Emphasis is put on
ecological and parenting factors and work undertaken by children aged 5-14 years in fishing
communities. The four chapters that follow examine the discourses on child labour and
represent the views of various actors. A specific discourse on child labour emerging from the
views of children both working and school going children, is also presented. The last two
chapters of the findings focus on the interface between child labour and education and the
interpretation of child labour in light of existing laws and policies. The final part synthesises
the findings from each chapter and discusses their implications to both theory and practice.

1.1 Situation analysis of child labour

Despite the ensuing controversy on the actual definition or interpretation of child labour,
there is a guiding definition provided by the International Labour Office [ILO] (2006:6) that
distinguishes between economically active children on one hand, and children in child labour
on the other.

Economic activity is a broad concept that encompasses most productive activities

undertaken by children, whether for market or not, paid or unpaid, for a few hours or
full time, on a casual or regular basis, legal or illegal; it excludes chores undertaken in
the child’s own household and schooling. To be counted as economically active, a
child must have worked for at least one hour on any day during a seven day reference
period.
Child labour is a narrower concept than “economically active children”, excluding all
those children aged 12 years and older who are working only a few hours a week in
permitted light work and those aged 15 years and above whose work is not classified
as “hazardous”.
Hazardous work by children is any activity or occupation that, by its nature or type,
has or leads to adverse effects on the child’s safety, health (physical or mental) and
moral development. Hazards could also derive from excessive workload, physical
conditions of work, and/or work intensity in terms of the duration or hours of work
even where the activity or occupation is known to be non-hazardous or “safe”. p.6

On the basis of the above definitions, the ILO Global Report on Child Labour of 2006
estimates that there were 317 million economically active children aged 5-17 in 2004 of
whom 218 million could be regarded as child labourers. Among child labourers, 126 million

2
were engaged in hazardous work. The report further shows that among the younger children
aged 5-14, there were 191 million economically active children, 166 million child labourers
and 74 million in child labour.

The incidence of child labour in 2004 was estimated at 13.9 percent for the 5-17 age group
compared to 16 percent in 2000. In relation to child labour by sex, boys were more exposed
to child labour, particularly work of hazardous nature, than girls. With regard to the incidence
of children involved in economic activity, Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) registered the highest
rate of 26.4 percent in 2004, followed by Asia and Pacific at 18.8 percent. Latin America and
Caribbean had 5.1 percent, while other regions had 5.2 percent. The report notes a decline in
the number of child labourers by 11 percent in both age groups 5-14 and 5-17 over the four
years from 2000-2004.

1.2 Child labour in Uganda

The Uganda National Household Survey [UNHS] 2005/2006 (see Uganda Bureau of
Statistics [UBOS] 2006) provides recent indicators on the situation of working children in
Uganda. The indicators demonstrate an attempt to draw a line between working children on
one hand and child labourers on the other. Building on the ILO definition with slight
modifications, the UNHS 2005/2006 report defines child labourers as comprising:

i) Children aged 5-11 who did any work (including household work) and those
who worked more than 14 hours per week
ii) Children aged 12-14 who worked for more than 14 hours in a week
iii) Children aged 5-17 who worked in the mining and construction industries
(UBOS 2006: 126-127)

On the basis of these parameters, the UNHS report shows that 32 percent of children aged 5-
17 years were economically active.

3
Table 1.2: Working children and Child labourers

Characteristics Kampala Central Eastern Northern Western Uganda

Working children
Female 12.6 40.1 38.0 23.8 34.7 33.8
Male 8.1 40.0 34.7 19.1 33.1 31.1
Both sexes 10.3 40.4 36.3 21.4 33.9 32.4

Child labourer
Male 9.1 21.9 19.3 10.8 16.8 17.1
Female 4.6 20.9 16.2 6.6 13.3 14.1
Both sexes 6.8 21.4 17.8 8.7 15.0 15.6
Source: UBOS [UNHS 2005/2006 report] 2006:127

There were slightly higher percentages for males (33.8%) than females (31.1%). Sixteen
percent of the children aged 5-17 years were child labourers with males having slightly
higher rates (17%) than females (14%). The Northern region exhibited the lowest percentage
of child labourers — 9 percent, while Central region had the highest — 21 percent. This data
is obviously not without limitations. The survey approach used to generate this data is unable
to capture hidden forms of work such as child prostitution, children in armed conflict (child
soldiers), and those involved in other illicit activities. Moreover, the definition used while
represents an improvement it still uses working time as the key denominator. This
denominator is blind to activities or occupations which consist some of the worst forms of
child labour.

Furthermore, the indicators used for defining child labour are closely tied to the international
view generated by professionals. It is less clear as to what kind of input can be derived from
the views of the local people (including children) and whether this can contribute to a shared
understanding of child labour. Some parameters used such as designation of all children aged
5-11 as child labourers, may generate controversy. However, there could be other variables
that parents and children could consider as relevant in defining child labour.

1.2.1 Occupations

Children in Uganda work in numerous occupations, including: agricultural activities (on

plantation farms, subsistence farming, and tending animals); traditional medicine; work in
factories, industries and mining; street working and informal sector activities such as
hawking, luggage carrying, and scavenging (ILO/IPEC 2004; Walakira & Byamugisha 2005;
Luyima 2001:6 & Walakira 2008). The Uganda National Household Survey reanalyzed the

4
2002-2003 data through the Understanding Children’s Work [UCW] Project supported by
ILO, United Nations Children Fund [UNICEF] and the World Bank. The findings show that
majority of working children are in agriculture to the tune of 93 percent. Domestic service
(2%) and manufacturing (1.4%) are among other sectors where children are engaged in work.

Table 1.2.1: Children’s economic activities

Sector of child economic activity, by sex

Sex As percentage of children in economic activity
Agric Mining Manf Constn Wholesale Hotels Transpt Other Private
& retail & rest. services households
Male 93.77 1.18 1.45 0.00 1.56 0.43 0.23 0.81 0.58
Female 92.53 0.38 1.23 0.02 0.96 0.77 0.00 0.81 3.30
Total 93.22 0.83 1.35 0.01 1.30 0.58 0.13 0.81 1.77
Notes: (1) Children aged 5 to 14
Source: [Link] date read: 7th July 2007,
based on Uganda National Household Survey 2002-2003. (Agric: Agricuture; Manf: Manufacturing;
Constn: Construction; Rest: Restaurant; Transpt: transport).

Some of the work children do in Uganda is very dangerous to their physical, moral and
psychological development and constitutes the worst forms of child labour. Those most
commonly referred to by the ILO Convention on Worst Forms of Child Labour [WFCL]
1999, (No.182), include involvement of children in sex work and pornographic activities,
trafficking of children and their involvement in illicit activities, recruitment of children in
armed conflict for use as child soldiers; and child slavery or bonded labour. There are also
other forms of work which by their nature or circumstances under which they are carried out
are likely to harm the health, safety, or morals of children (ILO Convention on WFCL, part
d). These however, are in the process of being defined by each of the state parties.

Poverty has been singled out as the major reason why children work (Walakira 2004; Ansell
2005; Bourdillon 2000; Bass 2004; Kyomuhendo et al. 2004). There is however an opinion
that children’s engagement in work is more of a cause of poverty than being a panacea and
that it hampers development by driving wages low. Save the Children (2002) points out that
the high level of child poverty forces children into child labour. Other explanations for the
growing child labour have highlighted insecurity (e.g. in northern Uganda, for two decades)
which has led to displacement; and HIV/AIDS, which has left behind between 1-2 million
orphans (UNDP 2002; Hunter 2000). UNICEF (2003) has pointed out that children are forced
to work to support themselves when their parents die or are ailing from HIV/AIDS. Other

5
causes of child labour have been blamed on structural inequalities that differentially impose
workloads on girls and boys based on gender, caste, class, religion, and disability. These lead
to exclusion from school and limit employment prospects. The result is entry into harmful
forms of work (Save the children 2001). The lack of access to good quality and relevant
education, the different ways of bringing up children, work as a form of learning, and
children working on the basis of their own will, have also been cited as major causes
(Woodhead 1999; Ansell 2005; MOGLSD 2003).

1.3 Tackling child labour through legal and policy frameworks

Uganda government has put in place a comprehensive legal and policy framework which is a
response to the undesirable situation of child labour and children rights in general. The
Government has acceded to several international and regional treaties, including the 1989
United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child [UNCRC], the ILO Convention on
WFCL, the United Nations Protocol to combat the use of Children in Armed Conflict, the
Optional Protocol on Commercial and Sexual Exploitation of Children [CSEC] and the
African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of Children [ACWRC]. The Uganda 1995
Constitution, article 34(4) provides for the protection of children from performing work that
is likely to be hazardous or injurious to their development. The Uganda Employment Act,
2006, section 55(1) states that “no young person may be employed in any employment which
is injurious to health, dangerous or otherwise unsuitable.” Section 51 specifies that “no
person may employ a person of or under the apparent age of twelve years except on such
light work as the Minister may, from time to time, by statutory order, prescribe.” The
Children Act 2000 (cap 59) also prohibits the employment of children in any work that is
likely to impact negatively on their physical, social and moral development. Section 5(9)
prohibits the employment of children or their engagement in any activity that may be harmful
to their lives, health, education, mental, physical or moral development.

Besides making child labour a legal issue, the government has also developed and adopted a
Child labour policy, 2006, that prohibits children from harmful forms of work. The overall
objective of the policy is to guide and promote sustainable action aimed at the progressive
elimination of child labour, starting with the worst forms. The specific objectives of the
policy relate to, “integration of child labour concerns into national, district and community

6
programmes and plans; establishment of a legislative and institutional framework to initiate,
coordinate, monitor and evaluate child labour programmes; and stimulation of collective and
concerted efforts, at all levels, to eliminate child labour.” The policy puts premium on
advocacy and awareness raising, access to education and vocational Training, legislation and
enforcement and capacity building.

Other policies that directly respond to the current situation of child labour include the
Universal Primary Education [UPE] introduced in 1997 and the Universal Secondary
Education [USE] introduced in 2007. These policies are increasing access to education for the
most needy and help prolong the period of entry into hazardous work for some children. The
Orphans and other Vulnerable Children Policy (OVC) passed in 2004 targets vulnerable
children who are orphans, those affected by armed conflict, abused or neglected, in conflict
with the law, children affected by HIV/AIDS or other diseases, in need of alternative family
care, affected by disability, children in hard-to-reach areas, in WFCL and children living on
the streets. Areas earmarked for intervention include socio-economic security, food and
nutrition security, care and support, mitigating the impact of conflict, education, psychosocial
support and health, and child protection. Policies and planning frameworks include the
Revised National Strategic Framework on HIV/AIDS Activities in Uganda 2003/04-2005/06;
the Revised Poverty Eradication Action Plan, 2004; and the Decentralisation Policy 1997;
National Policy on Disability 2006; Education Sector Investment Plan 1998-2003 and the
Public Investment Plan 2004/2005. These complement the existing policy framework for
tackling the perceived problem of child labour.

While these policies and national laws are commendable, there has always been a mismatch
between the availability of policies and laws on one hand, and their implementation on the
other. Indeed, much as the contribution of the above policies towards protection of children
from harmful forms of work and other rights violations cannot be overlooked, it is still
apparent that institutional weaknesses related to limited human and financial resources, lack
of coordination and harmonisation of activities of various actors and weaknesses in
monitoring undermine their effectiveness (Walakira & Opio 2006; Walakira 2008; Save the
Children in Uganda 2007). Moreover, the child labour policy has yet to prove an empirical
basis that reflects local peoples’ voices in constructing the meaning of child labour.

7
1.4 Problematising child labour

The official interpretation of child labour as reflected in international law and policy
(excluding the known worst forms) is under dispute, even as there is wide spread
implementation of projects in the developing countries aimed at prevention and elimination
of child labour. So what is the problem? Not everyone talking about child labour refers to or
means the same thing. An examination of research reports, technical reports, advocacy
papers, academic writings, policy guidelines and national or international laws (see
International Labour Office [ILO] 2002; 1999a; United Nations Convention on the Rights of
the Child [UNCRC] 1989; Save the Children 2001; Uganda Bureau of Statistics [UBOS]
2001 & 2003; Education to Combat Abusive Child Labour programme [ECACL] 2002;
Walakira 2002 & 2005; Walakira & Byamugisha 2008; Ennew, Myers & Plateau 2005;
Myers 2001) reveals the following definitions of child labour that have been differentially
used:

Hazardous work; work that is harmful to children; all paid work; wage employment;
all work performed by children; work that interferes with schooling; work undertaken
without adult supervision; work that exploits children; work that is too difficult for the
child of their age or sex; work that violates national labour laws; work that violates
international laws.

Ennew et al. (2005) have suggested that the current usage of the term has been “devalued
beyond any technical usefulness because the concepts and definitions used are so many, so
varied and frequently so vague” (p. 27). In their opinion, the problem is caused by differences
in perception and mixing observations resulting into competing definitions:

Although children can be seen working all over the world, their activities are
perceived in a wide variety of ways, resulting into multiple, competing definitions of
child labour. This means that whichever it is used, the term is not an objective,
technical description of a single, observable set of human relations, but rather a
rhetorical label that blends description with negative value judgements. Identifying a
situation as child labour, involves mixing observations about what children do, with
ideas about the nature and value of their activities. The process of identifying child
labour is an exercise much cultural and political as scientific. This means, that as with
all social constructs, it is difficult to provide a factual justification for any definition
of child labour or to prove that one definition is better than another (p. 27).

Therefore, the confusion owes to the fact that child labour is not a natural phenomenon, but
rather a social construct. Social constructs are cultural ideas that differ between actors,
histories, contexts and purposes (Ennew et al. 2005). At stake in the construction of child

8
labour, is the interpretation or understanding of childhoods—whether or not, work is an
appropriate part of normal or conventional childhoods. The answer depends on a number of
social, economic and cultural and religious variables in any given context and the opinion of
the person on such variables.

Critics present the view that the official discourse on child labour reflects the ideals of the
developed West. According to Boyden (1990:184), the notion that children should be raised
in a safe, happy and protected childhood is based on the norms and values that are culturally
and historically bound to the social pre-occupations and priorities of the capitalist countries
of Europe and the United states. This construction of childhood according to Qvortrup
(1990), Young (1990), James, Jenks & Prout (1998), and Cunningham (1995), presents
children as innocent, vulnerable, passive, and dependent on adults. They are perceived as
becoming rather than being. Boyden (1990:198) notes that:

The different competencies and incapacities perceived to be associated with childhood

in different societies are numerous and often imply contradictory conceptions of the
child … while in many countries children are seen as dependent until well into their
teens, in many others they are expected to be fully independent from an early age.

Based on the Western view, most of the work that children do in the poor economies is
judged as child labour irrespective of the circumstances or situations. This stigmatises and
even criminalises the poor people’s ways of bringing up children (Cunningham 1991; Boyden
1990, Lieten 2003; Nieuwenhuys 1996). “The sum of the many forms of child labour in
developing countries creates the image of countries that are held together by child labour”
(Lieten 2003:23).

The official definition further shows contradictions particularly when it is used to measure
the magnitude of the child labour problem. For example, children involved in non-paid
domestic work are not classified among the working children under the ILO definition.
However, they are counted among child labourers if the work they do exceeds two hours per
day for those aged 5-14 years. Furthermore, when domestic work is undertaken for pay, it is
regarded as work. Ansell (2005) and Nieuwenhuys (2007) point out that this type of work
(domestic work) is disregarded because it is undertaken by children and women who are
excluded from production of value.

9
Another problem envisaged in the definition of child labour (for children aged 5-14) concerns
the categorisation of work that children do, as child labour, even when it is intended for good.
The measurements isolate the negative consequences, while overlooking the positives both in
the short and long term. The various indicators used in the measurement of child labour are
intended to protect children. However, some are a subject of contestation and are often a
source of great controversy. Some of the indicators include among others, working hours in
excess of two per day, performing work during school time, undertaking any economic
activity below 12 years, or undertaking work below a minimum age and getting injured or
harmed in one way or the other. Taking an example of harm, Save the Children (2001) has
argued that children should have a right to participate in work that meets their best interests
and that they should be protected from harmful work. However, it has also clarified that:

... within the broad category of harmful work, degrees of harm vary. In some forms
of work, harm may be an inevitable part of work, while in other forms it may be
possible to prevent the harm from taking place (p. 2).

Supporting the above view, White (1999) also argues that since abuse and exploitation have
not been ruled out at certain times, places, and in certain forms of work relations; the focus
should be placed on abuse rather than the involvement of children in work (p. 133).

Of significant concern in the problematisation of child labour, is the limited or lack of

consideration of the views of children, parents and other valued sources of local opinion in
defining what constitutes and what does not constitute child labour. The conventional or
official definition is much a product of professionals in the developed nations. Robert
Chambers challenges the standardised package, top down models and in this context, pre-
determined meanings attached to development issues. He calls for wider participation of
those affected and suggests the need to embrace a new paradigm in which “multiple, local
and individual realities are recognised, accepted, enhanced, and celebrated” (Chambers
1997:188). In my understanding, seeking for multiple realities on child labour will not act as
a barrier to fighting intolerable forms of work, but rather, it should act as a tool for
exploration, learning and informing professionals and other actors to incorporate flexibility
and be sensitive to multiple realities.

The involvement of children in generating multiple realities about child labour moreover
deserves urgent attention. Not only is a coherent discourse missing on child labour emerging

10
from the views of children, but more profoundly, young people and more particularly
children remain marginalised in areas of decision making on the basis of age. Ansell (2005)
and Edward (1996) allude to the fact that the views of children as a consequence are not
taken into account in policy making. This is the case in spite of the fact that they remain the
majority in the developing countries who are directly affected by the policy implications of
the official definition of child labour. Children’s voices have also been marginalised in
research yet their participation helps to empower them by increasing their knowledge and
skills, makes research view children as active agents in their own lives and not passive
victims or research subjects (Save the Children 2004; Alderson 1995; Worrall 2000; Kirby
1999).

1.5 Objectives of the study

i) Assess the context of child upbringing in the fishing communities and how it affects
children’s involvement in work
ii) Provide insights into children’s work (including life-styles) and examine how child labour
is socially constructed by children (what constitutes and what does not constitute child
labour?), with a goal of generating a child discourse on child labour
iii) Generate an interpretation of child labour by parents/care takers and elders and what
constitutes the ‘local equivalent’ of child labour in their circumstances
iv) Assess children’s views on work and education, pointing out compatibilities and
incompatibilities
v) Identify areas of convergence and divergence from parents’ and children’s views on
child labour in relation to international instruments and national policy and legal
framework

1.6 Research questions

i) What is the context of child upbringing in fishing communities, how does it shape
working childhoods and how does it inform the interpretation of child labour?
ii) What are some of the activities that children do in fishing communities and how do they
fit into or affect their life styles?
iii) How is child labour socially constructed by children and local people (including opinion
leaders)? In their opinion, what constitutes and what does not constitute child labour?

11
 What are the emerging discourses in the interpretation of child labour? What concepts or
categories do local people use to isolate work which is tolorable and that which is
intolorable?
iv) How do the local perceptions on child labour compare with the official understanding of
child labour as reflected in the existing public policies?
v) What are the views of children living in fishing communities on education and work?

1.7 Review of approaches underpinning the interpretation of child labour

Researchers Myers (2001:28-37) and Ennew, Myers & Plateau (2005:28-31) have identified
the four distinct perspectives that underlie the current interpretation of child labour. Each of
the perspectives reflects a particular set of ideas about children and work. These include:

 Labour market perspective

 Human capital perspective
 Social responsibility perspective
 Children centered perspective

1.7.1 Labour market perspective

This is identified as the oldest perspective and it is the basis for the ILO Convention on
Minimum Age for admission to Employment, 1973, (No. 138) and most national laws
affecting working children. It is also the basis for earlier instruments on minimum age for
admission into industry: ILO Convention on Minimum Age (Industry) 1919 (No. 5); ILO
Convention on the Abolition of Forced Labour 1957 (No. 105); ILO Convention on
Minimum Age (Industry) Revised 1937 (No. 59); and ILO Convention on Minimum Age
(Underground Work) 1965 (No. 123). In essence, the Labour Market Approach is a legalistic
approach that tends to explain child labour through the theory that the weak are exploited by
the strong. The exploiters therefore must be controlled through legislation and its
enforcement (Ennew et al. 2005:29).

This discourse regards work and education as incompatible and insists that children should
not be allowed to work until they complete their basic education. Critics argue that this is
aimed at keeping children out of the labour market (Nieuwenhuys 1996 & 2007), which is

12
seen as a preserve for adults. To remove children from the adult labour markets, state power
is exercised to pass legislation, undertake work inspection, to prosecute law violations, and
enforce compulsory primary education. The institution of the minimum age may serve to
protect some children from hazardous work. However, it also denies others the right to work
even when the work could promote their best interests. The ILO global report on Child
Labour (2006:77) nonetheless, contends that generating consensus on children’s participation
in work is beset by “social, economic, political, and cultural factors that play an important
role in setting the limits to children’s participation.” Critics further argue that the discourse
assumes that the interests of adults and children coincide and that children are viewed as
dependent and defenceless (Myers 2001).

1.7.2 The human capital perspective

Under this perspective, child labour is seen as a result of underdevelopment, and defined as
work and/or health conditions that undermine the development of the health status,
knowledge, and skills that children need to contribute in adult life both to national economic
development and their own prosperity (Ennew et al. 2005:29). In this discourse, there is no
fundamental objection to children being economically active as long as their human capital is
not threatened and is properly nurtured—for example though apprenticeships. Without
objecting to children’s participation in work where their lives are not endangered, the
perspective is more concerned with concepts such as “poverty alleviation, labour
productivity, and developing human resources with marketable skills.” (p. 29). Largely used
by economists and championed by organisations including the World Bank and its affiliate—
the United Nations Development Programme [UNDP], and other agencies, the perspective
understands children as having evolving capacities that must be nurtured in order to prepare
them for productive adulthood. Hence, childhood is viewed as a period of economic
investment that produces future returns through individual incomes, taxes paid, increased
productivity, and an expanded economy (Ennew et al. 2005:29). Therefore, the Human
Capital perspective places emphasis on education and skills training, and supports
programmes that ensure access by all children including, working children.

13
1.7.3 Social responsibility perspective

Under this perspective, child labour is defined as work that exploits, alienates, or oppresses
children and separates them from society’s normal protections (Myers 2001:37). Labouring
children are those who are at work and are vulnerable to adult greed and exploitation because
they are no longer receiving the protection accorded by their families and communities.
Hence, the perspective looks at children in the context of social (or human), rather than
economic development, and is concerned with their separation from mechanisms of social
protection, participation and opportunity (Ennew et al. 2005:29-30). Child labour according
to the perspective is a problem of social exclusion, leading to work that exploits, alienates,
and oppresses children. The consequences of war, unequal global trade which affects the
poor countries, the escalation of epidemics such as HIV/AIDS, and the ensuing phenomenon
of the orphans and other vulnerable children in the developing countries; all seem to support
the claim made under the perspective that child labour is accentuated by social breakdown of
the family, community and nation, so that support does not reach the marginalised children.
This could explain why the incidence of child labour is highest in Africa (see ILO 2006).

To address child labour, the perspective proposes mobilisation of society to reach out and
include those who are excluded, using a variety of innovative approaches. The perspective
espouses the views of civil society organisations (SCOs) in developing countries, many of
which have a religious orientation or democratic ideology that emphasises human rights. In
industrialised countries and development agencies, this perspective has been associated with
social capital, which emphasises the importance, for political and social development, of
civil society structure, informal networks, and relationships built on trust (Ennew et al.
2005:30). Further emphasis is put on the well being of children resting on care and moral
values of society. As such, children are regarded both as a social product and a social
project, with the well being of children ultimately resting on the care and moral values of
their society (p. 30).

1.7.4 The children centered perspective

The Children Centred Perspective puts the interests of children first, in the understanding and
interpretation of child labour. It is underpinned by the Rights Based Approach (RBA) and
puts premium on the best interests of the child as provided for under the UNCRC and other
human rights instruments. The UNCRC article 3(1) provides that, “In all actions concerning

14
children, whether undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions, courts of law,
administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the best interests of the child shall be a
primary consideration.” Therefore without outright rejection of children’s participation in
work, the UNCRC article 32(1) compels states parties to protect children from harmful work:

States Parties recognize the right of the child to be protected from economic
exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or to
interfere with the child's education, or to be harmful to the child's health or physical,
mental, spiritual, moral or social development.

The perspective underlines the need to give children a voice and hence puts premium on their
participation in all issues affecting their lives. It recognises that children are on one hand
vulnerable and dependent, hence need protection. On the other hand, they are seen as having
evolving capacities, resilient, capable, and knowledgeable in some ways. They are not
necessarily passive recipients of actions, but are active agents who can influence
circumstances around them. In addition, the focus is put on children’s wellbeing and their
own initiatives.

While the perspective ideally champions children’s rights, in some cases, it risks being used
as a basis for stifling these rights, including rights to work. This owes to the fact that
children’s rights are determined by adults. The fact that adults are the ones pushing children’s
rights, the exercise of these rights promotes children’s “fundamental dependency upon adult
agency” (Lee 1998: 472). Moreover, while children’s rights have been universalised, in some
communities, they are seen as relative and limited or culturally variable (Ansell 2005;
O’Neill 2000). In other cases, these rights (including expectations or childhoods in general)
are understood in particular historical contexts (Aries 1962).

1.8 The case for interpretive and constructivist theories in guiding this study

Research on child labour is dominated by economists and social scientists who employ
positivist and empiricist approaches and study child labour as if it were a natural
phenomenon. Their approaches suggest that the meaning of child labour is predeterminate
and identified by indicators that can be quantified and not subject to further interpretation.
The indicators used describe social reality based on overt acts of individuals and the

15
motivations for the behaviour based on beliefs and affective states among others. The
findings are used as a basis to claim universal truth about child labour.

Post—modern thought which underpins interpretivist and constructivist theories, rejects any
claim to universal truth (see Denzin 1986 & 1991; Clough 1992 & Richardson 1991) and
doubts that any method or theory has a universal or general claim as the right or privileged
form of authoritative knowledge. Although the conventional research methods are not
rejected, under postmodernism, they are subjected to inquiry and a window is let open for
introduction of new methods which are also subject to critique. In relation to child labour,
this study argues that there are several other methods of knowing that can bring diversity to
the interpretation of the concept and which can expand the scope of dealing with the
intolerable aspects of the phenomena as well as claiming the good in children’s work.

Interpretivists and constructivists argue that the empiricist’s picture of social reality omits
something most important which is inter-subjective and common meanings, “ways of
experiencing action in society which are expressed in the language and descriptions
constitutive of institutions and practices” (Taylor, 1987:75 [1971]). Interpretive and
constructivist approaches (see interpretive theories: Denzin 1989, 1992; Gergen 1985;
Gergen & Gergen 1991; Geertz 1983; Yanow & Schwartz-Shea 2006) all base their approach
on a cognitive or mentalist view of reality. Central to the interpretive, constructivist or
phenominologists’ view is the social construction of reality:

Reality [is] what people know and believe to be true about the world around them.
Unlike positivists who assume that reality has some tangible referent and agreement
can be achieved on its own nature given sufficient time and careful research—
interpretivists believe that what people know and believe to be true about the world, is
constructed—or made up—as people interact with one another over time in specified
social settings (LeCompte & Schensul 1999:48).

These approaches uncover ways in which individuals and groups participate in the creation of
their perceived reality. Reality of child labour in the case of this study is the interpretation or
meanings associated with child labour or the work of children (in the fisheries activities).
Accordingly, the study looks at ways how the meanings concerning the work of children are
created, institutionalised and made into tradition by humans. In addition, it examines the
economic and social practices including work, customs, rituals, institutions, beliefs, and the
general way of life that inform the understanding of children’s work which is acceptable and

16
that which is not. These theories suggest that socially constructed reality is seen as ongoing
and dynamic process. Reality is reproduced by people acting on their own interpretations and
their knowledge of it. The meaning of child labour in the local contexts should neither be
conceived as static, nor should it be understood as a purely mental or an ideological
construct. Rather, within the local contexts, work that is interpreted as unacceptable or
intolerable can be identified by its very nature or within the contexts under which it is
performed.

Hence, by primarily focussing on meanings and how they are created, negotiated, sustained
and modified within specific contexts, social constructivist and interpretivist approaches
present an opportunity for revisiting the interpretation of child labour. Complemented with
dialogical approaches, they create a possibility for generating a shared understanding of child
labour.

1.8.1 Limiting the weaknesses of interpretive and constructivist approaches

Hacking (1999) points out that social constructionist claims are not always clear about
exactly what is not inevitable or exactly what should be done away with. Mather (2002)
raises the claim ascribed to Gergen that “reality is in fact unknowable morass presented by
‘narrative’ accounts that are themselves theoretically incapable of adjudication” (p. 695-696).
To the extent that there are those who can make sceptical claims about the world and those
whose claims may be contradictory, it is reason enough to call for a moratorium on
narratives. In his opinion, social constructionism should be oriented in the direction of
questions such as group dynamics and inter-subjectivity. Yoshida (2007) criticises Geertz’s
interpretive anthropology that it does not address the issue of multiple interpretations that
could emerge concerning a single cultural phenomenon.

Some of the criticisms of the interpretive and constructionist approaches can be seen as points
of strength particularly for the present study. For example, Yoshida’s criticism of multiple
interpretations can be a cause for understanding different or multiple realities on a
phenomenon such as child labour. It may provide a testing ground for relativist views about
child labour vis-à-vis universalist views. However, given the fact that there is no any single
theory or approach without any limitations, this study makes use of other approaches to limit

17
the weaknesses of interpretive approaches as indicated below. Of particular significance, is
the lack of an interventionist approach under interpretive or constructionist approaches, a gap
that is addressed by the use of complementary theoretical approaches. In addition, there is a
moral limit regarding the use of these approaches. For example when children are forced into
prostitution, slavery, illicit activities and soldiering etc, an argument is made that it should
not be like that. The conditions that lead to such situation have to be addressed. The use of
these approaches is viewed as limited on religious issues with moral contradictions, as is the
case with WFCL.

1.9 The case for other theories or models

To limit the weaknesses associated with interpretive, constructivist, and phenomelogical

approaches, selected theories and models discussed below were used.

1.9.1 The ecological model

The ecological model as developed by Bronfenbrenner (1979) provides a realist view of the
context of child development, which under the present study, gives the context for
understanding child labour. The model maintains that a child’s development is shaped or
conditioned by the factors within his/her environment and has three distinct levels. These
levels represent sources of care and/or influences on the child as he/she grows up. The first or
primary level is also referred to as the micro context and comprises the home or family
environment.

Fig. 1.9.1: The ecological model (Children’s care ecology)

macro system micro

exo-system
meso

The second level which is the meso-context relates to the immediate community environment
and comprises institutions such as churches, schools, and the neighbourhoods where a child

18
grows up. The third level is known as the exo-system. It represents the context with wider
influences on the growth of the child including the policies enacted by the government at
various levels. The fourth level comprises international influences including the media and
international policies etc. The interactions and relationships the child has within these levels
can shape as well as be shaped by the child. Dahlberg et al. (2004:13) point out the individual
characteristics of the child and the way they relate to his or her behaviour. These include
educational attainment, prior history, and impulsivity etc as factors that can make a child a
victim or perpetrator of violence. For the purpose of this study, it could be violence in
relation to child labour or another situation that impacts on the life or behaviour of the child.

In relation to understanding child labour, the ecological model is useful in isolating the
factors at each level designated by the concentric circles of care, that are important in
understanding and interpreting child labour. These factors or situations can therefore be
identified within the home context, community context, and the wider contexts. They include
economic, social, and personal factors that play an important role in explaining child labour
and shaping children’s experiences. Regarding personal factors, these do not only relate to
children, but also to care givers. In utilising the ecological model, greater emphasis was put
on the micro and meso environment. This was aimed at narrowing the scope of analysis.

1.9.2 Social learning theory

Elements of social learning theory put emphasis on the importance of observing and
modelling (copying) the behaviours, attitudes, and emotional reactions of others (Bandura
1977 & 1997). Bandura suggests that most human behaviour is learned through this process
of observing and copying what others do. His theory underlines the interplay between
cognitive, behavioural, and environmental influences on human behaviour. For an individual
to learn through observation, s/he has to give attention to the event to be modelled, retain the
observed behaviour, reproduce it and be motivated (internally, externally, or self-reinforced,
by obvious reasons). It is assumed that children’s participation in work can partly be
accounted for by modelling the behaviour of their peers, parents and any other actors in their
environment. The theory however may not adequately explain circumstances where
children’s participation in work is a result of coercion. In addition, while the theory is
important in providing insights on how behavior is learned and reproduced (in this case

19
participation in work), it is not very clear on the factors that influence the process of adopting
the behavior.

1.9.3 Contagion theories

This study further underlines the power of peer influence on young people’s behaviour
including their involvement in sexual activities which leads to teenage child bearing, use of
drugs and their involvement in paid work in fishing communities. Peer influence, in
particularly ghetto like settings in the fishing communities, can lead to school dropout and
violence and has the potential to affect young people’s health and safety. To understand some
of these issues, the study has made use of the contagion theory to explain aspects of problem
behaviour based primarily on the power of peer influence (see Rodgers & Rowe 1993; Crane
1991; Mayer & Jenks 1989). The use of the theory is only limited to problem behaviour that
emerges from children’s participation in work. Consideration is also not paid to problem
behaviour associated with rioting, demonstrations, and related behaviour.

The study further highlights the importance of models who partly account for children’s
involvement in paid work. It utilises the theory of collective socialisation, in which
neighbourhood role models and monitoring are important ingredients in a child’s
socialisation.

1.9.4 Agency-structure theories

The study further makes use of theories that help to understand the role of children’s agency
in relation to their involvement in work. Giddens’ structuration theory (Giddens 1984) and
Acher‘s agency-structure theory (Ancher 1982) do provide some insights. The use of these
theories is nonetheless limited to their relevance in understanding children as agents of
change, rather than passive actors. In relation to agency, children can be seen as social agents
who attempt to understand the world around them and affect changes to it through their
actions. In this way, children’s involvement in work can be accounted for by their agency. It
can also be influenced by social structure involving institutions or power structures operating
within society (including but not limited to family, values, beliefs, traditions, formal and non
formal institutions etc). Children’s actions however, whether conscious or unconscious, could
also impact the way these institutions operate. In so doing, this could shape the way work is

20
interpreted, the attitudes and practices regarding children’s work. While the theories have
some relevance to this study, they are limited in offering an interpretation that is outside
agency and structure considerations. The use of other theoretical models already explained,
helps to fill some of these gaps.

21
 Chapter two

2 The research methodology

2.1 Research design

This study has utilised qualitative approaches which are exploratory, interpretative and
explanatory, to generate the current discourses on child labour from children and other
participants in the study who were selected at the local or community levels. The study
adopted a two phased approach to data collection: In the first phase, a variety of issues were
investigated cutting across children’s work, its interpretation, linkage to education, child
upbringing, children’s interests, and policies on child labour and poverty—among other
considerations. The second phase of data collection followed a write up of the draft thesis.
This phase was meant to enable collection of additional data to fill data gaps identified during
the process of writing the draft thesis.

2.2 Theoretical orientation underpinning the research methodology

This study was an inductive inquiry in the sense that the study setting was an open ended
field where no controlled variables were under study. So the inquiry started with research
questions that have been explored through a variety of data collection techniques. The
process enabled the continuous yielding of information to the point that data collected could
build into a clear pattern that supports a general explanation about child labour. Being an
inductive study, it has utilised a holistic perspective to get a clear explanation to the
phenomena and in this line of thought, it considered the social, economic, political, and other
contexts in which the work of children takes place and how it is understood. The study made
use of indigenous or local peoples’ understanding of issues. It was guided by a variety of
qualitative methods and tools to generate explanations about children’s work and child
labour, child upbringing and poverty, just to mention a few.

The methodology applied while fits the interpretive, phenomenological, and constructivist
paradigm (see unit 1.8), is not oblivious to and to the extent considered befitting; borrows

22
from models (such as the ecological model) that harbor a realist view of abusive practices in
children’s work. The social construction of reality (Social Constructionism) is traced from the
works of Berger and Luckmann (1967) whose focus is to uncover ways in which individuals
and groups participate in the creation of their perceived reality. Reality in the case of this
study relates to the interpretation or meanings associated with child labour or the work of
children (in the fisheries activities) by the study participants. Accordingly, the study has
examined the meanings attached to the work undertaken by children for pay or not for pay,
by children in and out of school, parents, and other actors within the children’s environments.
The socially constructed reality is seen as ongoing and dynamic process. It is reproduced by
people acting on their own interpretations and their knowledge of it. The study nonetheless,
describes from a realist or an objective point of view, those elements of work that result into
injury and sicknesses, those that impact children’s physical, social, and moral development.

2.3 Study area and choice of study activity

The study was conducted in the fishing communities of Lake Victoria, located in Wakiso
district. These communities were based on the landing sites including Gerenge and Kasenyi
and Bussi Islands (Kachanga kava enyanja). Data was also collected from selected areas on
the mainland including Wakiso Town Council for comparative purposes (on child
upbringing) and from Kampala where data on policy and cultural issues from Buganda
Kingdom was acquired. There were two main factors that made Wakiso district the preferred
site for data collection. First, a decision had been made on the basis of consultations with my
supervisor as to what kind of activity offered the best chance to generate new insights on
child labour. From the literature review, quite a lot had been done on children’s work in
agriculture (mainly farming), in the informal sector, armed conflict, cross border trade,
commercial and sex exploitation of children, and domestic service. However, at the start up
of this study, there was virtually no research data on child labour in the fisheries activities.
Given the fact that Wakiso district accommodates large chunks of Lake Victoria with
numerous fishing landing sites and islands, it was placed on the list of districts that were to be
considered for selection. Other districts on the list included Mukono and Mpigi.

23
Fig. 2.3: Study areas

SUDAN
Map of Uganda
KOBOKO MOYO KABOONG
KITGUM
YUMBE

±
ADJUMANI

ARUA

GULU
PADER KOTIDO
Wakiso district
MOROTO
NEBBI

LIRA

APAC AMURIA

MASINDI KABERA KATAKWI NAKAPIRIPIRIT

-MAIDO
D .R .C O N G O L .A l b e r t
AMOLATAR
SOROTI
L . K yo g a

HOIMA KUMI KAPCHORWA

NAKASONGOLA
BUKWO
SIRONKO
NAKASEKE PALLISA
KALIRO MBALE
KIBOGA KAMULI
KIBAALE KAYUNGA BUTALEJA MANAFWA
BUNDIBUGYO
LUWERO IGANGA
TORORO
KABA K E NY A
-ROLE KYENJOJO JINJA BUGIRI
MUBENDE WAKISO
MUKONO BUSIA
MITYANA MAYUGE
KAMPALA
KAMWENGE
KASESE MPIGI
L. George
SSEMBABULE
IBANDA

L .E d w a r d KIRUHURA
MASAKA
KALANGALA
BUSHENYI
L . V i c to r i a
MBARARA

RUKUNGIRI
RAKAI
KANUNGU ISINGIRO
NTUNGAMO
T ANZANIA
KISORO KABALE
0 25 50 100 KM

RWANDA

Landing sites
islands

The second reason for selection of Wakiso was based on easier accessibility and cost
minimisation. During the preliminary visits made to the three districts prior to data collection,
Wakiso offered the easiest and least costly access to the fishing communities from which

24
children involved in work could be identified. In addition, for purposes of locating the study
within a cultural domain of the Baganda, Wakiso district not only met this requirement as
well, but also offered the best chance of fitting the costs of accessing the Baganda and their
cultural institutions from which an anthropological understanding of child labour would be
contextualised.

2.4 The choice of fishing activity

Although virtually no research had been done on child labour in the fishing activity at the
time this investigation started, there were growing concerns about children’s participation in
the fisheries activity among employers and workers (Walakira 2005). Moreover, the fishing
sector was perceived to constitute hazardous activities where children were involved. The
Child Labour policy, 2006, designates work in fishing as hazardous for children. Still, the
fishing sector at that time was increasingly gaining significance in its contribution to Gross
Domestic Product and employment. Fish and fish products, until recently, have been the
largest non-coffee exports accounting for 16 percent of Uganda’s total exports (MOFPED
2004). These were estimated to have increased by about 18 percent in 2003/04. Between 0.75
and 1.5 million persons were estimated to be employed or source their livelihood from
fishing activities (Uganda Bureau of Statistics [UBOS] 2005; Ministry of Agriculture,
Animal Industry and Fisheries [MAAIF] 2003, 2005). Other anecdotal sources put the
figures to 2.5 million persons citing the widespread informality in the sector which makes
data capture unreliable. The sector relies heavily on artisanal fishermen who use small
wooden boats (canoes) and gillnets of varying sizes to catch fish. While children may work
on their own in catching fish using hooks or boats, they are in many instances working for an
employer. Others also offer support services in fish cleaning, drying, food kiosks,
entertainment and trading activities among others (See findings, chapter three and four).

25
2.5 Study participants and selection

Table 2.5: Study participants

Study population and method Gerenge Kasenyi Kachanga Wakiso TC Total

Landing site Landing Islands (Main land)
site

FGDs with working Children 3 2 2 -- -- 7

(boys & girls) 5-14 years
FGDs with school going 2 1 1 3 7
children 5-12 yrs
FGDs with parents/care takers 2 1* (CRC 3 2 8
committee)
FGDs with elders 1 - - 1 2

Case studies of working - - - - 4

children
FGDs with teachers - - - - 2
KIIs (Local councils-6, elders-6, Radio presented-2, Policy officials-5 19
FGDs- Focus Group Discussions; KIIs- Key informant interviews, TC- Town Council

The study participants were purposively selected on the basis that they would provide the
information needed to achieve the objectives of the study. Key consideration was placed on
inclusiveness of participants on the basis of gender, age, and working status (in the case of
children), designation or role in community (in the case of adults). The selected participants
comprised of children aged 5-14, working for pay or not, in and out of school, girls and boys.
Adults were categorised into primary care gives comprising parents and guardians of children
aged 18 and above and secondary care givers, who comprised of teachers in primary and
secondary schools within the surroundings of the landing sites. Other secondary care givers
included elders, cultural leaders, opinion leaders and policy makers at national, district and
local levels. Key informants were drawn from this category of secondary care gives. Table
2.6 gives the details of study participants.

26
2.6 Data collection methods

The study made use of multiple data collection methods including but not limited to:

 FGDs with children, parents and local leaders

 Case studies of working children
 Observations
 Informal consultations
 Key Informant Interviews with fisheries officers, policy makers, cultural leaders and
elders
 Narratives
 Extensive use of secondary sources

In the analysis of data, emphasis was put on thematic and content analysis, reflexivity,
meanings construction and interpretation. The use of multiple methods of data collection
facilitated triangulation and offered an opportunity to critique emerging meanings. It also
made it possible to generate coherent arguments and narratives.

2.6.1 Key informant interviews

These were conducted with people deemed knowledgeable about the study problem. They
included opinion leaders in the communities, elders, and service providers and policy makers.
An in depth interview guide was prepared for collection of data with this category of
participants.

2.6.2 Observation

Using this method, it was possible to document elements of work that children do, the
circumstances under which it is done, and the likely effects of work on the health and safety
of children.

27
2.6.3 Focus group discussions

These were organised with parents and guardians of children, children themselves, and elders
in the communities. Through FGDs, there was dialogue on the what child labour is and what
it is not, the factors that lead children to work, the contextual and social-cultural meanings
attached to work and several other issues. Child participants in FGDs were limited to ages
five to fourteen (5-14).

2.6.4 Documentary review

Secondary data from several sources including academic journals, research reports from
International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC), Kampala office, the
Ugandan Bureau of Statistics (UBOS), and other relevant agencies, was sourced. An attempt
was made look at literature involving folk stories and other cultural writings to examine
traditions and elements of child labour in them. Existing laws and policies were also analysed
to develop a contemporary understanding of child labour within the literature. Other sources
included books and working papers among others.

2.7 Analysis of data

A discourse analysis was made for secondary data sources so as to generate the
interpretations of child labour among the professionals and/or policy makers. The emerging
discourses were contrasted with local opinions to isolate areas of convergence and divergence
in interpretations.

For primary data, a series of processes were undertaken during and after data collection. Data
which was recorded both manually and by use of electronic recorders was transcribed and
typed. Editing of data was done with a view of limiting data generated, to issues that would
generate the discourses on child labour. From the transcribed data, key themes were isolated
that offered the best option of generating patterns which offered general explanations about
the key issues under investigation. These explanations were also used to generate a general or
preliminary theory, grounded in the experiences of participants (see Charmaz 2001;
Angrosimo 2005; LeCompte 1999; LeCompte, Preissle & Tesch 1993; Yanow & Schwartz-
Shea 2006). In the second phase of data collection, the analysed data which formed part of

28
the draft thesis was presented or disseminated to a limited number of selected groups of
participants (children, four FGDs) and parents (three FGDs) to allow for validation of the
findings. A summary of findings was also made and sent to various actors on issues of
children via e-mail. The feedback given was further incorporated into the final write up of the
thesis.

2.8 Scope of the study

This study was limited to an investigation of the interpretations of child labour (so as to better
define child labour) based on the views of participants including children and those within
their interactive environments. The emerging views are to be identified with the communities
where they were generated or the social-cultural orientations of those communities. In this
way they can be interpreted as relativist views which cannot be used as a basis for
universalisation or generalisation. However, they can be used as a basis for understanding
differences in interpretations of social phenomena and for the taking into account of these
differences when generating theories on child labour and considering policy and other
interventions. The study did not pay great attention to the consequences of work on children,
but prioritised the opinions of children and other participants on the work children were doing
in the fishing communities. Hence, the interpretations emerging may consider as normal, the
aspects of work classified as hazardous by the international or national laws. The findings are
also to be read as a construction of the meanings of the communities rather than the meanings
of the writer. Where the views of the author are included, they are specified as such.

The study has not yielded quantitative data on the magnitude of child labour in the fishing
communities of Wakiso district nor on the profiles of working children. This is because the
study is qualitative by design and never intended to generate numerical indicators on child
labour. However, for purposes of guidance, secondary data has been utilised to paint a picture
of numerical aspects of the phenomenon where considered necessary (annex 2). In certain
cases, descriptive numbers are given from cases observed (like the number of working hours
for children involved in work at home including that which generates income). While the
study discusses the plight of working girl children, those working due to poverty, and those
who are orphans, it does not discuss the circumstances of all vulnerable children including

29
those with disabilities, those affected by war, HIV/AIDS among others. An endeavour is
made to highlight various kinds of vulnerabilities that working children experience.

30
 Chapter three

3 Child upbringing in fishing communities

Ecological factors (neighbourhoods, open spaces,

multiculturalism, identity groups and youth subcultures etc)
play a dominant role in child upbringing more than parenting
factors (parenting styles). There is maternalisation or
motherisation of child care. The interpretation of child labour
is framed in the existing conditions of poverty. There is a
failure in the concentric circles in the child care environment
leading to “child labour” and various forms of abuse.
Interventions need to focus on failures in the circles of care—
micro, meso, exo and macro systems, as well as targeting
social and structural arrangements of fishing settlements.

3.1 Introduction

One of the concerns of this study was to assess child raising practices in the fishing
communities and how they affect children’s involvement in work. Thus, this chapter
examines the context that shapes working childhoods within the fishing communities.
Particular attention is paid to parenting and ecological factors, how they contribute to
children’s involvement or non involvement in work, and how they inform the interpretation
of inappropriate and appropriate work for children.

31
3.1.1 The shaping of childhoods: Parenting and ecological factors

Who and what children are or come to represent at various stages of their life cycle (i.e. early
childhood—0-5 years, middle childhood 6-11 years and early adolescence 12-14 years), who
they are likely to become, and who bears responsibility, are some of the questions that are
central to the understanding of childhoods in a variety of contexts, including fishing
communities. Within the bulk of existing literature, the shaping of childhoods (more
particularly their behavioural and developmental outcomes) is understood in relation to
parenting behaviour or styles (Baumrind 1967, 1989; Cater & Welch 1981; Mckee, Colletti,
Rakow, Jones & Forehand 2008; Maccoby & Martin 1983; Chen & Kaplan 2001). The
premium placed on ecological factors is in relation to how they influence parenting (see Reis,
Barbera-Stein & Bennett 1986; Belsky 1984). While the importance of ecological factors is
illuminated in child care and development by Bronfenbrenner (1979) and more recently
underlined in issues related to violence against children (Dahlberg & Krug 2002), limited use
has been made of the ecological theories in understanding childhoods characterised by wide
participation in work at the expense of education.

The parenting behaviour that generally shapes children’s behaviour and ultimately affects
their achievement levels and or developmental outcomes is broadly classified into four styles
(See Baumrind 1966, 1971 1989; Maccoby & Martin 1983; Cater & Welch 1981; Mckee et
al. 2008). The first is authoritative parenting, also referred to as constructive parenting by
Chen & Kaplan (2001). A parent shows high levels of affection, allows psychological
autonomy or democracy, and combines these with high levels of behavioural control or
supervision. Without insisting on obedience for its sake, the parent attempts to direct the
activities of the child using restrictions realistically and explains to the child the reasoning
behind the firm control policy. This style is associated with positive developmental and
behavioural outcomes such as higher education achievement levels, healthy psychological
development, and lower rates of externalising behaviour (aggression, antisocial and non
compliance). The second, which is the authoritarian style, is associated with high levels of
behavioural control and harsh discipline. The parent shows low levels of affection. This style
is associated with abusive parenting and is characteristic of high levels of violence against
children. The violence can be internalised and transmitted during adulthood. The third style,
permissive parenting, is where the parent shows high levels of warmth and caring to the child
and also allows the child to regulate his/her behaviour (low control) as much as possible. By

32
allowing the child too much freedom and limited guidance, this parenting style has the
potential to affect a child’s positive development. The fourth, which is neglectful parenting,
is characterised by low levels of warmth, care and control. These last three styles are more
associated with child and adolescent internalising and externalising behaviours.

None of these parenting styles appropriately accounts for the wide spread involvement of
children into work—and in the case of this study, fishing and related work on fish landing
sites. Moreover, it is apparent that the conventional discourse on child upbringing locates the
shaping of childhood experiences within the family context (see Oldman 1991), where a care
taker has a particular level of control over a child’s life cycle experiences. This hardly gives
an accurate account of contexts where caretakers have virtually no control or have limited
control over ecological factors which shape the nature of child experiences and outcomes as
is the case in congested urbanised shanty settlements characteristic of fishing communities.
More still, the predominant focus on the role of care takers excludes the analysis and
understanding of childhoods shaped outside the family context in which the guardian, usually
an adult, performs the role of a parent. Such children who grow on their own, having lost
their parents due to HIV/AIDS, war, or other causes are increasing in number. To such
children, the ideas rooted in the theories of parenting arguably have limited practicability.

The understanding of parenting has also been motherised (Amber 1994) to the extent that the
role of fathers continues to be invisible. With the motherisation, the conceptual tools for an
analysis of a child’s upbringing have been maternalised. Yet the role of gender in role
modelling and more particularly with regard to gender division of labour cannot be
discounted. Evidence shows that girls’ and boys’ work in fishing, informal sector, and
industrial work is characterised by the traditional gender division of labour (Walakira &
Byamugisha 2008, Walakira, Byamugisha, Omona & Nakabugo 2005; Bliege 2007, ILO &
MoGLSD 2004). However, Bandura (1977) has pointed out the role of modelling in
structuring behaviour. His social learning theory puts emphasis on the importance of
observing and modelling (copying) the behaviours, attitudes, and emotional reactions of
others. That most human behaviour is learned through this process of observing and copying
what others do. This theory in the context of fishing communities can be helpful in the
identification of role models responsible for transmission of sexual experiences among
children and young people as well as those responsible for child labour. However, it may not
fully account for the role of children’s agency regarding their involvement in work.

33
A further elaboration on ecological factors has paid attention to issues of vulnerability. In the
context of developing countries, focus has been devoted to the impact of poverty, HIV/AIDS,
and other social problems, which strain the traditional system of care based on kinship
relations. The generalised view that the traditional system of care has all but collapsed (social
rapture thesis) due to the devastation by HIV/AIDS etc, has nonetheless been critiqued (see
Abebe & Aase 2007). These argue that the care for orphans within extended family
households involves families that are rupturing, transient, adaptive, and capable families.
Hence, depending on the situation of the family, the multiple and reciprocal relationships in
care-giving and care-receiving practices can be strengthened. However, it is more of rhetoric
of kindness and concern about orphaned children, but no one wants to pay the cost of their
upbringing (Ennew 2005:128). Orphans nonetheless are not absolutely helpless or passive but
are in a number of contexts active actors on their vulnerability. Their involvement in work on
account of their own will could be one of the manifestations of how they address their
vulnerability (this study).

Existing evidence on child labour studies or models (Ravallion & Wodon 2000; Pinzón-
Rondón, Hofferth & Briceño 2008; Hazan & Berdugo 2002; Fafchamps & Wahba 2006;
Edmonds 2005; Edmonds & Pavcnik 2005; Walakira et al. 2008) do not give an elaborate
account on how children make use of the factors within the extra familial systems to address
their vulnerability and more so, how these factors shape their childhoods. Using the theories
(see Rodgers & Rowe 1993; Lindzey & Aronsson 1985; Wheeler 1966) including
“contagion” theory primarily in light of the power of peer influence and “Competition
theories”, we may be able to generate explanations for the nature of childhoods in fishing
communities that are largely constitutive of child labour and why children are out of school.
The use of Bronfenbrenner’s theory could further provide more light on how children utilise
the various systems within their environment and end up in child labour and not at school or
vice versa.

On the basis of this introductory review, this chapter presents an account of how parenting
and ecological factors work together to determine children’s experiences in fishing
communities, and more so, their involvement in work. The chapter draws on accounts of care
givers and children.

34
3.2 Child upbringing in open spaces in fishing communities: A blessing or curse?

A child fetching water by author and Jimrex Byamugisha

A view of spaces and part of landing site by author

By open spaces I mean unenclosed places on the landing sites such as open grounds, the lake,
shorelines, beaches, open market places and grazing or dumping grounds. Bringing up
children in fishing communities takes place largely in these open spaces much more than
inside the residences. This is particularly the case for both the very young children and
children of school-going age (considered here are children aged 5-14). While bringing up
children with more time spent in open spaces, one would ordinarily think this to be more of a

35
blessing for children as it allows more time for play and exploration; under the circumstances
of the fishing communities, it is difficult to suggest that it is more of a blessing than a curse.

Fig. 3.2: The ecology of children’s interactive environment in fishing communities

Peers Role models Attractions

In community Working people Work, money, films, games
Home In school Rich people
Parents Parents, peer leaders
Children
Observable behaviour
Domestic violence, alcohol
Other on goings consumption, obscene language,
In school, LC meetings, etc
Sex violence (rape, defilement) pick
pocketing, drug use

For a start, there are reasons why children tend to spend more time outside the confines of the
household and school, and spend more time in the open spaces of the fishing communities.
First, many cannot afford to go to private and government schools and therefore spend more
time in the open spaces. Second, at the household level there is virtually no space for children
to play or move around with freedom. The housing situation in the two fishing communities,
which generally characterises other lake side settlements, represents a classic example of
highly concentrated slum settlements. Housing units largely constructed with wood and in
some cases mud, are closely knit or tied together.

36
A child looking on from home at Gerenge—by author

Housing settlements at Gerenge facing the lake—by author

37
 Kasenyi landing site settlements facing the Lake—by author

In many cases, they are only separated by small path ways that can hardly accommodate
more than two persons at particular meeting points. Often, there is dirty water flowing in the
path ways which is a product of bathing and washing. The path ways are also often used as
dumping places for both human and other household waste. When it rains, the experience can
be appalling. The outbreak of disease such as cholera is simply inevitable. Only one public
toilette for example serves over 3000 persons in Kachanga and over 6000 at Gerenge. Using
public toilets requires paying Ug. Shs 100. The result is that some people serve themselves
outside the toilette. Only a handful of residents on the two islands have personal toilettes (less
than one in 10 have a private toilet).

Yet in spite of this, there are more open spaces on these landing sites where children spend
time playing and working. These spaces include lake shores or beaches, grazing areas, road
ways and open market places. Still, in these areas are pockets of poor sanitation depicting
careless disposal of human excreta, garbage, and poor drainage. Efforts of Local Council
(LC) leadership towards improving sanitation notwithstanding, the general community is yet
to fall in line with concerted efforts of LC leadership and individual actors. Children are
growing up in such an environment and are used to it. They often fall sick, but once they
survive death, they grow up with signs of enjoying life or finding it more interesting much
more than an outsider might think. These open spaces allow early exploration of work
opportunities for children.

Having observed the situation of sanitation as well as informally discussing it, we (I and the
research assistants) asked children 10-13 years to tell us what makes life problematic for
children growing up on the landing sites. Children surprisingly raised concerns which were
not only on the issue of diseases which obviously were a result of poor sanitation, but put
greater concern on issues of sexuality and sexual abuse. Starting with the issue of health, they
explained that “there are many diseases including bilharzia, cholera and diarrhoea”. Their
concern was supported by care takers both at Gerenge and Kachanga who explained that their

38
children regularly got sick with matters being made worse by the absence of adequate
medical services. “There are no government health centers in these communities” complained
the parents in Kachanga. In Gerenge, the nearest health center was within 4 Kilometers at
Bulega. On Kachanga Island, it takes about 40 minutes using a motorised boat to reach a
health facility on the main land at Entebbe, or more than 1 and half hours with a canoe.
Owing to this “every three children out of ten born in a month die” said the female
participants on Kachanga Island.

3.3 Child upbringing in a sexually perverse environment

Sexual violence among young children: While children were concerned about health risks
posed by diseases that emerge as a result of poor sanitation, they showed greater concern
about the prevailing sexuality and sex abuse on landing sites. To some extent, they are used
to poor sanitation or can at least tolerate it. However, concerning sexual activity involving
young and adolescent children, and the alleged wide spread sex abuse of minors, they pointed
out that this was a major problem they were concerned about:

Sexual harassment or rape of young girls especially by drug users is common [on
landing sites]. Some girls wear mini-skirts and go for night discos and films. Some
young girls practice prostitution and have unhealthy sexual relations with older men
in exchange for money. Some children are working in bars at a tender age. Some of
these children gamble [play cards for money], use obscene language, drugs, and have
peer groups which are bad. There is use of abusive and obscene language at the
landing site (Pupils at Bulega Primary School, 12-13 years).

Here I choose to first deal more exhaustively with the issues associated with sex as raised by
the school going children. These expressions were in response to the question on what makes
life problematic for children growing up on the landing sites. While we did not ask children
why they considered these issues to be problematic, they were quick to mention the problem
of HIV/AIDS being associated more with sexual activity. They had received HIV/AIDS
education at school, in churches, and in community meetings and were to some extent
knowledgeable about its transmission.

The loss of parents to AIDS was a common experience among the participating orphans.
Girls were also getting impregnated and dropping out of school. Yet, while children

39
perceived these as problematic, they became more used to these problems as they grew up
and particularly normalised the HIV/AIDS problem (Walakira, Bukuluki & Sengendo 2006).

But children were concerned with their safety as cases of rape and defilement were very
common.

Men rape young girls and then they drop out of school, they also use abusive and
obscene words like… and even children learn from them. When they’re drunk and
they find us fetching water, they touch our breasts, bums and say obscene words
words such as … They take marijuana, they offer us money so that we can sleep with
them, and some men even rape their own daughters (Primary 4 and 5 Pupils at Lake
Side Preparatory School Gerenge, 10-11 years)

They further narrated a case where a man at Gerenge landing site had forced sex with a
drunkard woman, who sells alcohol from her one room house. The man performed the
activity while a child of about 4 years was watching and tried to push the man away from her
mother while crying:

“Leave my mother she is tired.” During that time, the woman was too drunk to realise
what was going on. After regaining her consciousness, she wondered if her daughter
had not been raped. The following day, the girl also tried to practice what she saw the
man do to her mother with a young boy in the neighbourhood. The mother was
informed about it but did nothing.

The children expected the parent to punish the girl, but she did not do anything to her.

3.4 “Children are too difficult to control in open spaces”: Common parenting styles
at use

With a multitude of attractions on the fishing landing sites coupled with lack of enclosed
households and the many open spaces, parents are finding it very difficult to restrict the
movement of their children and to mould their behaviours. Indeed in one of the FGDs,
children had pointed out a number of things that made life pleasurable on the fish landing
sites. These pleasurable activities made behavioural control by parents difficult. They were
identified as follows:

There is Karaoke, films and video shows and pool games. It is easy to earn money.
For example a child can earn around Ug. Shs 2000 [$1] in an instant by just spreading

40
 nets to dry. A child can enter and leave a home at the landing site at the time she/he
wishes. Children can catch fish for sale and home consumption. There is swimming.
Some of the things we see on the lake, others (tourists) pay for them. For example we
enjoy the lake view, swimming and watching fishermen. There is less parental control
at the landing site (FGD with pupils at Bulega primary school).

To enjoy these attractions, children including both boys and girls, of about 11 years and
above (some times below 11 years) regularly leave their homes often without the approval of
their parents. Some of the parents may be away from home trying to make ends meet.
Children take advantage of this to enter video halls and watch movies some of which contain
pornographic material. While discussing the challenge of bringing up children on the landing
sites, female care takers at Gerenge explained that they try their level best but face many
difficulties:

As parents, we try our level best to correct their morals. However, we have so many
film halls that are destroying our children. The film hall owners even hide those
children so that they can get the Ug. Shs 200 (U$ 0.1) for watching a movie. We try
our best.

You can shout with a child but their colleagues keep distracting them. I have a child
in Primary 6. I have tried my best but her peers in this place are spoiling her. She even
fought with me. She failed to even finish primary six yet I was willing to take her to
primary seven. Sarah has failed me. I get hurt because I have wasted my money on
her. I even tried beating her but have failed (this was an elderly care taker in the
FGD).

We look after them with strictness. When they go wrong we correct them. I do not
give them space to move around aimlessly. Actually, each time they go away without
reason they are ‘gone’. I can’t allow them to go for karaoke. A lot of evil happens at
the Kadongo Kamu shows (traditional band performances). Why would my child
come home at 8 pm? I want to get into the house at 8 pm and find them in the house.’

We try so much—especially me: I ask her where she has been till 9 pm to the extent
that people think am very quarrelsome. I tell them to leave me alone. I tell my
grandchildren that before I got married I was a descent girl and that my husband got
me from my father’s house. But then I’ve fought and struggled with Sarah but have
failed (old woman in an FGD with female care takers at Gerenge).

While the efforts of parents in the discussion groups are indeed commendable, it was
apparent that there were some parents in their communities who were seen to represent a
serious problem to children:

41
 The people we think are parents are destroying our children. They use their money to
tempt children. Children love money. It is men and boys [who are the perpetrators].
These people are evil!

People here are not cooperative. When you are too protective of your girl, some
people bite back at you. They say ‘Kale oyo omwana gwakuuma yatuuka dda naye
omukazi oyo alinga yaalimwekwanira’ (The girl she is over protecting is already
grown up. It is as if she is the one who will make love with her).

Young girls are getting pregnant here at Gerenge. It is very common. Sexual activity
may start as low as seven or below. If a girl gets pregnant, her parents feel envious of
parents whose girls are still in schools. Even some mature boys at the site are proud
when they impregnate a young girl. ... Sometimes after impregnating a girl, they brag
saying, ‘Nnamumaze oyo maama we yali yeepanka’ (It is finished with that girl. Her
mother thought she could stand in my way) (FGD with female parents at Gerenge).

While one category of parents or adult persons is bent on endangering children to satisfy their
motives, another category is simply negligent of its responsibilities for protecting children.
On the category of negligent parents, participants remarked:

Some parents openly encourage their children to go for movies by giving them
money. Many parents actually do not mind about film problems [pornographic
material in films] (FGD with female parents).

Table 3.4: Parenting styles in the fishing communities

Views of care givers in FGDs
Parents using selected
parenting style in community
What the parents do or not do for children (estimation)
Style Major About Less Very
ity half than few
half
Neglectful ☻Refuse to provide for the basic needs of children 
☻Play sex when children are awake
Consume too much alcohol; ☻Feel happy when girls in
the neighbourhood get pregnant
Permissive ☻Do not care when children leave and come back home 
☻Allow children to watch pornographic films
☻Allow children to decide either to go to school or work
☻Involve young children in selling alcohol, and or
consuming alcohol
Authoritative ☻Try to put limits on the movements and interactions of 
children; ☻Try their best to see that children attend
school; ☻Try to modify the behaviour of their children
as much as possible including the use of sanctions
☻Reward positive and reprimand negative behaviour
Authoritarian ☻Whip children, starve them as a form of punishment, 
lock them in rooms, refuse to provide them with basic
needs, always expect children to comply with their
directives

42
 Some parents are less bothered when you bring to their notice the bad behaviours of
their children. Even if they are called a number of times [to come to school] in case
their children misbehave, they do not show up. When they come, they can instead
beat you up. This is particularly common with parents from the north who are rude
towards teachers, unlike the parents from Buganda and Busoga. Most fishermen at
Gerenge are Lou [ethnic group from Northern Uganda] and are very rude (FGD with
Teachers at Bulega Primary School).

There is parental neglect and lack of guidance to children (Child rights committee
Kasenyi).

Some of us parents we just allow our children to work and this way they get spoilt
(FGD with female participants Kachanga).

When children are allowed to experience too much freedom or have no positive parental
guidance, they always explore the open spaces on the lake as well as enclosed places (video
halls, bars etc). In these places they join with peer groups involving working children, those
who use drugs, playmates, and sometimes sex workers. This offers them an opportunity to get
involved in the activities of the groups. In their adventures in both open and closed places,
children always face the irresistible attraction to make money which not only has serious
repercussions for their future, but also makes it very difficult for parents to manage them.

3.5 The irresistible attraction to money for young girls and boys on landing sites

Discussions with children revealed that children have a great desire to get money, but the
desire is causing them problems. During an FGD with primary school children at Gerenge,
they explained that the desire for money by young girls played favourably into the hands of
men:

Some [girl] children simply love money and men take advantage of that to use them.
For example there is a girl called Mado (name altered) studying in primary four. Two
days ago they found her having sex with a man after receiving money from him. Her
mother also owns a bar so all the obscenities she sees [and hears] there, she also does
(FGD with children in Lake side preparatory school)

I have been taking care of a girl at my home [on the landing site] since she was 2
years. She is now aged 14. [Recently] when I was at the shores just about to go
fishing, my brother told me that he had seen a man with the girl that night. I checked
and she was not at home. I started looking for her all over and by God’s grace I found
her at around 8.30pm. [But] she was with a man. He had pressed her on the wall and
they were having sex there. This man had been lying to her, giving her little money

43
 and seducing her. She showed us the money she had received from the man. It
amounted to Ush1200. I was so angry so I got into a fight with the man that I even got
hurt ... (in depth interview with male caretaker at Gerenge).

The desire for money was not limited to girls only. For the boys, their desire was more
apparent in their involvement in work and in the process, sacrificing school attendance.
Young boys were actively involved in work on the landing sites such as hooking fish,
offloading fish from boats, loading fish in ice containers, cleaning and drying nets, cleaning
fish, and fetching water for money—just to mention a few. Girls also took part in paid work
but not as much as boys did. Girls’ work was more in food preparation and serving in
restaurants, hair dressing in saloons, and unpaid domestic work.

While the motivations for earning money by both girls and boys differ in some ways, there is
a common outcome that both experience, that is, the ultimate loss of interest in education and
subsequent school dropout. Cases of girls dropping out of school were common. Parents,
teachers, and children blamed it on men who lure girls into sex using money. For boys, the
more they got involved in making money, the more school and work became incompatible.

3.6 Parents weigh in on sexual expressions and practices that harm young children

Parents (care takers) like children lamented the open and widespread use of vulgar language
on all landing sites visited. This is done without consideration of young children. “Children
and adults are compared to body parts of both men and women… accompanied with obscene
acts [illustrations]” said parents. This is common in bars, film halls, open spaces and places
where they play table games. Young children sometimes unaware of the meanings of such
talk also use similar words, to the disgust of their parents. The local council at Gerenge
passed a bylaw to fine any person who uses vulgar language to the tune of Ug. Shs 30000
(U$19). While this helped to raise awareness about the problem as well as send a serious
warning to the perpetrators, it was also clear that the capacity of the Local Council to enforce
it was very limited.

Either as evidence of rampant sexual activity or careless disposal practices, child care takers
singled out the issue of littering condoms all over the site which they said had caused
problems to young children:

44
 Very young children pick these used condoms to blow them as balloons. Some time
back I found two children blowing a condom. I took it away from them [confiscated
it] and buried it. People don’t mind about the littering of condoms at Gerenge (FGD
with parents at Gerenge).

Besides the poor disposal of condoms which was feared to spread diseases to children as well
as harming the environment, parents expressed their disgust about the practice of exposing
private body parts (sexual organs) to children by adult and young men while bathing in the
lake or easing themselves (urinating) in the open. They argued that this was affecting the
morals of children:

There is open bathing in the lake even during day and children watch these people
openly. The Local Council has tried but enforcing it is difficult. This has destroyed
the morals of our children—FGD with parents at Gerenge. I recently met a man
urinating and he did not mind whether I was passing or not (An elder Gerenge).

The exposure of private parts was however blamed on the growing diversity of cultures
caused by migrants to the landing sites. Participants argued that many migrants particularly in
North Eastern Uganda, had cultural backgrounds that did not view exposure of private parts
as a problem.

Ba nnamawanga bonoonye abaana baffe. Tebalina nsonyi kubanga omusajja ne

bwalaba omwana, ajjayo obusajja bwe n’afuka awatali kuswala. Kibi nnyo! (These
non indigenous people (or ethinic migrants) have spoilt the morals of our children.
Without shame, a man unleashes his private parts and urinates while children are
observing everything. It is too bad) (FGD with Parents at Gerenge).

Table 3.6: Children’s role models on landing sites

Models (Persons whose Estimating child adopters or prevalence of

Behaviour modelled behaviour is modelled) behaviour among children 10-14 years
High moderate Low
Sexual activity Parents, prostitutes, working 
persons
Child labour/work Working children, working 
persons
Drug use Youth, 
Violence/aggression Parents, adult males 
School attendance School going children 
Alcohol consumption Parents, neighbours 

45
 Children learn bad behaviours here on the landing site [referring to working children
involved in lake activities]. This is because of the diversity in cultures. For example
imagine someone bathing from the lake and faces all sides (Laughter). This gives a
bad picture to the children (FGD with elders at Gerenge)

To make matters worse, prostitution was identified to be on the increase in both Gerenge and
Kachanga. Lodges where prostitutes could easily be found were identified in Gerenge while
in Kachanga prostitutes could be identified in certain places. Children were identified to be
among prostitutes particularly those who start working as maids in bars.

3.7 Children give their views on how children are generally brought up

The views of children on how children are generally brought up in the fishing communities
have close resemblance with those of their parents. Children gave the impression that their
peers, particularly those not attending school, were unruly and this owed in part to parents’
carelessness:

Children on the fish landing sites grow up with a high degree of indiscipline,
disrespectfulness and are not afraid to use profane language. Bye basaanga bye
boogera (they say anything without restraint). Children have too much freedom; nga
ate tebagambwako (yet they do not listen to counsel). Some children are disrespectful
of their parents. Some children abuse their parents. Some children come and stay on
the landing site without parents or as they grow up abandon their parents’ home (FGD
with children at Bulega Primary school).

They also added that numerous opportunities to earn money distract them from attending
school. As to how children should be brought up or how best parents impart positive values,
children made a number of recommendations:

[At an early age] children should be taught to respect their seniors. A child should
learn to be courteous. A child should be told to avoid bad peers and groups which are
likely to have a negative influence on him/her. Counselling and guidance of children
as they grow is very important. Children when necessary should be chastised for bad
behaviour. Abaana balina okutangirwa obutagenda mu bintu bya masanyu okugeza
(children should be prevented from going for entertainment activities such as)
Karaoke, films or video shows and night clubs to avoid learning bad behaviours (FGD
with children at Bulega Primary school).

Concerning the types of punishments that would be appropriate for children, some suggested
whipping being used in a limited way, but others opposed it. More emphasis was put on light
punishments coupled with counselling and reprimanding:

46
 A child should be canned around three strokes on the buttocks. These are enough to
discipline the child.

It is wrong for children to be canned kubanga kireetera omuze okukula (because

canning causes hardening of heart). Instead children should be counselled and guided
on appropriate behaviours. A child should be made to apologize to the person she/he
has offended. Children should be given light punishments like cleaning house and
utensil as punishment for their offences. Guidance and counselling, a child should be
reprimanded and told that what he/she has done is unacceptable and wrong (FGD with
Bulega primary school children).

The views of children reflect the ongoing debate on the appropriateness of corporal
punishments such as whipping used by parents and teachers. The government has abolished
hitting children in the school system as evidenced by the circulars issued in 1997 and circular
number 15 issued in 2006 (see Walakira 2007). However, the beatings have not stopped.
Within communities, police arrest parents and teachers accused of hitting children. Parents
however feel that canning if done responsibly is the most effective way of disciplining
children.

3.8 Maternalisation of child care: Burden left by runaway fathers

Providing care and protection to children by the state and parents is an international
requirement embedded in several articles of the UNCRC. Article 3 for example places it upon
key rights bearers such as the state and parents to ensure the child such protection and care as
is necessary for his or her well-being and best interests. Article 19 mandates states parties to
undertake all measures to ensure the protection of the child against any forms of abuse. In the
case of Uganda, many of the international provisions are domesticated in the existing local
laws such as the Uganda Constitution, 1995, Article 32 and the Children Act Cap 59, 2000,
sections 5, 6, 7 and 8 among others. These instruments place the greatest responsibility on
child care on the parents (both men and women), guardian, or any other person having the
custody of the child (Children Act Section 5). The care givers must ensure that the child has
access to education, immunisation, adequate diet, clothing, shelter and medical attention etc.

Statistically, fifty percent of the children in the fishing communities are orphans who have
lost either a parent or both (Walakira et al. 2008). Majority of the children who have only one
parent are looked after by female care givers.

47
In the case of the fishing communities in the sites visited, the bulk of child care however, lies
almost exclusively on mothers. Existing evidence (see Walakira and Byamugisha 2008)
shows that female care givers outnumber their male counterparts by a ratio of 3:1. They are
three times more than the male care givers (women-27%, men- 9%) among those who look
after orphans (the orphans comprise 50 percent of the population of children aged below 18
years). This implies that men are largely absentee fathers. This agitates women since men are
traditionally expected to take the leading role in providing for the necessities of the family.

Fig 3.8: Multiple vulnerabilities facing children and care givers on islands

No schools/very
Poor water poor schools Poor child protection
transport
Severely
poor housing
Parents and children arrangements
Severely and
inadequate conditions
health Poor care giving, child neglect by
services male parents, poor nutrition

In their own words, women from Gerenge lamented the difficulties they were experiencing in
taking care of children and not receiving the support expected from the fathers of children:

A man loves you and makes you pregnant. Afterwards he abandons you and you
remain helpless after childbirth, yet he loved you because you had some source of
income.

Care for children from birth involves buying milk, clothes... When the child is sick, it
is you to get the [hospital] admission and take care of the child.

We female parents are the only ones who look after our children. Our men here are
bayaye (con men). What they want is to benefit from us. [Afterwards] they run to the
neighbouring landing sites and we can’t trace them. (FGD with female care takers at
Gerenge)

In their opinion, the runaway husbands are not necessarily poor but nevetheless choose to
neglect their families:

48
 You look after the home and children. The man’s money is his alone. Please talk to
our husbands. They have money but are just negligent. [Imagine] they play cards here
and spend up to Ug. Shs 50,000 [US$ 31] on gambling!
[Pointing at some playing children] you see these children are not attending school.
They are only loitering around and learning bad habits. When our children return from
school, these children will teach them bad manners. Really I cannot understand why
these men do not educate their children (FGD with female care takers at Gerenge).

Our husbands don’t care about education and immunization. Imagine they even
threaten that if a child is taken for immunization, then it is not his offspring.

Even for education, they claim they do not have much money to take children to
[good] schools. They therefore prefer to take them to this school of ours where they
pay in instalments of Ug. Shs 1000.

Unfortunately, these men have high libidos. They love to produce children. The men
will ask you if you came to his house to eat his food and reduce the size of his
mattress (FGD with female care givers at Kachanga).

The complaints concerning the burden of care were also extended to the government’s
inability to put in place health facilities and the poor attitude of health care providers towards
patients:

We even don’t have a hospital here. We have two clinics but the services are poor.
Imagine they don’t even have a microscope. They touch our skin to find out how hot
the bodies are. The doctors here are not good. They even ask us to tell them what we
are suffering from. It is the sick person to tell the doctor what she is suffering from. It
is even surprising! (Female care givers, Kachanga)

They even ridicule you for not undertaking family planning. They ask you if you
don’t know where other women go for family planning. Unfortunately the injections
we get to avoid pregnancy have proved ineffective (Female care givers, Kachanga)

Despite the challenge of looking after children, women find ways of coping. They resort to
doing work such as selling smoked fish, operating restaurants, bars, and working in the
markets:

We collect firewood and sell it. We even go fishing [hooking]. I have six
grandchildren. I awake up in the morning to go to the garden. I was given a hoe by
this lady [one seated by her side].

Others still hoping to get support from some “responsible” men, remarry and produce more
children:

49
 Children especially the girls can get pregnant and the men who impregnated the girl
run away so we parents (mothers) are left to look after the child and her baby. ... So
we then decide to get a man to help us look after these children... because my husband
may also be dead and I am sweating alone to look after the children. ... I stay with the
man to help me look after my children.

Moderator: So the more you have children the more you get married to different men?

Yes sometimes you may get someone who cannot even help you...

Remarrying and separation is almost a continuous or cyclical process for women on the
Islands. It is however, not the only means of survival. When they feel too burdened, they send
their children to work, who in return give some of their money to parents.

3.9 Discussion

The conditions in the fishing communities provide an opportunity for understanding

situations that precipitate children’s participation in work at the expense of education. From
a normative point of view, the conditions by and large are far from being favourable for
proper child upbringing in a traditional or conventional sense. Child neglect by parents, child
sexual abuse, and sexual permissiveness are common occurrences. These factors work in
unison within children’s environments and subsequently affect their upbringing, their
inability to attend school, and their eventual participation in work. The daily living practices
of parents such as the amount of attention given to the child comprise some of the factors that
influence the learning and behaviour of children (see Delemarre van de Waal 1993).
Participation in work, child sexual activities, and use of obscene language are some of the
behaviour patterns exhibited by children.

Conditions of poverty inhibit child development not only by limiting resources available for
child care, but also by creating conditions that undermine the development of children’s
competencies (Coll & Szalacha 2004:84). Deprivation in the area of nutrition (i.e.
malnutrition) adversely affects physical and intellectual development. It results in stunted
growth, decreased organ size, mental retardation, and increased susceptibility to infection and
other diseases (Yesner 1980). This study did not measure these outcomes. However, parental
accounts of child morbidity and mortality point to some of the consequences of poor child
care, including poor nutrition.

50
A more negative outcome of growing up in poor neighbourhoods (as the case with fishing
communities) is that children are more likely to engage in anti-social behaviour (Mahoney &
Stattin 2000). This has been confirmed by the findings of this study as well (see also section
on child labour as a form of abuse), and point to the possibility that children model their
harsh parents and other aggressive models within their communities. This could confirm the
claims of the social learning theory by Bandura (1977) that underlines the role of models.

To put the role of parents more at the center, it is important to emphasise that, more than any
other person, parents are culturally and legally expected to bear responsibility for moulding
children’s behaviour. Yet in the context of fishing communities, the role of ecological factors
far outweighs that of parents in shaping children’s behaviour and experiences, more
particularly during middle childhood and early adolescence.

In the presentation, there were both neglectful and permissive parents, and these were
estimated to be a substantial number although not the majority. There were also authoritative
and authoritarian parents. Authoritative parents attempted to control the behaviour of their
children in a responsible manner but were overwhelmed by factors beyond their control
within the environment, such as peer influence, the role of models, lack of enclosed
residences to limit children’s interactions, and poverty which limited their abilities to satisfy
all the needs of children. Authoritarian parents were identified to be responsible for the wide-
spread violence against children and passed on an aggressive or violent behaviour to their
own children. Children’s participation in work as a result of home persecution was also
blamed on this style of parenting (See section on understanding child labour as a form of
abuse). The existence of the various parenting styles support the views of Baumrind (1971 &
1989) and other psychologists (Chen & Kaplan 2001; Mckee et al. 2008) who have
researched this subject.

Linking these issues to the ecological perspective as advanced by Bronfenbrenner (1979) and
as modified by Dahlberg & Krug (2002) in relation to child violence, one can say that fishing
communities represent a classical example of failure in all concentric circles of care. These
include the family level (micro care environment), the community or institutional level (meso
care environment—which includes schools, churches, health facilities, peers and other

51
community institutions), and other levels or forces at national and supranational levels such
as policies, culture and international influences.

A key aspect of the ecology of children’s environments relates to poverty. Studies have put
emphasis on poverty, showing that when it increases in households, it increases child
participation in work (Edmonds & Pavcnik 2005; Walakira et al. 2005, 2008). In this study
however, the factors are more than poverty and one sees a multitude of factors or situations
within children’s environment which elevate in the minds of parents and children, the
importance of work over education. Even when parents and children accumulate enough
money from fishing or any other activities sufficient to pay for schooling, their commitment
to education tends to be short term.

With less value placed on education, children spend more time at work than school. They are
introduced to sex and alcohol consumption at an early age. They experience defilement, rape,
and are forced to fend for themselves at a very tender age of 8-10 years. To cope with the
extreme hardships, children have devised highly complex survival strategies with or without
support from care givers. Some of the survival strategies can be considered positive, such as
learning to protect themselves against risks of rape and kidnapping by moving in groups,
avoiding moving at night, and screaming loudly in case of attack. Others border on
criminality (pick pocketing, selling drugs), externalising behaviour (aggression), and risking
of life when they take on fishing (while under age or without protection), and involvement in
sex work (usually unprotected).

There are issues of local and international significance that merit special consideration from
these realities. First, child survival and development and child protection remain very critical
in the local circumstances. These have been well articulated at the international level in the
UNCRC. At the local level, they have been provided for by the Uganda Constitution and the
Children Act (see chapter 10 on laws and policies). Action against these concerns is
nonetheless demonstrated more by rhetoric than action in the fishing communities. It
represents a failure of duty bearers at the family, community, national, and international
levels—thereby creating conditions for difficult, extreme, and working childhoods, as those
manifested in the fishing communities.

52
Second, the wide spread child sexual abuse within the fish landing sites is exacerbated by
conditions created by poverty, poor parenting, and the manifestations of a weak state at the
local level. The inability to enforce laws for example, makes perpetrators of sex abuse escape
the arm of the law. This and related situations suggest a glaring gap or mismatch between the
existence of laws and policies on one hand, and their implementation on the other. The
discrepancy between the existence of laws and their implementation continues to raise
concerns in developing countries like Uganda (see Walakira 2007), yet no solutions seem to
be apparent. The facts established by this study show that fishing communities remain
severely underserved with services, to the extent that the presence of government and Civil
Society Organisations (CSOs) is virtually nonexistent. Hence, when parents and children face
neglect, the laws and policies do not restrain them from doing whatever it takes to survive.

Putting aside the issues of poor living conditions and failure in circles of care (and their
implications), one realises that children derive a positive meaning in life despite the
conditions we outsiders and academics define as horrible. Within these conditions are sources
of happiness which give their lives meaning. These include limited control from parents
leading to freedom of movement, watching movies, making money through fishing and
related work, and making love relationships (linked to contagion factors see Rodgers et al.
1993). These aspects which bring happiness can at the same time be sources of misery as
children involved get their morals corrupted while still young, practice unprotected sex
(thereby risking contracting HIV/AIDS), and for girls, there is always a risk of getting
pregnant and shouldering the burden of care (as young mothers).

It appears, the quest to bring about positive changes in fishing communities with respect to
child upbringing and life styles of young people, requires an ever present powerful state and
active non state actors. These are required to address concerns of law and order, the provision
of basic services including education and health, ameliorating the situation of housing, and
sensitising communities about creating conditions that promote and safeguard desirable
childhoods.

3.10 Conclusion

This chapter has examined the role played by parents and ecological factors in shaping the
life experiences of children and more particularly, who children are likely to become and

53
what they end up doing or not doing. More importantly, the study has revealed that while
parents play a crucial role in shaping the behaviour of children and their eventual
involvement in work, the ecological factors over shadow the role of parents. The role played
by poverty, peers, models and other attractions in the fishing communities has been
underlined. The section has used accounts of children and parents.

54
 Chapter 4

4 Looking into the work and life styles of working

children in fishing communities

The profiles of working children are shaped by poverty,

vulnerability, and exclusion. Children—both girls and boys
undertake multiple activities on and off the lake, following the
traditional division of labour. The context, nature of work, and
children’s abilities, determine children’s tolerable and intolerable
work. Children call for a parts-based analysis of work (constituent)
approach, rather than generalisation of all work as child labour.
Children find happiness and meaning out of work, but also court
risk through adoption of risky behaviour. Girls are more vulnerable
to abuse through work. There is scope for improving the context of
work and identification of abuse through dialogue with children.

4.1 Introduction

When work is defined as hazardous child labour, it implies that it is dangerous or it is

performed in unhealthy conditions that could result in a child being killed or injured (often
permanently) or made ill (often permanently) as a consequence of poor safety and health
standards and working arrangements (see ILO 2002; Nippierd, Gros-Louis & Vandenberg
2007). Work in fishing has been identified among the hazardous activities under Work in
Fishing Convention (No. 188), 2007 and the Child Labour Policy (see Ministry of Gender
Labour and Social Development [MOGLSD] 2006). The implication is that children below
14 years (see the Employment Act 2006) must be prohibited from taking part in this work.
Indeed the purpose of the laws and accompanying measures is to protect children.

However, the singular interpretation of all types and aspects of fishing as being hazardous
work has left limited room for examination of work in fishing that can be tolerable and that
which is intolerable. At the same time it has limited the scope for protection of children
involved in fishing and whose livelihood is dependent on this work.

55
This chapter seeks to examine the work in fishing with a view to identification of activities
that are tolerable and those that are intolerable from the perspective of children. Underlining
the views of children and making sure they are heard is important for dealing with their
marginalisation in research, policy and other interventions (Edward 1996; Kirby and
Woodhead 2003; Lansdown 2004; Alderson 1995). The chapter further seeks to examine
aspects of children’s work environment that require ultimate withdrawal of children and those
that can be modified without necessitating withdrawal, to protect children from physical,
moral, and social hazards in the fishing work or fishing communities. The chapter concludes
by examining the lifestyles of working children and their implications to the safety and health
of children.

4.2 Investigating child labour in the fisheries sector

Research on child labour in the fishing sector remains scanty to date in spite of the efforts by
the international community to protect children and adults in this sector as early as 1959. The
International Labour Conference for example adopted the Minimum Age (Fishermen)
Convention (No. 112) 1959, the Medical Examination (Fishermen) Convention (No. 113)
1959; the Fishermen's Articles of Agreement Convention (No. 114) 1959 and the
Accommodation of Crews (Fishermen) Convention (No. 126) 1966. More recently, Work in
Fishing Convention (No. 188) 2007 was adopted and it defines work in fishing as a hazardous
occupation when compared to other occupations.

Despite the progress made with respect to international law and the ballooning interest in
children’s work across a number of sectors and activities since 1990s, only a handful of
studies have been undertaken to understand children’s work in the fishing sector. The few
studies (c.f. Godoy 2002; Kufogbe, Awadey & Appenteng 2005; Nitiruangjaras, Predkitti &
Tantisearanee 1998; Walakira & Byamugisha 2008), which are largely sponsored by the ILO
and conducted in partnership with local organisations, have paid attention to the nature of
activities children undertake, the hazards they experience and what interventions can be
considered in countries like Ghana, Elsalvador, Uganda and Thailand. Still, a few other
studies related to child labour in fishing have examined aspects of children’s wages and
productivity in Ghana, Philippines and Uganda (International Programme on Elimination of
Child Labour [IPEC] 2007), or general migrant populations in Thailand, Burma, Myanmar,

56
Cambodia and Laos in which some child labour is briefly considered in fish processing and
fisheries (see Caouette, Sciortino, Guest & Fein 2007). These studies which are
predominantly rapid assessments by way of design, have generated information that is useful
for intervention purposes, but limited in providing children’s own interpretation or their
construction of work defined as hazardous by its very nature or the conditions under which
the work is performed. By paying greater attention to the hazards children experience, the
studies have pathologised and problematised the activities in the fisheries and have left
limited room for understanding the wider aspects of children’s work in such contexts
including how it influences their lifestyles and shapes their childhoods.

The understanding of children’s work in the fisheries sector has further been overshadowed
by the predominant interest placed on sectors that employ the largest number of children,
such as agriculture or activities that have been defined as worst forms or hazardous.
Agriculture according to estimates by the ILO (2006) employs 70 percent of the estimated
166 million child labourers aged 5-14 years. While agriculture according to the International
Standard Industrial Classification (ISIC) of All Economic Activities (Revisions 2—1968 and
3—1989) includes activities in agriculture, hunting, forestry, and fishing, greater attention
has been paid to activities in agriculture with limited attention being paid to fisheries,
forestry, and hunting. Accordingly, rapid assessment studies commissioned by the ILO have
been conducted in key sectors such as cocoa growing in Ghana (IPEC 2007), tobacco and
cotton growing in Kazakhstan (IPEC 2006), coffee growing in Uganda and Tanzania among
other countries (Kyomuhendo, Ssenabulya, Matovu & Kiwanuka 2004; Sennono 2007;
Nchahaga 2002), tea growing in Tanzania (Gonza & Moshi 2002), and general agriculture in
Uganda and the Philippines (Sennono 2007; Institute for Labour Studies/IPEC 2004).

Besides agriculture, research on child labour (more particularly in Uganda) has mainly been
devoted to activities identified with the worst forms such as commercial and sex exploitation
of children, children in armed conflict, child trafficking, and illicit activities (ILO-IPEC and
MoGLSD 2004a, 2004b, 2004c, IPEC 2007; Walakira 2002). Other research has examined
sectoral activities or thematic areas including child labour in the urban informal sector (ILO-
IPEC & MoGLSD 2004d; Rubaga Youth Development Association [RYDA] 2000; Baguma
& Matagi 1995); domestic service in Uganda and Philippines (Platform for Labour Action
[PLA] 2003; Institute for Labour Studies/IPEC 2004; Rialp 1993); and child labour and

57
HIV/AIDS (Walakira, Byamugisha, Omona & Nakabugo 2005; ILO-IPEC & MoGLSD
2004e).

The multiple studies while have not shed adequate light on child labour in the fisheries, they
have helped to generate a fairly good picture on the general situation of child labour in the
country. At present, Uganda has over 3 million children at work. In 2001, there were about
2.7 children at work (Uganda Bureau of Statistics [UBOS] 2001) although the labour force
survey estimated a much lower number of 1.5 million (UBOS 2003). The variation owes
largely to differences in methodologies and parameters used for defining working children in
the two estimates. The estimates however, rarely include children involved in worst forms
such as the 20000 estimated to take part in armed conflict serving mainly with Lords’
Resistance Army (see UHRC 2004), and those in hidden activities such as commercial sex
work (ILO-IPEC 2007; Walakira 2002), and those in illicit activities including illegal trade,
cattle rustling, and use of drugs (ILO 2007; World Vision 2007).

Another challenge is linked to difficulties in differentiating working children and child

labourers. Not all working children are necessarily in child labour. There is a tendency
however, to categorise every child involved in any economic activity below a certain age as a
child labourer, even when the activity poses no danger to the child. In addition, challenges
remain in drawing boundaries between harmful and non-or less-harmful work. Some work
that exposes children to hazards that impact their health and their overall development can
easily be distinguished, as in the case of the defined worst forms. However, a lot of other
work that children do is subject to varying interpretations among children, their parents etc.,
on one hand, and among professionals, policy makers, and activists on the other. To this
effect, there is often a mix of facts or observations as well as judgements about children’s
work. While before ordinary people, certain features of children’s work are judged to be
normal, to professionals or strangers, they are often judged to be abnormal or inappropriate.
Hence, the efforts to generate data that distinguishes between working children and child
labourers continues to face an obstacle of legitimacy among those most affected and those
defining the work. Yet several people continue to point out the conceptual limitations in the
mainstream interpretations of child labour (Boyden 1990; Ennew, Myers & Plateau 2005;
Nieuwenhuys 1996; Woodhead 1999).

58
In general, there is still a dearth of data on children’s work in the fishing environments and
more particularly, how the work is generally understood or interpreted by children within the
fishing communities, how it influences their life styles, and its implications on the nature and
quality of childhoods and children’s future. This chapter uses specific case studies and views
generated from FGDs organised among working children in the three fishing communities—
Gerenge, Kasenyi and Kachanga on Lake Victoria, Wakiso district. The views are
complemented with secondary data sources wherever considered appropriate.

4.3 The growing importance of the fishing sector

The growing economic importance of the fishing sector to Uganda’s economy has not been
realised without concerns particularly relating to child labour or the involvement of children
in work generally categorised as hazardous. The fisheries sector was the second largest earner
of foreign exchange (U$ 124m) after coffee (U$ 265m) in 2007 (New Vision 2008) and has
contributed over 6 percent to GDP over the past few years (Ministry of Finance Planning and
Economic Development [MoFPED] 2004a).

Table 4.3: Exports of Uganda’s Fish and its products 2000/01-2003/04 (US $ million)

Indicator 2002/3 2003/4 2004/5 2005/6 2005/6 2006/7

Q1-Q3 Q1-Q3
Fish and its prod.(excl. regional)—Value 83.78 88.82 121.22 147.04 106.291 109.662
Volume (‘000 mtons) 24.13 29.14 37.84 38.62 29.173 27.640
Unit value (US $/kg) 3.47 3.05 3.20 3.81 3.643 3.968
Fish and its prod.(regional exports)—Value 27.65 29.31 48.39 45.77 33.087 32.899
Volume (‘000 mtons) 26.54 32.05 40.39 40.07 30.271 27.640
Unit value (US $/kg) 1.04 0.91 1.20 1.14 1.093 1.190

Source: MoFPED (2007:18) table 2.9.

An estimated 1 million persons are employed in the fisheries activities including support
services, and about 2.5 million are dependent on the sector for their livelihood (MAAIF 2003,
2005). The MOFPED (2004b) estimated about 750,000 were employed in the sector. Results
from the 2002 Population and Housing Census revealed that 118,786 persons aged 10 years
and above were directly involved in the fishing occupation (UBOS 2005). Of those employed
in the sector, over half are children below 18 years. The activities children do involve fishing
and non-fishing activities. More needs to be explored about these activities involving both

59
girls and boys and more particularly the work and how it impacts on the children’s
childhoods. Issues of lifestyles of working children and their implications to the long term
health and safety of children also need exploration. In the presentation of the findings under
this section, greater attention is paid to these issues using particular case studies, in depth
interviews, and focus group discussions with children.

4.4 The general living environment for children in fishing communities

The fishing communities where data were accessed are among the most underserved areas in
terms of social services. This situation is also apparent in most of the fishing communities in
the country, with the exception of a few like Kasenyi which is privately owned and is well
served with basic social services such as security, electricity, and general sanitation. In one of
the study sites—Kachanga Kava Enyanja, the general living environment and the situation of
social services is dire straits. With a population exceeding 2000 persons, the island has less
than 20 persons owing private toilets. There is only one public toilet partitioned into four
rooms. To use it, a person is required to pay Ug. Shs 100. However, either for lack of money
or other reasons, some residents opt to use the nearby bushes, rather than pay the required
fee. This situation is also apparent in other landing sites such as Gerenge. Besides the lack of
sanitation facilities, communities on fish landing sites lack many other basic facilities. A
summary of existing services on sites visited is indicated in table 4.4 below:

Table 4.4 Services from sites where data was collected

Indicator/service Kachanga Kava Gerenge Kasenyi

enyanja
Est. Population 2500-3000 700-900 400-500
Health facilities 0 0 0*
Electricity 0  
Schools 1 (Pr Sch P1-P3) 1 (P 1-P5) 2 (P1-P7)
Public Toilets 1 1 2
Transport Poor Fair Good
Security Poor Good Good
Play grounds 0 1 1
Level of sanitation** Poor—very poor Poor—fair Good
*The site has a bigger drug shop and is near the bigger health facilities
** based on the assessment of the researcher and the perception of community members

Kachanga and Gerenge communities have poor housing facilities. Houses are very close to
one another and are built with temporary materials such as mud, wattle, reeds, wood, and
polythene. Only a handful of houses are roofed with iron sheets. When it rains, the sanitation

60
situation gets very bad to the extent that the risk of contracting dysentery is very high. Many
residents own or rent one room which they use as a living and sleeping place. Some use the
same room for business activities such as selling alcohol and serving food.

The settlers in the fishing

communities are largely
migrants and are Baganda.
These have been joined by
many other ethnic migrants
including the Acholi, Lang,
Basoga, Banyankole, and
Baruli among other
communities. Some
residents explain that many

Situation of sanitation in the crowded houses of Gerenge—by author of the migrants have
criminal backgrounds. The main economic activities for community members are dependent
on the lake and these include fishing, trade, and limited agriculture.

4.5 Knowing about the working children on the landing sites

About half of the number of all the working children aged 5-14 years in all the FGDs
conducted on the fish landing sites were orphans having lost a father or mother due to illness.
Less than half were attending school and the reason for non-school attendance was attributed
to lack of money. For some children who were still in school, they were working to support
their education. Only a handful completed the primary school cycle. More children were
dropping out of school before reaching primary seven. With regard to gender, more boys than
girls were engaged in work for pay. Girls mainly helped in household work and family
business such as retail work in shops and markets or helping out in a family restaurant.

4.6 Children’s work in the fishing communities

Although children participate in nearly all work undertaken in the fishing communities, a
detailed discussion of their work will be limited to fishing, domestic work, and a few other
selected activities. In general, children undertake activities including fishing, offer food

61
services, transport, fetching water for restaurants and home use, provide entertainment
services, work in the markets and undertake domestic chores.

4.6.1 Children’s work in fishing

Fishing entails activities at three stages as reflected in the matrix below:

Table 4.6.1: Activities embedded in fishing work

Fishing activity Before During After

Cleaning boats Rowing the boat Offloading fish
Mending nets Hooking/spearing Ferrying to
Fishing Activity
Making/repairin fish market place)
g canoes/boats Swimming with Sorting fish
Children involved Loading boats fish Scaling
with fishing Operating a canoe fish/cleaning fish
equipment or motorised boat Washing nets
(food, lantern, Casting nets Picking fish fats
paraffin, plastic Pulling fish out of Smoking/salting/
Before During After bags, anchor, water sun-drying fish
paddle, water Emptying water Fish bisecting
Young boys Older boys Young and older
emptier, match from the boat Hawking/vendin
boys and girls
boxes etc) while fishing g/selling fish
Fish
transportation

Age of children >Young >Older Young & older

children≤12 children≥14 children
Sex of children >boys <girls >boys> >Girls and >boys

[Link] Preparation for fishing

This involves repairing nets and boats, ensuring

that they are clean, and loading the boats with all
the relevant fishing equipment. Most of this work
is done on the shores of the lake mainly by young
boys of 12 years and below.

Boys sorting nets –by author

62
 [Link] Work in actual fishing

The work entailed in actual fishing using a canoe or motorised boat is more demanding and
involves older boys aged 14 and above. This work is done during day and night. Older boys
often go fishing at night. Young boys aged about 12 are more involved in hooking (catching
fish using a hood or spear) during day time. In this
case, they have to swim to certain locations off the
main landing site and spear or hook the fish. They
usually stand on the rocks several meters from the
shore line. They swim back with their catch tied on
ropes and fitted to their waists or feet. Catching fish
using nets or hooking, is considered by children to be
the most financially rewarding activity, but also the
most dangerous.
These boys have set off for fishing—by author

[Link] Work after actual fishing

The work after actual fishing is done by both young and old children, both girls and boys.
Girls largely get involved in this work and do activities including fish cleaning, smoking, and
vending while boys ferry fish, clean boats, dry nets, and clean fish as well.

4.7 Tolerable and intolerable work for children in fishing

Work before and after fishing was considered appropriate for children with the exception of
carrying big bundles of fish emigeto (bundle of fish) after fishing which children considered
to be often heavy work for children aged below 14 or 15 years. Work in actual fishing (during
fishing) was identified by working children to be intolerable for children younger than 14
years. They excluded, however, hooking fish which they said could be done by children aged
12 and above. Hooking fish was considered to be very dangerous for children below 12 years.
In both hooking and fishing by use of a boat, children explained that there were challenges or
dangers involved that a person could find difficult to contain if he was younger than age 14.
For example, children explained with respect to fishing using a boat:

63
 You need to use a lot of energy in rowing the boat using a paddle. This often causes
chest pain and makes some children to fall sick. The winds can sometimes be strong
and can cause drowning yet we do not use life jackets.

Also because actual fishing often involves working at night, they considered it more straining
and it could at times expose them to robbers on the lake. In general, although children
identified dangers associated with actual fishing, they were more enthusiastic doing the work
because of the financial benefits involved. Talking to them, they were less worried about the
challenges involved in work as compared to the difficulties they would experience without
work. Although they got money from the actual fishing work, they never considered issues of
safety like buying life jackets.

4.8 Views of children on tolerable and intolerable work

Both categories of children were asked to identify the general work that children do on the
landing sites, which they considered appropriate or inappropriate for children. They identified
activities as listed in table 4.8.

Table 4.8 Tolerable and intolerable work in general within fishing communities

Tolerable work for children on landing sites Intolerable work for young children on landing
sites
Hooking. Children said this was not difficult. Lifting people and heavy loads from boats

Drying nets but not lifting them from the boats Lifting emigeto (fish bundles- that it is too heavy for
(That it was also easy and one could get some children although they want money).
money).
Rearing cattle (that there are snakes that bite)
Learning to make boats. (That one can get some
regular income because it is a daily job). Carrying sand for construction.

Fetching water (That sometimes children can make Loading and offloading fish and people from boats
like Ug. Shs 200/= for every 25 litre tin sold).
Disco dancing
Fish scaling (That it is easy although the activity
results into some cuts). Stone quarrying

Fetching water Prostitution and working in bars

Sand mining

Actual fishing (mentioned by non working children)

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What the table reveals is that there are both activities considered tolerable and intolerable for
children on the fish landing sites. The intolerable activities are largely defined by non-
working children, or children who are not involved in them; to these, such activities are
perceived to be very heavy or very risky. For working children, they differentiate these
activities according to the child’s ability or age. For example, they discourage young children
(below 14) to do fishing or to carry heavy loads including fresh fish bundles and carrying
people (from the boats to the shore line). Yet if children attain 14 years or 15 years, they
think that children are able to do these activities. Many activities considered tolerable, are
those that they consider less risky or less heavy (light work). In relation to fishing, these
activities fit those “before” and “after” work in actual fishing. Yet besides those directly
linked to fishing, children still identified activities like sand mining, prostitution, and work in
bars etc, to be intolerable.

4.9 The positive and negative influences on children

There are both positive and negative forces that influence the context of children’s work on
the landing sites. The positive forces include the existing demand for children’s labour by
boat owners, restaurant operators, fish buyers and sellers and transporters etc. They find the
services of children to be cheaper, a fact also confirmed by IPEC (2007). This ensures the
survival of children but also limits their interest in education as work increasingly becomes
incompatible with education. The free accessibility to the lake to carry out fishing offers
children an opportunity to directly get involved in income generation by catching and selling
fish (boys) or providing support services (both boys and girls). This enhances their welfare
and social standing in a community of adults.

The negative forces are linked to the rampant sexuality in the fishing communities which
affects both girls and boys at an early age, sexually oriented abusive talk, sex abuse of
children and women, the widespread consumption of alcohol, and the criminality and use of
drugs. Details about these practices are discussed in some parts of this chapter and the chapter
on child upbringing in fishing communities. Child care takers expressed their frustration
about these practices and indicated that if there was an alternative, they would have liked to
have their children raised up in other places other than the fish landing sites (see chapter three
on child upbringing).

65
4.10 Looking into the life of a boy involved in fishing

The case study of Safi (name not real) gives a narration of the circumstances that led Safi to
get involved into fishing at age 12. It explores the benefits derived from work and the
challenges he faces while doing fishing work.

Safi is a male aged 14 years staying at Gerenge. He is a primary five school dropout.
“I dropped out because my father died, yet my mother did not have money to pay my
school fees. Before I came to this landing site [Kasenyi], I was living with my mother
in Bwaise [a Kampala city suburb]. When my father died, my mother brought me
here at Kasenyi to live with my step brother who is a fisherman.” He says that was the
first time he was seeing his step brother and the last he saw his mother. His brother
was kind to him and supported his education for a year, but stopped when he lost his
job. Both of them went through a period of hardship and at times survived on one
meal a day.

“As time went by, my brother advised me to always go to the landing site, to make
friends and learn how to do fishing. ... I followed the advice.” After not too long, he
had made friends who helped him do casual jobs like sorting and cleaning fish,
picking fish fats and fetching water. He learnt and mastered swimming which was a
critical step before learning how to fish, and often would go with friends to hook and
spear fish. Safi is now fully involved in hooking fish and complements this with other
activities such as fetching water, ferrying fish and goods to their respective market
places and he gets paid. “I go to hook fish in the morning from 7:00am to 11:00am.
When I return, I sell the fish to restaurant owners and other people on the landing
site.” He usually goes back to the lake for another round of hooking from 5:00pm to
7:00pm.

Hooking fish—Safi gets ready a sisal rope which he ties around his waist. He also
gets his hooks and strings of rayon (gauze) and a kaveera (polythene bag) where he
keeps his baits. He then swims to
the small islands about 2 kms from
the shore line—deep inside the
lake, identifies rocks to stand on.
He gets his hooks (firmly tied to
gauze) and baits ready and starts
hooking and spearing. “I use
nsiringanyi (earth worms) and
ngonge (a plant that fish feed on).”
The earth worms usually collected
from garbage heaps are used while
still alive. Their movement in water
attracts fish to the hook. “The fish
are hooked as they come to feed on
This boy is deep inside the lake hooking fish—by author the earth worms. I tie every fish I
catch to the rope [through its mouth] and after fishing, I tie the catch to one of my legs

66
 and swim to the landing site.” He says he avoids carrying more than six fish as heavy
load can lead to drowning. If he carries six they have to be of small size. In case he
catches big fish, he has to wait for those who use boats and they give him a ride to the
landing site. This nonetheless, is very rare.

Safi says he benefits from this work because once he gets money he buys clothes and
other requirements. “Before doing this work, I was sleeping on a mat on the floor.
Now I have acquired a one inch mattress, bed sheets and a blanket.” He can afford
food on a daily basis and he is happy that he learns more skills each day that passes.
He says ever since he started work he has been catering for himself and is no longer
dependent on his brother.

The challenges he faces in the fishing work. While the work is beneficial to him,
Safi finds it very challenging and sometimes regrets what he goes through while
doing it. The problems he mentions include, swimming through the cold water in
early morning hours and the risk of falling off the slippery rocks while hooking fish.
Falling off can result into serious injury to the head and drowning. He is often injured
by fish. “One time I was hooking… the fish I had hooked got off the hook but was
held by the strands of rayon to which it was tied. Because the strand was elastic, the
fish bounced back and pierced me in the face very close to my eye.” He received
treatment for the wound for nearly three weeks without going back in the water. He
says that a friend of his was pierced by fish fins in the middle of the eye and he has
never gone back to the landing site. Other problems include being trapped by nets
while swimming in the lake: “One time, I got trapped in a net. I had to struggle so
much to get out of it. I even thought I was going to die as one time it caught a friend
of mine and he was found dead the next day.” He says it is really so hard to get out of
it, especially if it is the arms that are trapped in the net. “One has to be a good
swimmer to get out of the net. At times, when the fishermen realize a net has caught a
person, they come to his rescue.”

He mentioned other risks such as fighting for rocks to stand on during hooking, a rope
to which fish is tied can tie both of your legs while swimming and it requires a
struggle to overcome it, hitting rocks while swimming, getting beaten by poisonous
insects and harassment from older people.

4.11 Girls working in restaurants and bars

Working in a restaurant is one of the major activities that girls undertake on landing sites,
alongside others like hair dressing in salons, operating pay phones, working in bars, washing
and ironing clothes, working in food markets and selling clothes. In one of the FGDs with
working girls organised at Gerenge landing site, girls working in restaurants happened to be
the majority among the seven girls who participated. While we discussed several issues
concerning what goes on at the landing site, I have chosen to focus on a few things they
discussed concerning the restaurant work.

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The girls explained that they start working around 6am to prepare food and tea mainly for
returning fishermen and fish vendors. The food includes different types—Katogo (bananas
prepared with a mixture of meat, dry fish, groundnut (peanut) paste, beans, etc); fried Irish
potatoes (chips) with chicken or meat among other recipes. A plate of chips and fish can cost
Ug. Shs 1500 (US$ 0.94).
The girls work until
evening—about 6pm.
The work in a restaurant
entails activities which
include the following:
peeling food, wrapping it
and cooking, slicing meat
and fish, serving food
and drinks to customers,
fetching water, and
washing utensils,
These girls work with their mother in a restaurant—by author
cleaning the dining, and removing waste.

While the restaurant work keeps the girls busy, none of them seemed to be happy about it as
they narrated their experiences:

You have to smile while welcoming visitors and serving them.

There is also sending you monotonously (okkutumaatuma) to buy things, bring juice,
and soda.

Some customers abuse you

Singling out particular activities such as fetching water, they revealed that it is a job they do
with difficulty and they are sometimes forced to spend their own money:

Fetching water is a difficult job for us. Your boss will not spend [Ug. Shs] 100
shillings on water. She will first send you to fetch water on the landing site. What you
do is to get your own money and pay a boy to bring the water for you. While she may
give you beans and posho (mingled maize flour served as food) if you eat beans and

68
 posho, is that real food? If you delay at the landing site, she will quarrel that you have
been chatting with men. [Imagine] You can fetch more than six jerry cans a day.

Although each girl is supposed to receive Ug. Shs 1000 per day, there are situations when
they receive half pay on accusations from their employers that they have stolen money. Girls
complained that their employers at times extend the accusations to the neighbourhoods where
they stay, thereby tarnishing their image.

Your boss can accuse you of stealing money. She will go to different neighbours and
talk about you. Sometimes customers eat and do not pay immediately. Some time
back, the boss of Aisha said she had ‘gone out with a boy’, yet she had expelled her
[terminated her employment]. You face problems and sometimes you feel like staying
at home. Maama!! They treat us badly.

The purpose of employing the girls is partly to attract men (with sexual desires) to the
restaurants. This means that girls do not only have to smile to the men, but also to be
receptive to their sexual advances, or at least not to complain when they experience indecent
touches from such men:

If you do not smile with customers, it becomes another problem. Some men touch the
sensitive parts of your body and if you complain, [those] customers complain to the
boss that you are bad behaved and she will terminate your work. They want girls who
they will touch without raising any complaint. Sometimes they want to take you as a
wife. They praise girls who do not complain about their behaviour.

Owing to the relentless pressure they experience from men who ask for sex and the promise
of money, some girls eventually give in to the demands of such men.

If you work in a hotel, they keep trapping you by doing this and that. In the end they
want to have you as a lover. [Once you give in] they can take you as a wife [but you
are not sure if they won’t] starve you. If you do not cooperate, [they mobilise] some
boys to gang up against you. One of our friends was abducted at night (9.00pm) and
accused her of something she never did. The girl made an alarm and was rescued.
Sometimes they are acting under the influence njaga (cannabis). Or it is part of their
culture because many of them are migrants. They abuse you, ‘look at this girl, she
does not have manners’. Working in a restaurant is not something easy.

Comparing themselves with girls working in bars, they pointed out that working in bars was
even worse:
You are accused of breaking glasses and stealing plates. Plates get lost too much. If
one takes alcohol on credit, the boss sends you to go and demand for money. People

69
 can injure you with bottles due to a lot of fighting. They fight for women and throw
bottles. They are always in the mood of asking for sex. To work in the bar, you have
to be ready for men to touch you all the time. You do not have to complain. If you do,
the boss will sack you, because she knows customers will leave.

As it turns out, work in restaurants and bars on fish landing sites is practically a trap for girls
to be turned into objects for sexual attraction to male customers. However, the reality is that
girls eventually are turned into sex workers in many cases with the inducement by their
employers. Despite the challenges, the girls working in the restaurants aspire to start their
own hair salons (4 of them), to have retail shops (1), and continue with education (2).

4.12 Looking into the work of a girl in a domestic setting

The daily tracking of activities was done for six days in a household selected from Gerenge
fish landing site. The household had both school going and out of school working children.
The purpose of the tracking was to document activities that occupy adults and children in the
household and the implications this has for the interpretation of child labour. In this section,
only the work of one female child is presented showing the average time the girl spends on
selected activities during her working time. Work at home is always discounted as not part of
work yet it occupies children and adults heavily. In many cases, it also serves as a source of
income and shapes the way children are raised.

Joa (name not real due to confidentiality) is aged 14 years and stays with her single mother
aged 35 years. The mother is the household head and operates a restaurant at her home. The
household has five members including the eldest girl aged 17 and two boys aged 15 and 14
years. The youngest boy of 10 is till attending school while Joa and her elder sister are doing
a tailoring course. The older boy of 15 dropped out of school and is currently employed by a
businessman as a video operator.

4.13 A typical day for Joa combining domestic work and learning

The activities that Joa performs on a daily basis are summarised below with the average time
spent. They comprise work at home (unpaid), vocational training, and entertainment.

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Table 4.13a: Activities representing a typical day for Joa (14)
Activities undertaken Av. time spent Time ranking % time spent
(9 hrs-minus 1hr R1= largest
for rest) amount of time
spent
Cleaning face and body 15 R8 2.7
Fetching water 15min R8 2.7
Removing household utensils from house 5min R9
Washing utensils, drying and taking them back 31 R5 5.7
to house
Cleaning house (sweeping, mopping) and 20 R7 3.7
surroundings
Preparation for school (dressing, making hair, 30 R6 5.5
ironing etc)
Learning tailoring 5hrs R1 55.5
Eating lunch, refreshments, study breaks 1 ½ hr R3
Watching film (with breaks between films) 2 ½ hrs R2 27.7
Assisting mom in restaurant (serving clients etc) 45min R4 8.3
Going out with girls (sometimes to unknown 10 R9 1.8
places)
Others, washing clothes, shopping, disposal of 20 R7 3.7
waste etc
*R= rating

As can be seen from the matrix above, Joa spends most of her time (55%) learning at the
vocational training school. Entertainment (film watching) takes up the largest part of her time
after vocational training (28%). The rest of her time is spent in restaurant work with her
mother, serving clients, washing utensils, cleaning and fetching water, among other activities.
These take between 1½ hours to 2 hours (17% to 22%). The restaurant and household work
combined, take about 2hrs and 40 minutes which is equivalent to 30 percent of her time.
About 41 percent of her time is spent on playing, including watching films and rest.

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Fig. 4.13: Joa’s work and time allocation between School & household

Breaks,
lunches,
1½ hrs

Restaurant related work

1½ hrs—2 hrs

Household work (no clear line of

separation from above) 40min

Vocational training -5hrs

Entertainment 2 ½ hrs

Personal hygiene 40min

Going by the international standards, Joa would be classified as a child labourer because she
spends more than 2 hours working on a daily basis. She also spends more than two hours on
entertainment. She undertakes work
at home without pay but the work
generates money. It can be defined as
domestic work, household work, and
business work depending on who
defines it.

The activities of Joa tracked for one

of the days within the observation

The girls are learning tailoring —by author week are indicated in table 4.13b.

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Table 4.13b: Joa’s activities as tracked on Friday 28 September 2007 at Gerenge

Time Activities undertaken

7:10-7.20am Wakes up and greets mum and washes her face
7:20-7:25 Fetches water from the lake with two small jerry cans
7:25 -35 She removes things i.e. utensils like saucepans, plates, cups etc from the sitting room
and puts them outside on the veranda (olubalaza) for washing
7:45 -8:06 Cleans the utensils (saucepans, plates, cups etc) outside on the veranda
8:06 -8:10 She takes used water to the lake
8:10 -8:15 Cleans the place where utensils have been washed
8:15 -8:20 Fetches water from the lake with two small jerry cans.
8:21 8:33 Goes for bathing with a five litre jerry can.
8: 34 -9:01 Changes the clothes and applies jelly and combs her hair
9:10 -9:15 Leaves for vacation training (tailoring 20 metres from the house, the training takes
place near the Chairman’s office
9: 15 -9:46 She goes back home and puts the utensils inside the house. Removes fish after sun
drying, locks the place, she cleans outside for five minutes.
9: 46 -9:48 Goes back for training
9:49 – 9:54 She cleans the training venue
9:54 – 11:24 Waits for the trainer, who comes with three other trainees (one of them is her sister
Nabasite)
11 :24 – 31 She takes breakfast together with other students
11: 40-11:43 Trainer arrives and directs students to put the tailoring machines outside
11: 45-12:08 They start to learn tailoring (okutunga) but Joa’s machine was taken away so she uses
her course mate’s machine. But most of the time she is observing what the trainer is
doing
12: 09 –12:25 Joa’s friend joins the class and starts to chat with her (girl friend)
12: 25 Joa’s friend leaves the place
12: 25 -40 Joa cuts hard paper used for learning by all students
12:40 -1:30 Joa goes outside for refreshment while Nabasite is watching films screened by her
brother Kiziva in a video hall on the island
1: 30 4:06 Joa starts tailoring using another student’s machine
4: 06 -4:10 She goes back home with Nabste and both greet their mom
4: 10 -5:05 She enters film together with Nabasite
5:05 -5:07 Comes back from film
5: 07 -5:11 Mum tells Joa to go and fetch water from the lake before taking lunch
5: 15-5:21 Takes lunch comprising of mingled bananas (matooke) with groundnut paste and
avocados.
5: 21 – 5: 22 Finishes lunch and washes her plate
5: 23-7:00 Watching film screened by her brother in the video hall
7:01-7:04 Comes back from film, goes home
7: 05 – 7:15 Goes to an unknown place
7: 15 – 9:00 Comes back and assists mum with restaurant activities. She serves porridge, cassava
chips, coffee and African tea, and fish to people. Hotel serves mostly single men
9.00+ Retires home to sleep

As can be seen from the tracking, Joa is busy the whole day but never mentioned that she gets
stressed by the work. She spends her time at the training venue, in the film hall, and at home
doing work activities.

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4.14 Surviving in a harsh environment: Evolving life styles of young people

Survival for children on all the landing sites where data was accessed was to a considerable
extent a matter of “life” and “death”. This experience was revealed through informal
interactions, formal discussions, as well as observations. Girls and boys without parents were
the major victims. In other cases, children with parents also struggled to have their basic
needs provided, if their parents or guardians were unable to provide due to old age, sickness,
or limited income sources. For the girls, working with parents in a home business such as
selling in the market, helping in a restaurant, bar or saloon and vending smoked fish, was a
common survival strategy. When this work was undertaken as part of family business, girls
would only receive a tip rather than pay. The tip barely helps girls to meet their pressing
needs let alone their desires to look attractive with good clothing, shoes, and fancy hair styles.

To bridge the financial gap, girls often get boyfriends who give them money in exchange for
sex. Some do this before they turn 13 years. Others who are older often have boyfriends with
whom they have sex, and some engage in sex work. In general, life on the landing sites for
girls and boys and adults involves complex relationships that are usually cemented with
exchanges involving sex and money between the males and females. This exchange is
generally normalised and to some extent popularised through sex talk which some
participants referred to as “vulgar language.” Using money to lure young girls into sex, and
having sex in both open and closed places (sometimes in the presence of very young
children—8 years and below), was a regular occurrence. Contracting HIV was not an issue
that generated fear among girls especially those involved in sex work. These chose to charge
different rates for using or not using a condom. Both boys and girls believed that it was a
question of bad luck to contract HIV. Hence, taking conscious steps to avoid infection was
not always considered.

4.14.1 Using drugs as a survival strategy

With girls surviving mainly through participation in family business and getting money
through sexual exchanges, boys resort to hard or heavy work and sometimes combine it with
use of drugs. Having discussed at length the work that they do, in this section I attempt to
shed more light on the use of drugs. I draw from FGD and informal discussions with the
working boys (aged 12-14) at Kasenyi who gave deep insights on the use of drugs by young

74
people as a coping strategy. I also observed the young people in several groups who were
using banned substances such as Marijuana, opium and sniffing of petroleum.

According to children, the use of drugs is a common practice on the landing site. The drugs
are mainly used by adult men, although children are not excluded. Explaining as to why
children use drugs, they said:

Children use drugs because they need extra energy to do the work on the lake. These
children do heavy work like actual fishing, rowing the boats, carrying fish and people
to the shoreline. Therefore the drugs boost their energy and also reduce sleep which
enables them to carry out their work. The drugs also help them to overcome the fear
of anything that comes their way on the lake. They develop determination and
resilience and therefore can face anything the way it comes.

Using drugs not only enables children overcome fear on the lake and do a lot of heavy work,
but it also generates fear among community members where those children live. To the
children, this fear is a source of pride as it creates social space for them to do many things as
they wish, including acts of aggression. They become known as the “fearless” and
“powerful” or “dangerous” boys. While elaborating on the use of drugs, they explained:

Children take drugs okukola eriiso (to make their eyes red). With red eyes, they are
feared in the community because once they look like that, they can do anything that
they want without instructions or orders from anyone.

This helps them to become “untouchables” before the Local Council (LC) officials who tend
to accuse them of non-school attendance and use of drugs. In a way, drugs are used as a
strategy to shift the balance of power from adults and those who wield political power in the
area.

Children continued to identify other reasons for taking drugs citing the desire to obtain
happiness:

Happiness pushes them to take the drugs and alcohol. They want to become
completely happy while carrying out their work.

The boys in the FGD explained that some children start using drugs at age seven. Some learn
by observing their parents while others learn from peer groups or by simply observing those

75
using drugs on the landing site. At the site (Gerenge), drugs were being sold mainly at night
through dealers having connections with suppliers from Kampala, Masaka, Jinja among other
areas. At a paltry Ug. Shs 100, children would get some small portions.

4.14.2 Other habits or practices

Working children use their money to enjoy entertainment. Up to forty percent of their time is
spent on play or entertainment which involves watching films in video halls and football (see
case study above). Sometimes the movies screened involve pornographic material but
children are secretly allowed inside as long as they pay. The local authorities in Gerenge and
Kasenyi have tried to limit the watching of pornographic movies by children (below 18 years)
but with little success. Boys and girls in addition attend Karaoke performances. Boys,
particularly those involved in fishing spend a great deal of time playing cards, pool and other
games. In general, young children and young people experience happiness on the landing
sites. While some boys and girls look forward to becoming successful business persons in the
future, or continuing with education, many of them realise that it is very difficult to
effectively combine school and work. Also, being preoccupied with short term plans makes it
difficult for them to realise long term aspirations.

4.15 Discussion

4.15.1 Childhoods shaped by poverty and children agency

The lives of working children in fishing communities depict childhoods shaped by poverty
and children’s agency. A multitude of vulnerabilities including orphanhood, lack of school
fees, adequate care, support, and guidance explain their involvement in work. Hence, they are
forced between a “rock and hard” place having to survive on their own at an early age.
Working and managing to meet their basic needs through fishing and related activities reveals
certain qualities among children such as determination, innovation, resilience, and use of
social capital from peers. By having to work at an early age, it shows the likely consequences
any society with inadequate social security systems is likely to experience.

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4.15.2 Interpretation of work using a constituent approach

While work in fishing is interpreted by the international law and the local policy instruments
as intolerable, working children see only certain parts of this work as intolerable rather than
the whole of it. The children’s analogy calls for analysis of certain activities with respect to
their constituent parts and to identify the acceptable and unacceptable elements of work. This
provides an opportunity to avoid the tendency towards problematising all aspects of
children’s work as pointed out by (Ennew, Myers & Plateau 2005; Nieuwenhuys 1996).

The lack of careful analysis of children’s work in fishing has also meant that children
including those aged 14 and above have not received guidance in taking precautions for their
safety even when they earn income that can help them procure safety gadgets including life
savers. Children’s awareness of certain kinds of work that they consider inappropriate as per
this study provides a justification for their involvement in both research and developing
interventions that can help reduce inappropriate or intolerable kinds of work. It confirms that
they have abilities that can provide significant input to policy and research (Alderson 1995;
Save the Children 2004).

The stories of children who suffer abuse in restaurants, bars and those who experience
hazards while fishing continue to confirm the findings by several ILO sponsored rapid
assessment studies regarding children’s work (Kufogbe, Awadey & Appenteng 2005;
Nitiruangjaras, Predkitti & Tantisearanee 1998; Walakira & Byamugisha 2008) and continue
to justify the need to intervene to protect such children. Stopping children from working is
not necessarily a panacea. It may even exacerbate their already precarious situation which
may subject them to even more intolerable forms of work. It is necessary to discuss with
children and take their views into consideration on how best to improve their situation.
Mobilising, sensitising and having dialogue with employers could also be of help. Children
also need to be aware of the need to protect themselves from harm for kinds of work that are
tolerable.

4.15.3 Finding happiness and meaning in life in spite of challenges

With work providing means of survival and acting as a source of empowerment to access a
wide range of services on the islands, children finally find happiness and meaning in their
lives through entertainment and play. Both boys and girls watch films, football, play games,

77
and make friendships. However, the tendency for young people to normalise certain risks
associated with sexuality (Walakira, Bukuluki & James Sengendo 2006; Sengendo, Walakira
& Bukuluki 2006) and drug use need to be addressed. Working children face a serious risk
that undermines their safety and development when they work without guidance on issues of
sexual health, valuing life, physical and spiritual health, and the dangers resulting from drug
use.

4.15.4 Shaping childhoods and being shaped

In general, this study demonstrates how working childhoods have been shaped by poverty on
one hand and children’s agency on the other. Through their agency, children take decisions to
negotiate for their social and economic space and make ends meet. Some of the survival
strategies they take do not only demonstrate innovation, resilience, and capacity to utilise
their talents, but also reveal the dark side of struggling to survive through activities that
impact their morality and health. In the long term, they consider their survival and
development to be based on luck rather than deliberate actions including careful planning and
taking proper care of their lives.

The children, because of their circumstances, are in a contradictory situation where

international laws judge them to be in child labour even when they are in self employment
and doing work that they feel—despite its dangers—is a blessing much as it is not devoid of
harm. However, those who judge them are unable to ameliorate their undesirable situation.
Even the laws in place have been unable to improve their conditions in the absence of
alternative support systems.

4.16 Conclusion

This chapter has examined aspects of children’s work and their lifestyles. It has revealed that
children choose to work largely because of the precarious social and economic situations.
Work is seen as an opportunity to ensure their survival. Working children interpret tolerable
and intolerable work depending on the age and abilities of children, but not much to do with
circumstances or dangers involved. Those who are not working or not doing a particular
activity are more likely to define the activity in question as intolerable. The discussion has
brought to light the need to examine several aspects of a particular activity without

78
necessarily attributing the whole of it as intolerable. But certain activities such as sex work
are defined by all the children interviewed as intolerable. There is scope for addressing the
abuses and difficulties children experience while doing work. However, more laws and
rhetoric that shows concern will not make much difference. Addressing the conditions that
drive children into work should be a major point of entry.

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 Chapter five

5. Children’s interpretation of child labour:

Vulnerability, traditional responsibility and
children agency discourse

The children’s discourse which is three dimensional, frames child labour in

the context of vulnerability, traditional responsibility, and children’s
agency. Child labour to them is not all harmful work, not every kind of
work that children do, but only work which is abusive, cruel, violent, and
forced on them. Work as part of traditional responsibility is positively
viewed except when it becomes abusive. School going children may define
as child labour certain activities that non-school going children consider
normal. Children’s agency symbolises struggle for freedom from abuse and
poverty. It also signals an intergenerational conflict between children and
adults. Children’s analogy can contribute to identification of indicators of
abuse that constitute child labour.

The main goal of this study was to interrogate the concept of child labour among those who
are directly affected by the official meaning as reflected in international instruments and
national laws.

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Fig. 5: Children’s construction of child labour

Child Labour
Not all harmful work, not all
work... but work which is
abusive, violent, forced...
Certain harmful work is
liked

Child labour is due to Children work because of Children work due to

Children’s Traditional their own will:
vulnerability: responsibility Children’s agency
To poverty, abusive parents, Viewed as positive for Influenced by desire for
lack of care takers & training, except when care money, peer influence and
exploitative employers. This takers are abusive—or when attraction for good life
leads to labouring work is too heavy styles

In this chapter, children give their interpretation of what child labour is and what it isn’t,
culminating into a children’s discourse on child labour. The presentation of findings is
preceded by a review of literature justifying children’s participation through expression of
their views.

5.1 Introduction

The case for generating children’s interpretation of what constitutes or comprises child labour
is a case for their participation as articulated by the UNCRC and the Optional Protocols to the
UNCRC like General Comment No. 7 on Early Childhood, among other instruments.

While many studies on child labour have accessed data from children, their main purpose has
been or is always to generate evidence on the nature of children’s work, reasons for working,
and hazards children experience. With the data generated, (we) the “experts” have always
analysed it to fit our own pre-determined interpretation of child labour, usually based on
guidelines provided by international agencies or the relevant international conventions. From
these studies, no attention or very limited attention has been paid to generating an

81
interpretation of what child labour means or what it comprises, from the perspective of
children. Although some studies have generated views on the work of children (See Boyden,
Ling & Myers 1998; Save the Children 2001) there is still an apparent lack of a coherent
discourse on child labour depicting the perspectives of children and how their views compare
with the international perspective.

The purpose of this chapter is to make a contribution towards generating a child labour
discourse emanating from the views of children selected from the fishing communities. The
emerging discourse from children views child labour as a function of children’s vulnerability
conditioned by poverty on one hand, and abusive parents on the other. Children have limited
control over vulnerability and poverty. Children also interpreted work as a traditional form of
responsibility which they like with the exception of that which is abusive. In addition, they
interpret their involvement in work as a product of their own choice or free will (agency).
This discourse also elucidates the taxonomy of children’s environments where they find their
rights abused or respected.

5.2 The case for children’s participation in interpreting child labour

Pushing a case for children’s participation is not without opposition (see Kirby & Woodhead
2003; Ansell 2005; Lansdown 2004), as some (traditionalists) see it as idealistic and harmful
rhetoric. Not only is participation (and its initiatives) considered to undermine adults’
responsibility, it is perceived to burden children too early thereby robbing them of their
childhood. Some see participation and some children’s rights as based on a Western
construction of childhoods (Boyden 1990; Lancy 2007; Bluebond-Langner & Korbin 2007).
This implies that the construction of childhoods, children’s rights is culturally variable (Toren
2002). Children’s participation if not carefully pursued can result into explicit or implicit
questioning of parents’ authority. This can lead to contempt of parents and disobedience and
family instability.

In the wider participatory development paradigm, it has been noted by Claver (2001:39) that
some approaches to participation (projects based) do not necessarily bring the desired
technical and social change due to their failure to address issues of power, control of
information and resources. Hence, the involvement or participation of children is not a

82
guarantee to bringing the desired change as existing power structures, professional positions,
and knowledge systems are not necessarily transformed.

Despite the opposition to children’s participation and some limitations of the participatory
development approaches, the
view of liberationists and
other advocates of children’s
participation is compelling
and has gained currency.
Participation is viewed not
only as a fulfilment of
children’s rights as provided
An FGD with children—by author for in the UNCRC (articles,
12, 13, 14, 17 and 31), but is also viewed as a way to respect and nurture their growing
abilities. This means that adults should not problematise and pathologise young people as
lacking critical thinking, rationality, objectivity, consistency, and communication abilities;
but rather recognise these growing abilities (Lansdown 2004:4; Kirby & Woodhead 2003).

It has been noted that young people and more particularly children remain marginalised in
areas of decision making on the basis of age (Ansell 2005 & Edward 1996) with the effect
that their views tend to be neglected in policy making. Yet they remain the majority
particularly in the developing countries. In relation to research, involving children offers
them an opportunity to have their voices heard and their concerns taken seriously. As noted
by different authors (Save the Children 2004; Alderson 1995; Worrall 2000; Kirby 1999),
involving children and young people in participatory research methodologies helps empower
them by increasing their knowledge and skills, makes research view children as active agents
in their own lives and not passive victims or research subjects. It also increases the possibility
of presenting a picture freer of adult interpretations—which in this case offers a chance to
generate their own construction of what child labour means or should comprise. Children’s
involvement also helps to extend the goals of democracy where all citizens, including the
youngest, take part in shaping their lives, their community and wider society (Cutler 2001).

It is against this theoretical frame of reference that the participation of children in generating
an interpretation of child labour is conceived and presented. The children from whom data

83
was accessed were aged 5-14 years from the study sites (see methodology chapter). Besides
FGDs and informal discussions, essay writing for school children formed a significant source
of data for this section.

5.3 Children’s definition of child labour

Children attending school near a fish landing site define child labour as work that is heavy for
children, involves mistreatment or harassment, “children are forced to work rather than
attend school” and “work that is risky to lives of children.” Using both English and
Luganda—a locally spoken language, pupils in classes six and seven at Kigero Primary
School defined child labour as follows:

Emirimu ejikozesebwa omwana atanneetuuka (A child made to undertake work

beyond his [her] age) ...like lifting heavy loads, fishing among others. Child labour
means embonya bonya yabana (a way of mistreating children). Child labour involves
sending a child to do many activities without rest like fetching water, washing
clothes… Okutuntuza omwana (harassing that child). Omwana akola emirimu
egimuleetera obuzibu (a child does work which endangers his/her life). For example,
a child can be fishing and then gets bruised/ hurt by a stone. Also a child may be
working in a sand mine ekirombe ne kimubuutikira oba ne kibomoka ne kimubikka (he
is eventually buried inside). A child doing work that bars him/her from attending
school.

These children aged 12-13 were asked to write essays that draw a distinction between what is
defined as “bad work” (child labour) and “good work” within a home situation. The extracts
from the essays are presented in the tables below starting with their understanding of bad
work.

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Table 5.3a: Children’s understanding of “bad work” (child labour)

Name of pupil Extracts from essays written by Primary 6 and Primary 7 pupils from Kigero
Primary School
Allen (12- A parent may send you to go and lift people from boats to get some money for buying
Female) household items. You may find a parent overworking you at home yet there are other
children. This can force you to run away from home.
Francis Children should not work a lot. Children should not be abused at home. Children should
(14-Male) have good care but some parents don’t want to care for their children and children can
become houseboys or house girls. Some parents abuse our right to education. You may
find some children are labourers when they are below 18 years. Some parents punish
children in many ways e.g. some children are burnt, some are sent away from home.
Violet (14- Some of our parents tell us to do difficult work like digging without eating the whole
Female) day. Some parents like step mothers do not like us to go to school. They want us to work
like child labourer. Some of our parents can refuse to give us schools fees, this makes us
to go and work to get money for school fees.
Hakim (13-Male) We should not dig too much. We should not be responsible for buying things at home.
We should not burn charcoal. We should not collect firewood for sale.
Bad work outside home: we should not go fishing, we should not lift heavy things, we
should not lift people from boats to the ground and we should not smoke fish.
Ritah (12-Female) Some parents tell children to go fishing. They cannot allow children to stay at home.
Some parents do not send children to school. They make children carry a load of clothes.
Tonny (14-Male) They make us carry heavy loads. They tell us to go and work. They tell us to go digging
in the morning. We should stop walking at night. They tell girls to get men.
Harriet Bad work at home: not to fetch water ten Jerry cans in one hour, don’t abuse your
(12-Female) parents, don’t walk alone when you go to the well, if your mother tells you to go when it
is night you tell her that I will fetch it in the morning.

The views of children suggest that bad work assigned by parents is not restricted to the nature
of activities that they do, but also the purpose of work. Sending children to make money and
give it to parents—who sometimes use it to meet their own needs such as alcohol
consumption is complained about. For children, bad work goes hand in hand with the nature
of treatment that children receive from their parents. When the treatment is good, children
receive appropriate work and the work is equitably distributed among children in the home.

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Table 5.3b: Categorisation of “good work” at home

Name of pupil Extracts from essays written by P.6 and P.7 children in Kigero Primary School
Allen (12- A parent may give you work such as cleaning the compound and thereafter to read
Female) books. Parents encourage their children to study hard so as to have a good future.
We have to obey our parents so they can also care to look for schools fees by for
example going to dig.
Francis (14-Male) At home, we learn about good ideas, get good care and get good advice i.e. we don’t
develop anti-social behaviour.
Samuel (15-Male) You should be obedient to parents for example by fetching water and digging.
To be well disciplined. A child should not be overworked e.g. being beaten so much.
Paying attention to what is taught and to be obedient to what parents and teachers say.
Violet Good thing when you go and work: When you work, you can get money and buy a
(14-Female) telephone which is better than those who are at school. Children must listen to their
parents so as to get a good future. We should help our parents in doing home work e.g.
fetching water, washing clothes etc. Bad habit: When you are still young and go to work,
you can get bad habits like joining bad groups e.g. stealing, smoking, drinking alcohol
and other habits. When you are a girl and still young and go to work, you can get
pregnant and diseases like STDs and HIV/ AIDS that can cause you to die.
Hakim (13-Male) We have to help our parents in some work like: digging, cooking, fetching water,
collecting firewood and others.
Good works outside home: we should respect each other and yourself.
Ritah (12-Female) (did not write on good work)
Tonny Helping parents on household chores e.g. washing plates, mopping the house, fetching
(14-Male) water. Going with parents to gardens.
Harriet Good work at home: washing dishes, fetching water and respecting parents.
(12-Female) Good things outside home: respect other people; don’t be with bad peer group, not to
abuse everybody you find on the way. You do not need to wear bad clothes. Peer groups
are also bad as they can make a child to learn chewing mairungi (cannabis).

From the children’s perspective, good work at home involves doing household work in an
environment of love and support from parents. For example, parents allocate responsibilities
to children but also allow them to read books. Children also see obedience to parents and
supporting them in household work as part of their responsibility. In addition, they consider it
appropriate to avoid bad groups and bad behaviours as well as being careful about money
despite its usefulness.

5.4 Activities children consider inappropriate on fish landing sites

In Bulega Primary school, another school located near the fish landing site, children also had
similar views about good work and harmful work at home. Both children at Bulega primary
School and Kachanga Island were asked to identify work activities they considered to be

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harmful for children of their age (5-14 years) on the fish landing sites. They pointed out the
following:

Table 5.4a: Inappropriate activity

Inappropriate Views from Bulega Primary School pupils and Children at Kachanga Landing site
activity
Fishing Fishing is harmful because children can drown. There is a danger of strong winds on
the lakes, which may cause drowning. There is a danger of a hippopotamus
overturning the canoe as children are fishing, which may cause drowning and
consequent death. [While] fishing, children may meet adults on the lake who want to
steal their nets. These people after stealing the nets can drown you in the lake. Fishing
(actual fishing)-while hooking children can easily slide off the big stones in the middle
of the lake and drown.
Loading and Children are likely to get money which may prevent them from going to school
offloading fish and (Children Bulega Primary School).
people from boats
Disco dancing It is also harmful because children are likely to get excited and engage in unhealthy
sexual relationships with the DJs.
Stone quarrying ‘Kiyinza okuletera ekifuba okwekaaka’ (it can cause chest pain).
Prostitution At the landing site some children exchange sex for money with adult men.
Working in bars [This] is also bad.
Sand mining There is a risk for children to be trapped in the sand mine, which may lead to death.

Activities considered inappropriate were those understood to be dangerous to the level of

causing death, those that cause serious injury such as chest pain, those that lead to sexual
abuse and those that attract children out of school. These views however were expressed
mainly by children attending school. Activities such as selling fish, drying nets, fetching
water, learning boat making and scaling fish among others were defined as appropriate in as
much as they were not performed in an abusive environment.

For working children, activities such as fishing deemed to be very dangerous were considered
appropriate despite the risk of causing death. Exception to participation was given to children
aged below 14. They explained that activities where children were self employed were
appropriate despite the dangers involved. Activities where adults employ them and exploit
them were considered to be less appropriate depending on the circumstances of the child.

Indeed, children’s understanding of good and bad work is tied to several experiences within
their living environments such as nature of activities assigned, intentions or motives behind
allocation of work, how children are treated, how they obey or disobey their parents and
whether or not parents give appropriate advice, allow time for reading books; and are

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committed to meeting the needs of children. If these factors within their environment are not
friendly, they constitute a bad care environment and children define the work involved as bad
work.

This leads to consideration of the taxonomy of environments where children spend time and
where they can experience violence, abuse or protection (Fig. 5.4b).

Table 5.4b: Taxonomy of children’s environments in fishing communities

Home environment Environment outside home
Work Employers
☺washing utensils, digging, scaling and washing ☺boat owners, restaurant operators, bar owners,
fish, smoking fish, fetching water, cooking and fish vendors, market vendors, transporters –fish,
selling in a home shop goods etc
Play Peer groups
☺hide and seek games ☺boys, girls, school goers, football viewers, drug
football, jumping users, sex workers etc
Parental authority Entertainment
☺giving instructions, allocation of work, Cate ☺films, football, karaoke dances, live shows, ludo
Cat disciplining gorie etc
egor Children s Neighbours/surroundings
ies ☺biological children, step children, ☺lake, swamp, congested houses, bars, food
boys, girls, housemaids etc market, restaurant, toilet, film hall
Punishment School
☺canning/chastisement, denial of food, ☺teachers, pupils, lessons/classes, games, time
refusal to pay school fees, locking into a room, periods, punishments, etc
verbal abuse
Entertainment Work opportunities
☺radio, television, storytelling, singing, ☺fishing—hooking, use of canoe, fetching water,
playing/acting carrying people, luggage, selling fish, working in
restaurant, entertainment etc
Rewards for good behaviour Child employees
☺gifts, praise ☺Casual employees, Regular employees, paid
domestic workers, self employed (manage own
business), unpaid domestic workers
Responsibilities for children
☺obedience, household work, supporting family
Duties of parents
☺give good guidance, payment of school fees,
meeting needs of children and family members,
security/protection

This implies that the understanding of work is rooted within a web of experiences, practices,
and activities within their environment. More importantly, the treatment by adults in those
environments—whether at school, home or work—matters a lot.

5.5 The three dimension discourse on child labour from children’s interpretation

The discourse emerging from children’s views has three sets of ideas with an internal logic
namely: i) Children’s vulnerability (to poverty, bad care givers etc); ii) Work as a form of

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traditional responsibility; and iii) Children’s agency as a reason for working. These are
elaborated in the sections which follow.

5.6 Vulnerability as a reason for working

5.6.1 Vulnerability to poverty drives us to work

At the risk of using words like “majority” for a study that does not put premium on numbers
and in which no quantitative data was collected; children aged 14 and below craved for
education in nearly all the FGDs and case studies organised but had limited opportunities to
access it. In this case one could say the “majority”. The interest in education persisted even
though the quality was suspect due to factors including absence of teachers and lack of a
decent learning environment (see chapter 9). Children both in and out of school explained
that their inability to afford the cost of education left them with no option other than to work.
Some start working to support their education. However, combining both work and education
increasingly becomes difficult hence they drop out of school. Their care takers are either
impoverished due to age or sickness and for some children their parents died leaving them as
single or double orphans. Here is how they explained their vulnerability to poverty which
eventually forces them to work:

Some children work to get money to attend school. This category includes children
whose parents have died and are left under the guardianship of their paternal uncles.
These uncles are less caring and sometimes have limited means. This forces some
children to look for work and fend for themselves. Personally I work to support my
father who is sick and also get money for school fees. Some children may work
because their families lack adequate incomes to meet their schooling costs and other
basic necessities. This way, children work to supplement the money given to them by
their parents. Some children work to meet their basic necessities like clothes,
especially in instances where parents cannot afford or deliberately refuse to provide. I
think some children work because their parents lack money (FGD with children at
Bulega Primary school).

Some are involved in fishing because they have lost one or both of their parents and
therefore they have no one to pay for their fees or meet their most urgent needs. This
forces them to get involved in fishing related work. Some children come from poor
households, which cannot afford to pay their fees (FGD with children, Kachanga—
both in and out of school).

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Children involved in paid work further explained that they were working because they were
responsible for the welfare of their siblings. Others are encouraged by parents who advise
them to learn to fend for themselves. They explained:

Some of us are working to supplement household income ... because of the [bad]
situation at home you have to work in order to survive. When we come to the landing
site and do some fishing like using hooks, we come home with fish to eat. For me
when I sell my fish, I save my money in a small box. I only open it once in a while to
do some shopping. For me I use my savings to buy food and school requirements.
There are some children who work to pay their own school fees. We work because we
have to take care of ourselves and our younger siblings... once in a while we also go
for karaoke (music shows) and watching movies. Some parents tell their children to
undertake fish vending so that they can also learn how to survive on their own.
Edward aged 12 says: For me I stay with my grandmother who is too old to work. So
I have to work and when I get money, I take it to her to keep it for me. In case there is
no money at home, my grandmother may use part of the money she has kept for me.
Some children are working because they are orphans and they have no one to help
them, so they have to work in order to be able to take care of themselves. (FGD with
working children aged 12-14 years at Gerenge fish landing site).

Poverty and the poor economic status of families force children to work other than
going to school. So the parents encourage the children to work to look for something
to eat and also help with the survival of the family. That is why some children, given
a chance and resources, they can go back to school. Also due to HIV/AIDS, most
children stay with their grandparents. The grandparents encourage the grown up
children of say above 10 years, to go and work for the survival of the home. This is
because the parents [old parents] are unable to engage in productive activities (FGD
with working children—boys 12-14 years at Kasenyi fish landing site).

Owing to income poverty therefore, work is seen as a source of provisioning opportunity for
children. It is a safety net that ensures both the survival of children and parents under
economic and social distress. While working children express bad feelings regarding the
failure to attend school because of having to sustain themselves, they do not show regrets for
taking part in the work they are doing. The common activities that preoccupy children are
presented in Chapter four.

5.6.2 Vulnerability to bad care givers

While children had pointed out poverty as the major factor in their involvement in paid work,
they also singled out the role played by bad parents which forces them into abusive work at

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home, or away from home. Care takers with bad intentions or who do not appreciate the value
of education may send children to work instead of going to school as children explained:

Children are forced to work instead of going to school by their own parents. Parents
particularly women who stay at home encourage children to go and work. This is more so
where results are good on first attempt. The men are usually very busy and do not have
time for their children… (FGD with children aged 12-14 at Kasenyi landing site).

Some children work because they live with their step mothers who sometimes instruct
them to work instead of attending school (FGD with children at Bulega primary school).

Some parents however, seem to have difficulties, cultivating interest in education among
children. Or the importance they attach to work supersedes the value placed on education.

Children are on the lake instead of going to school because they were not brought up
well by the parents or care takers in the early stages. The ignorance of the parents
about the importance of education has forced children to look for quick ways of
getting money in order to survive (FGD with children at Bulega Primary School).

The views of children here suggest that when children lack proper guidance and appropriate
support for their education and other basics, they resort to work.

For reasons that may not be well known, parents simply refuse to pay school fees for
children, leaving them with no option other than to work:

My name is Ronald, some children engage in work as a result of deliberate refusal by

their parents to pay for them school fees to attend school (FGD with children at
Bulega Primary School).

In some cases, refusal to pay school fees may be a form of punishment particularly for
children who are considered disobedient by their parents. In the school system however,
teachers regularly punish pupils who do not comply with school regulations. Such children
are made to do heavy work such as fetching many containers of water and clearing ant-hills
among others. The essays written by children in table 5.3a about bad work, continue to
illustrate that some care givers force work on children while in other cases, it is the
mistreatment of children which makes them run away from homes and take up work.

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Much as the work outside home may still encompass challenges, they see it as more
liberating than work at home. By working away from home, they are running away from an
abusive and uncaring environment. This nonetheless is not always the case as chapter four
reveals.

5.7 Work as part of children’s traditional responsibility

A boy carrying jerry cans of water for use in restaurant —by author & J. Byamugisha
Children do not view
participation in work
only as a form of
provisioning amidst
economic realities or
as an escape route
from the abusive
home environment,
but they also view it
as a form of
responsibility particularly when undertaken at home as part of the routine domestic activities.
It is a kind of work they like doing and view it as important in helping them grow as
disciplined and responsible children:

We need to work at home doing all the domestic work so that we become responsible
people in the future. We also need to be disciplined so that we can easily study well at
school. We like digging food like cassava, pineapples so that we can eat and also sell
to get school fees. We like rearing goats, cows, and pigs so that we can sell them and
get school fees. We like playing a lot. We play football and netball here at school
during break time. This helps us to learn sports activities. We enjoy playing and it
makes us happy. Some of the work helps us to get money like fetching water for
people and they give us like Ug. Shs 200, we keep the money for school fees, buying
clothes and even food stuff at the shops (FGD with children aged 5-10 from Kachanga
Junior School).

Another group of children were asked to speak about what pleases their parents. The children
aged 10 years and below, were selected from Bright Junior School Wakiso. The things they
pointed out suggest that helping parents at home was a very central traditional responsibility:

Being obedient and respecting our parents [is important] so that we get blessings.

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 [Legitimate duties include]
Washing clothes, mopping the house, and sweeping.
Slashing, fetching water, and washing utensils.
Respecting and listening to our parents.
Greeting people at home and respecting visitors.

Children indicated that these practices please parents who reward them accordingly:

They buy for us clothes like shoes, uniforms, and playing equipment.
They pay our school fees and pray for us to get knowledge and wisdom.
They thank us by giving us money to eat at school—like Ug. Shs. 500 (U$ 35 cents).
Our parents promise us gifts like motorbikes, playing equipments, and clothes when
we perform well in class.

Although they liked doing this work, there were situations when their parents punished them
for not doing this work. This suggests that the work is not necessarily a voluntary activity. It
is a responsibility which they are expected to perform, and in case of disobedience, they face
punishment. This is how they responded when asked what makes parents angry?

Refusing to do work at home

Beating our friends
Stealing food and sugar
Burning the house with candles
Disrespecting our parents and disobedience
Not listening to our parents
Stealing from the neighbourhood

Giving examples of punishments applied by parents in case of failure to comply they said:

They whip us like administering twelve strokes of the cane

Some parents burn their children for example, a child in our village stole money and
his mother burnt his hands
Some of our relatives tie us upside down and cane us
Another boy stole money (Ug. Shs 1000) and his mother used the liquid material of a
burning jerry can (plastic material) and poured it on his body
They also punish us by refusing to give us food before we go to bed or food for eating
while at school

Children nonetheless continued to emphasise that the punishments do not make it bad work.
They pointed out concerning this work:

Kituyamba okuyiga emirimu (It helps us learn to work)

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 It helps to prepare us for future responsibilities as adults so that in future we can
provide for our families
It trains us to be hard working

In general, children view work as laying a foundation for future independence and building
their abilities to cater for themselves.

5.8 Children’s agency: When undertaking work is a personal choice

At certain times, children simply make a decision on their own to undertake work for pay
outside the homes of their parents. The decision to work does not always receive the backing
of parents. This reveals a clash of interests once it happens, and points to a generational
conflict. By deciding to work on their own in disregard of the guidance of parents, children
could be understood as pursuing their rights. Yet these rights could be in direct conflict with
what parents define as the responsibilities of children. Parents perceive children to be
disobedient in case they disregard their counsel or directions. In this case, the children
involved are chased away or opt to leave the homes of their parents and establish company
with peers, or look for potential employers to stay with. Children in the fishing communities
pointed out that some children decide to work instead of going to school, even when their
parents are willing to pay for their school fees:

Some children stubbornly and deliberately refuse to attend school in favour of

working to earn money.
For some children, the allure of making money becomes too strong for them to resist
(FGD with children at Kachanga).
... Some children are working and not going to school and it is a result of their
choosing rather than the lack of school fees (FGD with working children 12-14 at
Gerenge).
.... On the contrary, some children are working and not going to school having
decided on their own not to go to school, but to work (FGD with boys 12-14 at
Kasenyi).

The exercise of children’s agency is buttressed by a number of factors such as persuasion

from friends, the need for money which is seen as a source of empowerment, the general
environment that comprises attractive life styles and friends who are working, and the role
of negligent parents. Regarding persuasion from friends, and the attraction for money,
working children from Kasenyi landing site had this to say:

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 Children are discouraged from going to school in favour of work, due to influence
from their friends who are working. At some point in time these children were
attending school, but got nothing other than whipping from teachers. Yet they
observed the working children earning money. They opted to take on working so as to
get quick money.

Not only are children listening to the advice of friends who are working to ignore attending
school in preference for work, but they are also observing several things in their environment.
One of the observations relates to their admiration of fishermen who have money:

The environment in which the children stay also forces them to work instead of going
to school. For example they see fishermen on the islands in possession of money yet
they are uneducated. Therefore, they also contemplate leaving school to work, hoping
that they can emulate the fishermen in possession of money.

The ability of fishermen and other working people to afford a variety of things that require
spending money is a source of great attraction, particularly to school-going children
experiencing difficulties due to lack of money. The working girls at Gerenge for example
expressed satisfaction on account of being able to afford a variety of things, such as
entertainment, and other provisions, using money earned from work:

We spend on entertainment ... we pay for karaoke (they define it as the practice of
mimicking singers including the singing and dancing) for Ug. Shs 1000 (U$ 0.62) and
for Kadongo kamu (traditional guitar performances) for Ug. Shs 3000 (US$ 1.9) ... the
dancing can be strong … they [actors] sometimes use computers, other times it is
individuals who are acting .... We [also] spend on necklaces, clothes ... we try to
sustain ourselves. Sometimes you put money in savings schemes. Abalenzi bakola
ssente kukyakaza demu mu ndongo (the boys work to earn money, so as to take out
girls for dancing) (FGD with working girls at Gerenge).

The working boys at Gerenge also spend their money on entertainment. Besides spending on
food and other basic necessities, they explained that they spend their money on girl friends:

Some of us (older boys of about 13-14) we have girl friends, we have only one each.
... the karaoke girls who come at the site are good looking and you can even take one
for a night. Sometimes I do that.
We also watch films ... the pornographic films were banned but children still watch
them.

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Given the opportunity of earning money to escape circumstances of deprivation, girls and
boys decide for themselves sometimes with the encouragement from parents, to search and
take up work:

Most girls and boys come on their own to ask for jobs in the restaurants though some
of these children may be brought to work with their parents especially those who have
a belief that for instance their family has been of fishermen from the great
grandparents so also the grandchildren are supposed to be fishermen. However, this
can also be done by the children going to school who come to work during holidays to
look for school fees for the next term (FGD with working children at Kasenyi).

Children’s exercise of their agency is not only affected by money or its attractions, it is also
influenced by peers and role models who are considered successful because of money. Other
factors related to care givers also play a crucial role. For example, the absence of good
parents or having negligent parents (those who do not care to give appropriate advice to
children) also plays an important part in their decision making regarding whether to stay at
school or start working to earn money. This is how children explained their point of view:

Some children lack proper parenting while others do not have parents to guide them.
Those without parents have to live on their own with no one to care of them or pinish
them for bad behaviour. Children of this kind, bakola kye bagala (do as they wish).
This is because there is no one to counsel or educate them about the importance of
education. As a result, they are unable to attend school. Some do work because their
parents are negligent or cannot control them (FGD with children at Kachanga).

The failure of parents to guide children notwithstanding, some children simply become too
difficult to be guided by their parents. They become disrespectful prompting parents to
withhold their support for basic needs. In the absence of support, they search for paid work.
Some children however simply break ties with parents in search of freedom from abusive
environments:

Children may run away due to okutuntunza (harassment or torture) by parents, due to
peer pressure, and some are chased away from home because of indiscipline.
Some children become uncontrollable and disrespectful to their parents. In response,
parents could refuse to pay their school fees. This in turn forces children to abandon
their parents’ homes and search for work rather than attending school (FGD with
pupils at Bulega Primary School).

While children usually respect the authority of their parents, some have limits to which they
can tolerate abuse resulting from application of parental authority. Similarly, parents have a

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limit to which they can tolerate the contempt or disobedience of children. On account of
tradition, religion and other considerations, parents punish non compliant children using
methods such as withholding of privileges, using a cane, and rebuke. Some methods are
considered socially acceptable even though they inflict physical and psychological pain.
Others are viewed as excessive and unacceptable, and regarded as child torture. Torturous
work is usually one of these. For the case of children, there is room for making a decision as
to whether to leave their parents’ homes to engage in work or decide otherwise.

5.9 Discussion

5.9.1 Reflection on the meaning of child labour

Taking into account the views of children as presented above, when people define child
labour, they do not differentiate the various activities children do on the basis of vulnerability
to poverty or abuse at home; the activities they do which are considered to be part of their
responsibility at home; and activities which they undertake (away from home) which are a
result of their personal choice. When all these activities are lumped together and given a
generic name of child labour with a singular meaning of “harmful work”, it gives a distorted
interpretation of what child labour means and what it comprises before children.

Children’s local equivalent or definition of child labour therefore is: That work which is
abusive, heavier compared to their capacities, and is performed under the control of adults in
an environment that is not friendly to them. School going children consider work and money
that force children out of school to be part of child labour or inappropriate work. Working
children do not view as inappropriate (or child labour), all kinds of work they do that expose
them to harm. They also do not consider work undertaken by children (own account
employees) aimed at their survival, as child labour. They define child labour as involving
adult abuse and exploitation and work in extremely bad or risky activities like sex work.

What this implies is that many of the definitions of child labour such as “harmful work”, “all
work children do”, and “work for pay” etc represent an outsider rather than insider view on
child labour. They represent the views of professionals or academics, rather the views of
working children who are directly affected by the consequences of any definitions used to

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guide interventions. Working children such as those involved in fishing do not define their
work as child labour in their interpretation of abusive work. This however does not apply to
work undertaken by children younger than their age abilities. For example, children aged 14-
15 years are considered eligible to take on hooking fish which involves swimming away from
the shoreline line for a considerable distance inside the lake. Children aged 15/16 and above
are considered old enough and able to carry on actual fishing with requirements such as
rowing the boat, and working overnight.

The insider and outsider views are also reflected between children involved in paid work on
one hand, and on the other, those attending school but not working for pay. School going
children designate certain activities on fish landing sites as inappropriate, while their
counterparts, who are doing those activities and are out of school, view them as normal. This
shows that children’s views are not necessarily homogeneous. They depend on the
circumstances of the child. Children who are well looked after and are attending school, are
more likely to define as child labour, most of the work undertaken on the landing sites.

Generally, there is need for reflexivity in using concepts like child labour, harmful work, and
work for pay etc, so that the circumstances of those affected are taken into account when
using them and determining courses of action.

5.9.1 Making meaning of children’s linkage of child labour to poverty

Children’s interpretation of their participation in work as a result of poverty simply re-affirms

the existing social economic situations they live in. Uganda like many Sub-Saharan African
countries has high rates of poverty. Results from the Uganda National Household Survey
conducted in 2005/06 established that 31.1 percent of the population are absolute poor (See
UBOS 2006). Absolute poverty measures the level of expenditure needed to secure basic
food consumption needs and corresponding level on non food consumption. Those below this
level (of usually US$1 per day) are classified as absolute poor. They comprised 8.4 million
persons with children below 18 years accounting for 60 percent of total (5.4million).

Besides income poverty, children are prone to many other forms of deprivation involving
health, nutrition, education, and security among others (see UNICEF 2006). All these
exacerbate their vulnerability to intolerable kinds of work conditions. The Uganda National

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Household Survey further indicates that 65 percent of the children are vulnerable (these
include orphans, children with disabilities, those out of school, and those living in poor
households etc). Over 2 million (15%) of the children population (15 million) are orphans. In
the fishing communities 50 percent of the children are orphans (Walakira et al. 2008). The
HIV/AIDS which has claimed over a million persons is blamed for the large number of
orphans (UNDP 2002; UBOS 2005).

The fact that many children are working due to poverty and other factors, condemning their
work without offering better alternatives serves little or no importance. It could be construed
as victimisation, criminalisation, and stigmatisation of children’s work in disregard of their
circumstances. While there is an emergency that calls for a response to the situation of
children, the will and resources available may never march this level of emergency. It is more
likely that children will continue to experience working childhoods for many years to come.
Efforts aimed at attracting children back to school, strengthening social protection, and
addressing poverty in general are some of the avenues that ought to make a difference.

5.9.2 Seeking work as a route to freedom

Unfavourable conditions at home involving abuse or violence against children play a key role
in forcing children out of the home. The search for work in this case is seen as a route
towards freedom. Several studies confirm the many forms of violence against children
including whipping, denial of food, burning, sex abuse, and overworking children (ILO 2007;
Save the Children in Uganda 2007; ACPF 2006; Uganda parliamentary Forum for Children
[UPFC] 2007; UHRC 2004, Walakira, Okwany & Ochen 2008). Work away from is often
sought by children in anticipation of freedom. However, it is rarely devoid of harm and a lot
of times, it involves exploitation. This notwithstanding, the affected children tend to find this
type of work more liberating and fulfilling because is never forced on them. Children in self
employment experience more freedom than those in regular employment.

We are reminded by children’s interpretation of child labour that torturous and exploitative
work could be cloaked or disguised in traditional responsibility by perpetrators of abuse. The
ecological model advanced by Bronfenbrenner (1979) in this case educates us that care givers
could be the very source of violence in the home or micro care environment.

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5.9.3 Work as an exercise of children’s agency

The views of children revealed that involvement into paid work (harmful or less harmful) for
some children is out of their personal
will. This could be the case even when
parents are able and willing to support
children’s education and other needs.
Giddens (1984) in his Structuration
theory describes the importance of
agency in explaining human actions.
Indeed not all actions are intentional
as Giddens points out, but the
Boys sorting nets in preparation for fishing—by author decisions by children to work in
search for freedom, reveals how they are social actors who can influence their environment
rather than being passive subjects. Children’s agency impacted on the family and community
structures through benefits accruing from work or the consequences that impacted negatively
both the family and community owing to children’s work.

While the exercise of children’s agency is emphasised in the existing children instruments
such as the UNCRC, and the UN General Comment No.7; the Uganda Constitution and
Children Act Cap 59; it is not clear, how far children should be allowed to chart their own
courses of action that parents believe are not in the children’s best interests. More often, the
growing up of children particularly their entry into adolescence sparks off a conflict between
children and parents. This conflict is seen in the way parents and children define their rights,
needs and duties. (See diagram 5.9.3).

Fig. 5.9.3: A generational conflict

Rights Rights
Needs PARENTS CHILDREN Needs
Duties Duties

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Parents and children perceive themselves to have rights on one hand and responsibilities on
the other. How these rights and responsibilities are perceived by each party and the way they
negotiated determines whether the two can stay together. With the increased emphasis on the
rights of children, rather than their obligations to parents as considered by traditionalists, it is
not very clear how far parents can exercise their influence over their children without getting
into conflict with the law. Social work services to help build harmonious and productive
relationships between parents and children are at most nonexistent in the fishing communities
and the country at large.

Children’s exercise of agency frees them from abusive parents, but may land them into the
hands of abusive employers. In addition, access to money without guidance on saving, its use,
and education on sexual health, morals, and safe behaviour results into dangers that endanger
the lives of working children. Alcohol consumption, rampant sexuality—largely unprotected
sex, and use of drugs represent problematic behaviour for children engaged in paid work.
This calls for initiatives that mobilise working children and teach them how they can plan for
their future, safeguard their lives, and how they can use the money more productively.

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 Chapter Six

6 Child labour: a traditional child rearing practice

The traditional human capital development discourse

Children’s work in family-based activities is constructed as a traditional

form of training or child upbringing. Work for training can be distinguished
from that which is abusive and exploitative. There were traditional
measures for dealing with child abusers involving family and traditional
leaders. Traditional approaches to training include involvement in work,
sending children to relatives, punishment for non compliance, and
teaching through proverbs and stories. Work is allocated depending on age
specific abilities. However, some parents may disguise heavy and abusive
work as training especially for non biological children. The effectiveness of
the traditional approach is being undermined by formal education,
poverty, urbanisation, and the child rights discourse. Beneficial aspects of
this training can be incorporated in formal education and in grassroots
programmes.

This chapter like the preceding one answers the question that the study sought to explore:
How is child labour socially constructed by local adult persons (aged 18 and above)? The
chapter presents a second discourse which frames the peoples’ reality of child labour as a
traditional child rearing practice with a primary purpose of developing the human capital for
self, family, and community gain in aspects of life such as economic and social production
and reproduction. The discourse distinguishes work meant for training from that which is
exploitative and abusive. The latter is what is construed as child labour.

6.1 Introduction

Accounts about children’s training through work (excluding formal training and education)
have paid greater attention to agricultural and pastoral activities (Hellet & Lamb 2005),

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traditional healing work (Reynolds 1996; Walakira 2009), and traditional apprenticeship in
established micro and small enterprises where children are placed under master craftsmen for
a considerable period of time before they start to work on their own (see Walakira 2003; King
1996; Fluitman 1989; Haan 1994; Harper 1989; Herschbach 1989). Other concerns about
children’s work have paid attention to exploitation and abuse (International Labour
Organisation [ILO] 2002, 2006, 2007; Walakira 2002; World Vision 2007).

The analysis from such scholarly or action oriented research hardly pays attention to the
nature and dynamics of the traditional system of training and its linkage to child upbringing.
Moreover, contexts in which parents and children are mainly migrants, living in congested
settlements, and largely dependent on lake based work as the case of fishing communities
demonstrates are yet to be examined. Suffice to say, existing literature does not address how
the parents and children interpret work under difficult circumstances like those in the fishing
communities, and what role work plays in child upbringing.

This chapter therefore presents peoples’ interpretation of child labour as a traditional form of
child training. While the training provided is intended to prepare children for adult
responsibilities, the harsh economic conditions prematurely force children and parents to
make use of training for mainly economic purposes. The presentation points out the
challenges experienced by the traditional system of training and how it is adjusting or failing
to adjust to the challenges.

6.2 Training children through work

Studies among indigenous peoples and other communities have revealed that parents raise
their children by involving them in a variety of activities comprising their life routines or
patterns. These activities are intended for training in preparation for the future of children to
become independent after acquiring practical knowledge, skills, and attitudes consistent with
norms and tradition. This makes possible social reproduction—the continuity of society
through the transfer of knowledge and practices from the older to the younger generation (see
Bass 2004; Reynolds 1996; Kielland & Tovo 2006). The activities are also much about
household economy that includes wealth creation (Nieuwenhuys 2005, 1994 & 2007; Ansell
2005; Robson 1996).

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Twinning training and household economy, Tucker & Young (2005) show in an ethnographic
study how children among the Mikea (a community inhabiting a dense dry tropical forest in
South Western Madagascar) take part in tuber foraging and contribute to household food
procurement effort. Children as young as four or five allocate their time between leisure and
work. Their work which is done according to strength and skill involves household chores
and food production. Food production comprises food cultivation, foraging wild dioscorea
tubers, and gathering sea food. In Bolivia, Ghana, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe it is a common
practice for children to take part in household work as a form of training and participation in
household economy (Punch 2003, 2001; Bass 2004; Robson 2004; Reynolds 1991; Oloko
1991). It is a traditional practice in Uganda as is the case with other developing economies,
for children to offer auxiliary and direct support to their parents when executing household
chores and income generating activities. Some activities are agricultural and largely home-
based while others are market oriented (Walakira, Byamugisha & Omona 2005; Ssennono
2007; MoGLSD 2004). Others combine services for home use and market such as traditional
healing work involving preparation of herbal remedies (Walakira 2008; 2009) or fishing
related (Walakira & Byamugisha 2008).

Although children’s work in a domestic setting plays a crucial part in supporting household
incomes, it remains invisible because it is rarely reflected in national statistics. Also due to
marginalisation, children’s and women’s work remains invisible. Children are marginalised
on the basis of age (Edward 1996; Ansell 2005) while women are regarded as a weaker sex in
patriarchal societies. On account of this, domestic work is reserved for women and children,
and is not viewed as economically productive. Underneath the invisibility of children’s work
framed in the language of training, is the exploitation of their labour (Nieuwenhuys 1995;
Bass 2004). While this affects both girls and boys, the gendered allocation of work at an early
age tends to favour the male gender at the expense of the female gender with respect to future
earning opportunities. This disparity is acknowledged and pointed out in this discourse that
views child labour as a traditional form of training or child raising practice.

Finally, much as the traditional approach (a form of apprenticeship training) is associated

with weaknesses such as training in narrow skills and a lack of theoretical content, it has for
many generations remained the most widely practiced form of training in the micro and
small enterprise sector (United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural Organisation
[UNESCO] 1984; UNESCO/International Center for Technical and Vocational Training

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[UNEVOC] 1997), with skills and knowledge being transmitted from parents to children.
This training is threatened by the advance of formal education and training. Notwithstanding,
it retains a lifeline in as much as the cost of the formal training systems (including Technical
and Vocation Education (TVET) remains high. Furthermore, TVET and formal education
continue to experience an effectiveness deficit owing to failure in guarantying employment to
trainee graduates (Haan & Serriere 2002; World Bank 1991, 1993). These weaknesses serve
as incentives for the continued survival of the traditional approaches to training.

Despite the ongoing rapid social and technical changes brought about by urbanisation,
growing industrialisation, and more recently globalisation, parents continue to value and
involve children in various work activities as a form of training and/or child rearing. Their
interpretation of children’s participation in work as a form of training is yet another discourse
on child labour. The views presented in this chapter were collected from key informants
namely: cultural and opinion leaders, personalities knowledgeable in Luganda language,
culture, and traditions, and others who included parents and local leaders from the study
communities.

6.3 Work as part of traditional child raising practices

Participants were asked to explain the involvement of children in work. Among the reasons
that they enumerated, training, poverty, and orphanhood stood out significantly. In this
chapter, the focus is devoted to the linkage of work to training. Other considerations have
been addressed in the previous chapters. Participants pointed out that boys and girls in
Buganda, just as in several other communities in Uganda, have traditionally participated in
work at home considering that work at home offers a practical learning school:

Children have always had work ascribed to them in Buganda. Children especially
girls are born with the gift of taking care of babies (child minding). Boys would be
considered for heavier responsibilities like splitting fire wood—depending on age. To
me this is work and it prepares [trains] them for future responsibilities as parents and
adults. Therefore work for children was part of [and continues to be] practical
learning. They get to learn the techniques involved in activities such as food
preparation in which there is pealing and wrapping food in banana leaves etc. In other
words, working was [and is] part of practical education for children (elder and
educationist).

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The views of this elder were supported by parents in FGDs in both the fishing communities
and Wakiso Town Council (Kisimbiri Zone B):

A home is regarded as the first nursery school for children. Children are supposed to
learn basic things as well as learning how to work from home. Parents teach their
children to wash their clothes, sweep, and digging [while] teachers are supposed to
provide knowledge and mould children’ behaviour at school (FGD with parents at
Gerenge).

Parents revealed that work also characterised their childhoods:

We used to undertake different activities: we would dig, harvest coffee or cotton,

sweep compounds, fetch water, and cook. We did almost all household chores. Ffe
twafumba nga mubukebe ku myaka munaana (We used to play cooking games when
we were around eight years.) Children did almost everything in a home. ...Yeah, apart
from brewing and selling waragi (local spirit).

Emphasing the importance of work in children’s lives, parents explained that work allocated
with supervision and guidance from adults (parents) enables children to become “patient and
trustworthy”, “they learn to do things
carefully”, “they acquire skills for
economic survival”, “children are
prepared to confront hardship”, “they
learn obedience and become respectful to
their parents and elders”, and that they
learn how to relate with different
categories of people including their
peers, elders, and parents. Parents expect
teachers at school to build further on
these attributes. To their surprise,
children show little or no improvement
when sent to school.

Boy learning on job under the supervision of an adult —by author

Despite the appreciation of the value of
work to children’s lives, parents got concerned about the ensuing disappearance of training in
traditional activities—especially in urban settings:

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 Parents used to emphasise digging, barking and taking goats for grazing ... These
were very good activities but most of them are disappearing. Activities like barking
are completely fading out because people have cut down all the mituba trees. Today
most children don’t know how to dig because they have nowhere to dig. Adults were
also much involved in this kind of work: anti omukulu bw’atakwaata mu kisibo nga
ziffa nagga. (If an adult does not involve himself in cleaning the animal stead, the
animals die from diseases). A well-behaved child does whatever his/her parents do.
For example, if a mother holds a knife to peel, a child will do likewise.

A detailed discussion of the factors affecting the continuity of the traditional system of
training are discussed in the subsequent sections. The next subsection discusses how
allocation of work in view of the child’s age is made.

6.4 Work meant for training varied with the age of the child

Parents were quick to point out that work allocated to children during their time was always
proportional to their age or abilities. As an illustration, they explained:

Children of 2-3 years were given small hoes to dig. They would be asked to pull up
grass as a way of weeding. Those aged 4-5 years accompanied adults to fetch water.
There were small buckets and pailos (metal containers) that were given to children.
The older children followed their parents to the garden okusoggola emmere (to
harvest food).

Children also had their small gardens and they were very proud of them. That is how
they learnt how to dig and be responsible. Their parents would encourage them,
‘genda olimeyo omusiri gwo ogwa lumonde oba pamba’ (Go and have your own
garden of sweet potatoes or cotton). I remember when I was still young, about 10
years, I was forced to cultivate a garden of sweet potatoes and whenever people saw
me digging, they would encourage me. They would say ‘she will be very hard
working’ in her adulthood.’ Others said ‘omwana oyo ajja kuba mulimi’ (she will be a
good farmer). I remember I was seriously whipped for spilling beans while harvesting
[After that incident] I had to harvest very carefully.

In table 6.4 and figure 6.4 a list of activities assigned to children according to their age is
indicated. The expectations of parents are revealed by the level of responsibility and
participation ascribed to the child according to age.

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Table 6.4: Activities allocated to children according to age and level of responsibility

Age Household activity Level of responsibility expected and participation

3-5 yrs Washing utensils, clothes, fetching water, Barely no responsibility
child care... (with parents) Fun, play, generating interest and some learning
6-9yrs Fetching water, digging, picking coffee, Limited participation
washing clothes, child care, washing Limited or some responsibility
utensils etc Still learning the basics
Keeping close to parents
Enjoy participating
Children return home earlier than adults
10-13 Start cooking (girls), splitting firewood Greater involvement in household work
yrs (boys), tending animals (boys), fetching More responsibility or obligation on children
water, washing clothes, household Some level of independence at 13 years
utensils, digging and work in coffee Still no work for pay but only tips, appreciation or
plantation; weeding, harvesting crops, appeasement rewards
hunting (boys), and taking coffee to In very impoverished families, these children can be
market for sale (boys) etc sent to sell things on streets or work in markets
14-15 A child participates in all household work Full participation
yrs at this stage Full responsibility
A child considered relatively mature to do Moving towards independence
some work for pay Children undertake work for pay (mainly in urban
A child can provide nursing care to bed areas, largely casual)
ridden parent (mainly girls) Can work in markets with or without parents
If not attending school, expected to contribute to
welfare in poor families
16-17 All household work Almost fully mature
yrs Children considered young adults Full responsibility
Can work for pay Almost independent if not attending school
Considered ready to Boys if not attending school
considered ready

Figure 6.4 is derived from the views of participants and summarises children’s level of
participation in household work and the level of responsibility or expectations placed on
them.

Fig. 6.4: Extent of child participation in household work

16-17 Years Full participation, a child is almost an adult

14-15 Years Full involvement, towards independence

10-13 Years Greater involvement, more

responsibility
6-9 Orientation, encouragement,
Years limited participation
3- Years Involvement is
fun, play

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In doing household work or activities that generate family income such as agriculture or
family business, children acquire skills, knowledge, and attitudes that make them better
people as outlined in the next sections.

6.5 Approaches to training in the traditional system

6.5.1 Sending children to stay with traditional chiefs

Traditionally, the bakopi (commoners) in Buganda kingdom used to send their children
(particularly sons) to bisaakaate (homes of traditional chiefs) to be taught morals, culture and
leadership. A son entrusted to grow up in the hands of a traditional chief was called musiige.
The musiige was made to undertake all kinds of heavy work, which apparently amounted to
child suffering. However, Mr Kirwani (not real name) who is an author of several books on
Kiganda traditions and a presenter on one of the radio stations explained that this was meant
to train a child to become a better person:

In those days, the bakopi would take their children to kisaakate, the home of a
traditional chief to be taught morals, culture and leadership. Omusiige is a child raised
in the kisaakaate. The chief who was a leader appointed by the Kabaka could be of
any rank. He could be the head of county, Owe Ssaza; sub-county chief,
Ow’eggombolola; or parish chief, Ow’omuluka.

Children in bisaakate (several homes of traditional chiefs) suffered okkuluusanya

(were made to toil by doing a lot of hard work). However, those children identified as
brighter than others, were given obwaami (leadership positions). For example, if a
child in the kisaakate of sub-county chief was considered brighter than others, he
would be made a parish chief. If not, the sub-county chief would forward his name to
the Kabaka, who would appoint him to be mutongole (village chief).

Despite the prospect of having their children become future leaders, some parents could not
stand the heavy workload that children performed. Hence, by spurning the opportunity of
volunteering their own children, they often turned to those of their servants or distant
relatives wherever requested by traditional chiefs to send children to bisaakaate:

Because children in bisaakate were harassed, parents did not want to send their
biological off springs there. Wherever chiefs demanded for children, parents offered
the children of their servants rather than their own. Work in bisaakate was too heavy
for the children. People were always coming in big numbers to meet chiefs [and there
had to be preparations]. Because of the large number of people in bisaakate, children

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 had to grow a lot of food to ensure that no one went home hungry. They also collected
firewood, fetched water etc.

Some participants maintained that in spite of the suffering children experienced, they often
turned out to be better persons than those who did not have that experience.

6.5.2 Sending children to stay with relatives

In the past, parents put a premium on sending children to grow up with relatives. Not only
would it strengthen the bonds between families, but also served as a form of apprenticeship
for the child to learn specialised skills in a particular trade and learning how to relate with
adults. One of the key informants explained how this practice was organised and its purpose:

In the past children never grew up in their parents’ home. They were instead sent to
another’s, often a respected person’s home. For example, I could decide to send my
child to Nteyafande’s home so that he could be trained and raised from there. All this
was part of apprenticeship training. A parent would say; ‘omusajja oyo mukomazi
mulungi’ (that man is an expert in making back cloth), let me give him my son to
grow up with him so that he can also learn this trade). Another one would say;
‘Omukyala oyo amanyi okulima, kkamuwe abaana bange abaayigirize okulima’ (that
lady is good at agricultural work. Let me give her my children so that she can teach
them the same).

Not only were children sent to learn how to work or become disciplined, but were also
expected to go through some suffering to be well prepared for hardships. “They would learn
to dig in addition to experiencing hardship. In this way, a child grew up with a resilient spirit,
would be hard working...” said one of the study participants.

Although sending children to relatives or trusted friends had considerably reduced over the
years, the growing number of orphans due to HIV/AIDS has revived the practice. The
number of orphans now estimated at over 1.5 million is catered for by the extended family. It
has been documented that some extended families have been overstretched. Hence, some
scholars have alluded to the social rapture thesis, suggesting that the traditional system of
care is under stress and is failing to cope with the burden of care (Abebe & Aase 2007).

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6.5.3 Imparting discipline among children

At the core of the traditional way of training children, was the goal of ensuring that children
behaved at all times in a way consistent with the values, traditions, and other socially
acceptable behaviour. Hence, parents moulded children’s behaviour through counselling and
rebuke, allocating work, and punishing them in case of wrong doing. Parents explained
during an FGD at Gerenge fish landing site what they experienced as children, and what
children may experience even today in case of wrong doing:

We were beaten…. Children were also starved. Baatutwalanga mu kalantini mu

kisenge. The parents would quarantine us in a room for some time. We would miss
lunch and supper until one apologised or did what he/she was supposed to do. In case
you were forgiven, you would still be given very little food to keep you wanting
more.

One elder participant narrated:

... I remember when I was still young, I was asked to prepare food. I peeled and put
the food on fire. I went on to play with my friends and forgot about the food and it
burnt. Ohooo, my mother taught me a lesson of my life that I will never forget. She
somehow found out that I had “burnt the food.” She did not beat me or abuse me in
any way. She served supper and I was not given enningu (roasted groundnut like
sauce mixed with fish). It [the mixture] was very delicious and no one would afford to
miss it. She served all my siblings and I was not given. It was very painful.

I also remember there is a time that we over played (played beyond the allowed time).
My parents did not call us … but it so happened that by God’s grace we peeped and
saw them eating ayaa. We were forced to eat without washing our hands yet they
were so dirty. We really felt so bad but my grand mum said that it was a good
punishment and that it would be the only punishment [for such behaviour] in our
home.

In other cases, they would be caned (chastised) and this was a common practice for
particularly errant children. They observed that parents nonetheless put much emphasis on
talking to children explaining the right and wrong things:

Parents would talk to their children showing them both the good and the bad. Girls
were taught what to do in order to become responsible women in society. They were
taught how to cook. Parents taught their children good manners and this helped to
attract families to potential marriage partners. If a family had well behaved children,
many people wanted to marry from such a family.

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An important aspect of talking to children involved use of proverbs and storytelling which I
examine below.

6.5.4 Educating children about work through proverbs and stories

Traditionally, children listened to proverbs and stories from their parents in the evenings
while sitting around the fire place (ekyoto). This evening school taught children about many
aspects of life including cultural values, traditions, and beliefs. A few of the proverbs used
among the Baganda in encouraging their children to work hard, were identified by
participants in Kisimbiri Zone B, Wakiso:

Kewerimidde, kakira akawe obuwi (harvesting a small amount of food from your
garden is better than the little given by a friend). This encouraged children to work
hard. As such, parents went with their children to work in the garden. Children were
advised to cultivate their own gardens of sweet potatoes, maize or cassava. They were
told that it was much better for them to have what to eat from their gardens than to be
fed like [reared] birds.

Ogutatengamya teguzza nvuma (work that is too easy, does not yield big rewards).
This means that if someone does not work hard, they do not gain much ...

There were not only proverbs about work, but also those that castigated parents who give
children work not commensurate with their abilities.

Atamuzadde amutikka jjinja (a guardian or parent forces a child other than his/her
own, to carry a heavy stone. In other words, a parent allocates heavy load to a child
other than his own). This means that parents do not mind about their non biological
children. They can make them do anything as long as they are not their own. They
make them over work and carry very heavy loads because they are either not theirs or
they are working for money.

The fact that many parents are looking after children other than their own, the potential for
violence against these children is immense. The violence notwithstanding, the traditional
practices such as training and learning through work, use of proverbs and sayings continue to
be valued. The threat to their continuity emanates from changing social arrangements. These
threats are discussed in the following section.

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6.6 Factors impacting on the traditional forms of training

While the traditional form of training continues to be instrumental within a constellation of

approaches parents use in developing the skills, knowledge, and acceptable behaviour among
their children, the approach faces many challenges arising from the growing economic
difficulties, urbanisation, and formal education. Additionally, the growing emphasis on
children rights implies that some traditional forms of training are a violation of children’s
rights.

Growing urbanisation has been accompanied with changing means of production and
economic activities. The absence of (or the limited) agricultural activities in fishing
communities has meant that parents no longer send their children to carry out farming or tend
to animals as was done in the past (or continues to be done in rural areas):

There is no land for children to dig: where will they go to take part in digging? So it is
the circumstances that keep away our children from learning... (FGD with Parents in
Wakiso Town Council)

In urban areas (including fishing settlements which are more like urban slum areas), parents
are more involved in fishing and market-based activities in which children offer support
services. One significant development is that the training in urbanising contexts has assumed
an urgent economic importance to the extent that children are sent out to look for money at an
early age:

Nowadays children are more involved in income generating activities instead of

domestic work. Omwana olukulamu nga bamusindika mu Owino kkola sente (the
moment a child gains some capacities … is sent out to make money in Owino (a huge
downtown market in Kampala selling food and non-food items). Yet in the past,
children used to work from home … digging, barking ...

It is mainly the struggle for economic survival for both parents and children. Parents explain
that children start to work much earlier because of economic circumstances. Family
instability was singled out as a consequence of urbanisation and a struggle for economic
survival. This also affected the training of children:

Today children grow up from unstable homes. Parents quarrel all the time and they
say all sorts of dirty things in the presence of children. Yet in the past, our parents

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 were calm—our mothers were responsible and respectful to their husbands. They
would welcome our fathers very well and kneel down to greet them, which is not the
case today (FGD with parents at Gerenge).

Besides urbanisation, parents identified the growing impact of formal education as a key
factor affecting the traditional form of training. Children are increasingly spending limited
time with parents because they are at school most of the time even during school holidays.
During school holidays, they are still required to turn up for classes:

Children nowadays spend a great deal of time in school. They hardly do any form of
work at home because they spend most of the time at school. They go to school as
early as 6 a.m. and come home at 7 p.m. The only day children are at home is Sunday:
Even then, they have only time to wash their uniforms, go to church, and prepare for
school the next day. Omwana emirimu egikolebwa ewaka tafuna budde bugikola.
Ekivaamu tebayiga mirimu gya mikono (children never get time to take part in
household work so they never acquire practical skills). Except to some degree for
those growing up in the village … they also spend most of the time at school. [Yet]
those who are not attending [going to] school are very unruly. They don’t listen or
obey their parents ... (Former Buganda Kingdom Minister).

Because of formal education, children undermine certain kinds of work such as

fetching water and clearing anthills. They think that such work is performed by bakozi
ba byamboone (wrong doers) (Kirwani, name altered).

The children rights movement has also limited the training and disciplining of children using
traditional means. Work for children has in some cases been defined as a form of abuse:

There has been a lot of advocating for the rights of children by today’s leaders which
has led children to think that they are not meant to work. Even without harassment, a
child at home can refuse to work with the excuse that government forbids children’s
work as this is a violation of their rights.

Furthermore, the violence and exploitation of children is increasingly being exposed. Those
who exploit children under the guise of training are also finding it very difficult to continue
with the practice:

Important to note also, is that today there is increased harassment of children whom
people [guardians] are not directly linked to [by blood]. Take an example, a house girl
who wakes up early in the morning at 5:00 a.m., bathes her master’s children,
prepares something for children to take to school, walks them to school, washes
clothes, cleans utensils, cooks food and irons clothes on a daily basis without her
master lifting a finger to assist her. At the end of the month, she gets ten or twenty

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 thousand [U$ 6-12], which in most cases is given to her after a long struggle (Author
and Radio presenter).

The continued exposure of these forms of abuse and exploitation is attracting growing
sympathy for the child victims. Children are also increasingly becoming proactive in
contacting police for any perceived rights violations:

... Nowadays there is a law that prohibits okkangavvula abaana (chastising or

whipping children), which has worsened the situation. By simply caning a child (as a
punishment), you are reported to the police nga bakutwala! Abaana bafuuka ba
gavumenti (they [police] immediately come for you. Children have become a property
of government). So parents simply look on as spectators [even as children do what is
not acceptable].

For example, there is a man in my village. Though I don’t think he was right, this man
ordered his children to stay home to help out in the garden. They were required to
plant beans after the first rains, instead of going to school. The children disobeyed his
order and instead went to school. On coming back, he caned them for disobedience.
The children reported their father to police and he was taken into police custody,
though he bribed his way out. Whenever he wanted to discipline these children, they
would say ‘Gezaako otukube onoolaba’ (try to whip us and you will see [we will
report you to police]) (Elder and former minister in Buganda Kingdom).

Due to the children’s rights movement and urbanisation, the collective responsibility for child
upbringing has been undermined:

In the past there was very good cooperation between parents. People living in the
same village regarded themselves as relatives. If a person found his neighbour’s child
in the wrong he/she would never keep silent about it. First of all, he would punish this
child and then report him/her misbehaviour to the parents.

With respect to work, children in the village helped a lot ... For example if a person’s
children were not available to help out him with chores like fetching water, grinding
millet, or brewing alcohol, he would conveniently call on his neighbours’ children to
help. Also people always called on their neighbours’ children to help them do heavy
work much faster. It is important to note that this work was not given to children with
the intention of harassing them. Parents did not complain when neighbours disciplined
their children because any child’s indiscipline was blamed on the whole village he/she
came from (author Luganda books and Radio presenter).

[But] people don’t care anymore. They have bad feelings and only care about their
own children. The people you would regard to command respect will come across
children misbehaving on their way from school—but they will not mind about the
children. Instead they will just pass by ... For example a person can find children
eating on the way and opts to do nothing, let alone counselling them (FGD with
parents at Kisimbiri Zone B).

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As collective responsibility for child upbringing continues to be limited to related family
members, parents are looking up to schools to help fill the gap. However, the high school
dropout rates (see chapter nine) suggest that few children will have the expected guidance
from teachers. Parents are blaming increased levels of sexuality, pregnancy, and
unemployment on the gaps resulting from the declining role of traditional education and
community responsibility.

6.7 Discussion

This discourse has revealed that what is defined as child labour by outsiders is the traditional
approach to child training or upbringing. Hence, what constitutes child labour is the usually
invisible abuse in the training. A reflection on the traditional approach to training of children
through work reveals both strengths and limitations. These have implications for the
continuity or discontinuity of the traditional child raising approach.

6.7.1 Implications of the changing traditional training approach

On the basis of narratives, observations and discussions with various study participants, it can
be concluded that the traditional system of child training and upbringing has changed over
time in a number of ways. Yet it continues to change as it adapts to the changing social and
economic circumstances. One of the key elements of this change has been the disappearance
of the evening home school where parents sat around the evening fire to tell stories, proverbs,
and other sayings to children. The changing work routines for parents and preoccupation with
formal education has left no room for the evening school. Similarly, the traditional approach
to training is increasingly being undermined by the absence or limited agriculture in urban
areas. Agriculture remains the major foundation for traditional approach to training in a pre-
industrial society like Uganda. This implies that many aspects of social reproduction rooted
in traditional practices and activities such as agriculture, increasingly face extinction.

A major threat arises when the training of children is meant to achieve an immediate goal of
income generation. This being the case particularly in urban areas, is a principle cause of
concern among human rights activists who perceive participation of children in paid work as

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a form of exploitation. However, it is a coping strategy for both parents and children owing to
the harsh economic realities (Walakira & Byamugisha 2008).

6.7.2 Success of traditional training affected by limitations in training contexts

The variations within households on the basis of economic activities, income, localities,
gender, competencies of parents and other attributes such as the interests of children, implies
that the usefulness of the training to children varies with contexts. For example, a home in
which the head operates a fishing business is likely to offer a broad range of technical skills
to a child in areas like recruitment of fishermen, management of the fish catch, fish
preservation, distribution to buyers, costing and repair of boats etc. For a poor family
dependent on an activity that generates limited income, the skills offered to a child may be
limited. Hence, experts in training issues have underlined the need for variation of training
needs of the very poor and those running small business enterprises so as to maximise
outcomes (Haan 1994).

The success of the traditional form of training can therefore be considered more in the area of
social reproduction where parents successfully teach their children the language, the values,
certain social practices, and basic production skills. The fact that children are increasingly
working on their own on account of poverty, it implies that they spend limited time with
parents and this affects the social reproduction function of the traditional training approach.
Poverty caused by policies such as structural adjustment, failing agriculture, limited spending
of government on social services and the failure of the global economy, are partly blamed for
increased involvement of children in work (Moser 1993, Save the Children 2002; UNICEF
2006; MoGLSD 2004; UBOS 2003). These failures increase the cost of education thereby
affecting enrolment and retention.

In addition, when children drop out of school in preference to practical training through work,
it suggests that the conventional education system is lacking with respect to provision of
practical skills that children in impoverished families need to ensure their survival.

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6.7.3 Invisible child abuse in the traditional approach to child training

While the traditional approach to child training continues to be revered, it is not devoid of
abusive work practices that border on exploitation of children and torture. These as pointed
out earlier, are exceptions rather than the norm. Abusive work is identified with step parents
who overwork boys and girls by using them as sources of unpaid labour. An example of this
form of abuse involves trafficking girls from rural to urban areas to work as housemaids.
Girls some times aged less than 12 years hardly get paid. If paid, the money could be given
directly to relatives instead of the working child. More often, even when the child is directly
paid, the amount paid is too low compared to the amount of work performed. Affected
children work from dust to dawn with little rest. They also face risks of sexual abuse in their
working environments, whereby the main perpetrators are relatives. The children rarely get
opportunities for further education.

In the past, the traditional system of child care had a way of correcting such kinds of bad
practices by use of cultural norms and traditional courts. However, over the years, these have
become dysfunctional. Hence, the abuse continues although more in a covert form. Tackling
abusive work in the traditional system of training through child rights campaign has so far
failed to stem out the practice. The abusers exploit the weaknesses in the child rights
messages to carry on with the abuses with impunity. For example, the fact that rights
initiatives put greater emphasis on children’s rights over their responsibilities—this offers
ammunition to perpetrators to argue that the rights campaign is orchestrating a strategy
aimed at antagonising the relationship between parents and children.

6.7.4 Erosion of collective responsibility in child upbringing

The views of study participants point to declining collective responsibility towards child
training and/or, upbringing due to urbanisation, increased multiculturalism, individualism,
and volatility of populations. The growing concern about children rights has also forced
parents to avoid getting involved with issues of children with legal implications. These
factors imply that the future of certain traditional values construed as violating children’s
rights, will be stemmed out. The gap created by their disappearance could tremendously
affect social reproduction and harmony between children and parents.

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6.7.5 Variation of work according to age is a good practice

Finally, the practice of varying children’s training work on the basis of age and abilities is a
good practice that needs to be consolidated in the fight against inappropriate work for
children.

6.7.6 Conclusion

In general terms, children participation in work is perceived under this discourse as a

traditional system of training and upbringing, rather than a case of child labour or child
abuse. This training is appreciated and cherished. However, there is growing realisation of
abusive practices in the traditional system of training affecting boys and girls. There is also a
growing fear that many of the good attributes of this training are disappearing due to factors
such as urbanisation, growing poverty, child rights movement, and formal education system.
As the system adapts to changing social and economic demands, it has left gaps in child care,
which have not been addressed. As a result, children are not well looked after, not well
trained, and some are increasingly becoming difficult to train using the traditional methods.

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 Chapter Seven

7 Child labour as cultural hegemony—a social

construct of the West: The non conventional
discourse on child labour

Child labour is constructed as a hegemonic concept seeking to

serve the interests of the West and professionals. This discourse
views as normal and a part of childhood, children’s involvement in
work including that which generates income. This interpretation
however is largely confined to work in a home context. Work for
pay is considered a necessary evil to the extent that it is a last
resort for under age children (less than 14), owing to conditions of
poverty. The discourse challenges language use, the competing
discourses in different languages, cultures and social contexts that
are not reducible to interpretations in local contexts. It calls for
dialogue and inclusiveness in generating meanings of concepts such
as child labour, children’s rights, responsibilities of parents, and
children etc.

This chapter presents the third construct of child labour as generated from the narratives or
accounts of adult participants including parents, opinion and cultural leaders. The
introduction sets the theoretical ideas that inform the presentation of findings.

7.1 Introduction

The meaning of child labour, albeit with varying interpretations, is rooted in the objectivist
and empiricist scientific frameworks and supported with a legalistic appeal on the basis of
international and national legal provisions. The meaning of child labour in these frameworks
describes a reality (the social world or child labour phenomena) that is pre-determinate and

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not subject to any further interpretation. Taylor (1987:75) explains that for the empiricists,
the kinds of data that describe social reality are based on overt acts (behaviour) of individuals
that can be defined physically or institutionally, while the motivations for these behaviours
are based on beliefs, affective states etc. Both kinds of facts are thought to be brute data, or
data that are identifiable and verifiable in such a way that they cannot be subject to any
further interpretation. For the empiricist, this is a basis to claim the truth, which accounts for
human behaviours and the meanings of those behaviours for the agents involved.

Post modernism however rejects any claim to universal truth (see Denzin 1986; 1991; Clough
1992 & Richardson 1991). In the words of Richardson (1994:517-518) “the core of
postmodernism is the doubt that any method or theory has a universal or general claim as the
right or privileged form of authoritative knowledge.” Without automatically rejecting these
conventional methods of knowing and telling as false or archaic, post modernism opens these
standard methods to inquiry and introduces new methods, which are also subjected to critique
(p. 518). In relation to child labour, there is therefore no basis to claim a universal and pre-
determinate meaning of child labour. There are other methods of knowing that can bring
diversity to the interpretation. This offers an opportunity to expand the scope for dealing with
the intolerable aspects of the phenomena as well as claiming the good in children’s work.

Interpretive theories (see Denzin 1989; 1992; Denzin and Lincoln 1994; 2003; Gergen 1985;
Gergen & Gergen 1991; Geertz 1983; Yanow et al. 2006; Hammersley 1992; LeCompte,
Preissle & Tesch 1993) which provide a theoretical frame of reference for this study, are
greatly influenced by the post modern thinking. Underlining the limitations of conventional
methods, interpretivists argue that the empiricists’ picture of social reality omits something
most important namely, inter-subjective and common meanings and the “ways of
experiencing action in society, which are expressed in the language and descriptions
constitutive of institutions and practices” (Taylor 1987:75 [1971]). Given their primary focus
on meanings and how they are created, negotiated, sustained, and modified within a specific
context, interpretivists present an opportunity for revisiting the interpretation of child labour.

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This chapter therefore presents another interpretation of child labour referred to as the
“Foreign cultural hegemony discourse.” It is derived from the views of various participants I
interacted with and talked to at length. The discourse views child labour as an imported
concept rooted in the ideological preferences and contexts of the West or industrialised
countries, and misinterprets the social ways and practices of local people particularly in
relation to child upbringing. People’s discussion of child labour is interwoven with issues of
child rights and they see both as imported Western ideas and cultural values. The views
presented here come from several categories of people I met who are knowledgeable in
cultures and traditions of the Baganda and the Luganda language. They include elders who
served in Buganda Kingdom as
Fig. 7.1: Child labour as perceived under the cultural hegemony
discourse Ministers (1988-2007),
Origin Foreign European
North American
officials from the Association
Intention Distortion of Family of Luganda language (Kibiina
Cultural tradition
Child upbringing Ky’olulimi Oluganda), radio
Consequences Socio-economic Family beak down
Economic dependency presenters from Central
Child rebellion
Meaning Foreign Constructed by professionals Broadcasting Services (CBS)
And privileged
Transmission Top down
and writers of Luganda books.
Participation Passive Others include parents, local
of poor recipients
leaders, and elders in the
Interventions Selective e.g. Worst forms of Child
Labour fishing communities. This
Co-opting Persuasive
Coercive Forceful chapter does not encompass
Generalised At times—all children’s work
is problematised
the voices of children. These
are separately considered in a
chapter that describes the children’s discourse on child labour.

7.2 Thoughts held before data collection

Before I embarked on this study, I had all along had a belief that there was some degree of
animosity towards the interpretation of child labour. Notwithstanding, I had never anticipated
that this animosity could be expressed on a wider scale as witnessed in the numerous in-depth
interviews with key informants and through FGDs with study participants. I had for a
considerable period of time led teams on child labour studies where we asked questions with
predetermined responses. The questions required answers such as “yes” or “no”, “no correct
answers given”, and “one out of three answered correctly” just to mention a few. It is possible

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that I will ask these questions again, but I will be mindful of their limitations and will aim to
limit them. The FGDs we organised in such studies were also oriented towards generating
responses that could fit a given frame of thinking. Our interpretations followed a particular
line of thinking without giving due regard to the inter-subjective issues and meaning
construction. This owed to the designs we applied on account of the requirements of the
sponsors. This time however, I opted to be led by the line of thinking emanating from the
study participants. When I asked what they felt child labour was, and what their opinions
were, I was surprised by the nature of responses. In an outline form, the following represent
the conclusions derived from their views:

7.3 Child labour is a cultural construct of the West

I conducted an in depth interview with one of the participants named Mr Tendoti (name
altered for confidentiality). He works as a radio presenter for a local radio station in addition
to being a marketing director of a local NGO that provides services to vulnerable children.
Furthermore, he is a member of Ekibiina Ky’olulimi Oluganda (Luganda Language
Association). His view is that child labour, as officially propagated, projects a meaning that is
out of touch with reality and represents a misinterpretation of the usual ways (in the local
contexts) of child training and upbringing. Here is how he responded when asked to give his
opinion on what child labour means:

With the little English I know, when one uses the word child labour, I simply tell you
that we do not have it. We do not have child labour here and we do not believe in
child labour. This is because any parent gyavayenkana (from whatever background)
trains his child to do different kinds of work with the intention of making the child a
responsible citizen in this country. Because parents were raised to be responsible, they
too strive to raise their children responsibly.

Pointing out the tendency to misinterpret children’s participation in work at home and
generalising it as child labour—he offered his own interpretation of child labour:

The situation as seen today when children take part in domestic work, has led many
people from countries abroad [developed world] to think that we have child labour.
The simplest word I can use to explain the term child labour in Luganda language is
kutuntuza (making the child toil though work or treating a child unfairly). I won’t
deny the fact that people used to kutuntuza children, especially bakazi ba kitaffe (step
mothers). Step mothers would sometimes kutuntuza their step children through giving

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 them heavy workloads because they did not want their own children to work. This
work sometimes injured children’s chests and deprived them of their freedom.

However, I want to emphasize the fact that not everyone has such a heart. Baganda
aim at one thing that is, kugunjula mwana (training to develop the child). You find
that those who identified such acts in Buganda, always took the initiative to caution
the step mother (or other perpetrator) that based on their experience, they have seen
that a step child who is harassed, always turned out to be more successful in future
than the children who were pampered.

He linked the concept of child labour to Western ideologies and implied that it was
responsible for the growing practice of not imparting traditional skills to children, which is
rendering them less productive:

Because of child labour and its notion of child rights, we have so many bangalo
bunani (children who are idle and doing nothing productive). These days we call them
bikoko bizungu (non indigenous chicken which are reared and fed in houses) because
they do not know how to do any work. Bazungu (people from the West) make us
think that they are right in everything but they are wrong! For the time I have spent in
Buganda, I have been closely following the cultures of the Baganda and I have come
to the realisation that there is no child labour among them.

Nonetheless, abusive work could not be ruled out as he already pointed out. He continued to
explain that the Western way of thinking has been reproduced through children laws (I asked,
‘the Children Act?’ which he said “Yes”. He further observed:

I was once on radio and I requested those who drafted the child labour law to join me
to have a dialogue about this law. I wanted them to show me where this law [the
Children Act] could be applied because in my opinion, it cannot work anywhere in
Uganda. Lawmakers don’t take time to think about laws before enacting them.

A person leaves the country as a young child and grows up in a white man’s country.
Be aware that these countries have their own deeds [practices] which do not work
here. When you are drafting a law for a particular country, it is important to look at
the cultures of that country. This will help you draft a law that is compatible with the
cultures of the people involved. When you look at the people who drafted Uganda’s
Children’s Act, I want to assure you that they are not the kind of people who
understand our cultures.

Mr Tendoti’s views were not isolated or at the extreme as I had initially thought. In the
discussions which followed, I sensed a gap in the interpretation of child labour among those
drafting the laws and policies on one hand, and those for whom they are enacted. This
difference in interpretation was already generating conflict much as the sensitisation activities

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were ongoing. I had also realised from the discussions that child labour as a concept did not
have a direct translation in the local language much as it was possible to get it local
equivalent. People consistently viewed the official interpretation of child labour as being
imposed on them yet they claimed it was a social construct from the West.

After making enquiries about other key informants, I was led to a former Minister of Women
and Culture in Buganda Kingdom (Ms Sebugu—name not real for purposes of
confidentiality). We sat in her office in Kampala. I introduced my study topic and requested
her to give me her opinion on what it means in Buganda traditions for children to work and
what in her opinion child labour meant. Her views simply reinforced the views of Mr
Tendoti. In her opinion, the concept was not applicable locally because there were
remarkable differences in the levels of development between the developed West and a
country like Uganda. The differences therefore make it impossible for children in the two
contexts (worlds) to be treated alike. She explained:

We are talking about a child here in Buganda and Uganda at large... Generally, there
is a big difference between child labour [the way it is understood] here in Buganda
compared to countries abroad ... First let me talk about children abroad [West—
developed world]. I have never admired the behaviours of the children abroad. I
dislike and never at any one time have I admired these behaviours. There was a time
when they wanted me to take my daughter abroad but I refused. I said that my child
must study and grow up from here. I could not take my child to learn behaviours that I
regarded as inhuman ... like children showing disrespect to their parents. ... [the]
behaviours were a burden to parents and some of them showed regrets ... about their
children’s bad behaviour.

Now I want to make a comparison. Children abroad are a responsibility of

government. Therefore, if it [government] comes up to say that children be treated in
a certain manner, it has that right. To justify this, when a woman abroad gets
pregnant, the government takes care of her by paying all her medical bills and other
services that she needs right from the time of conception to birth. After birth,
government also takes up the responsibility of looking after the child in all ways for
example by providing for the child’s education, health, and even giving the child [or
mother] an allowance ...

As a result, these children … do not care because they know that the responsibility
over them with government but not with their parents. This is why you find such
children disrespecting their parents. However, the difference here in Buganda is that
we do everything by ourselves. For instance when I get pregnant, I take care of myself
and my family by paying hospital bills and buying all my child’s necessities. When
my child reaches school going age, I am responsible for his/her school fees. In other
words, my child [her] himself values the hardships that I go through to bring him [her]
up.

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 Secondly, I cannot bring up my child the way Bazungu do. This is because we do a lot
of work by ourselves such as growing food, collecting firewood, and fetching water
among many other activities. From these we earn money to pay tuition. So it cannot
work out if my child refuses to do any of these tasks well knowing that his/her school
fees is derived from such work. Also by involving my child in this work, I will have
helped him learn something helpful for his future. This is contrary to the White
children who have well set up governments. Therefore, child labour here in Uganda
cannot be similar to that of the Bazungu.

As I chipped in a question, I inquired if her response suggested that because our (we people
in the developing countries) ways of living were quite different, we needed a different kind of
interpretation of child labour. She continued with her explanation by pointing out that:

We are still poor and banaku (poor people with a lot of hardships). Do you
understand? As I said, we do most things by ourselves in order to get money. This is
contrary to the Bazungu who have well set up governments that have the money to
take care of all their needs. If I don’t have money, my children will not eat, won’t go
to hospital and government will not come in to help. For example, children under
bonna basome [Universal Primary Education] cannot study well because they stay
hungry. Government cannot afford to pay for the meals of these children. This is why
I say we are still poor and banaku.

Asked as to whether she meant that child labour was being forced on “us” (the people in poor
countries). She said:

Yes, they [Westerners] have forced something on us that is not practical. They have
adopted laws of the already wealthy countries and have forced them on us the poor
(banaku). We go through a lot to get money. Take an example: a man wakes up early
in the morning to push a cart (kigaali) so that he can cater for his children’s needs.
But if government bars the parent from having a say on a child, [they say], ‘do not do
this, do not chastise [using a cane to discipline] a child who is disobedient ...’ this is
not only wrong but also malicious. As if they want to spoil our children. A child has
to understand the hardships the parent goes through to raise him so that he does not
take for granted the things done for him.

For White children however, government freely provides for all their needs because
the child fully belongs to it. Have you understood me?
Therefore, we have taken up something…

That is not practical in our daily lives?’ I asked:

Yes, it is not practical in our everyday lives. It looks like they [Bazungu] are
malicious, want to spoil our children ... because we are still poor and our children
cannot be like theirs. Yet, they have inculcated [instilled] in our children the attitude
that ‘it is my right.’

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 You tell a child [in the West] ‘go wash utensils’, and he responds ‘do it yourself,
don’t you have hands?’ Therefore, if my child shouts at me, I cannot provide for his
school fees because I also go through a lot to raise it. Children abroad are a
responsibility of government. A parent may request her child to wash clothes or clean
utensils and this child will refuse. The child knows the government will provide
money to take care of his [her] needs. It is not the same here. A parent abroad has
limited rights on these children. The government meets their needs.

As the discussion descended into issues of child rights, it became apparent that the values,
traditions and other social-cultural issues perceived to be traditionally good had been
challenged by the way child labour had been constructed. Taking this into account, I inquired
further to know how she compared our values to those of the West in relation to raising
children. She commented:

Culturally, with respect to our values and norms, we were brought up with [strong
focus on] respect for our elders and parents. You have to give respect to your parents.
They feel good and honoured when respected. As a matter of fact, Bazungu admire
our behaviours [values and traditions] a lot. We have old children abroad whose
behaviours have been admired by Bazungu. This is because we trained them to be
polite and have respect for people, which is not the case with children abroad.

.... Out there, it is all about equality. We have to do whatever it takes to ensure that
we conserve our rich culture because anyone who does not have a culture is a
kisassalala (nuisance). We have a culture that we are proud of and have to protect.
...anyone without a culture is nothing!!!! We train our children to have empisa
(culture, values) that we are proud of and those abroad admire. However, if they bring
in their behaviours (values), they automatically spoil our behaviours. ... our
behaviours will get spoilt and our children will become bisassalala (nuisances) just
like theirs. We want our children to take on behaviours that are humane. You find
tourists always coming back to Uganda because we have a culture that is so rich.
Also, there is peculiar respect we give to people which they can never find anywhere
else. This is what we call buntu bulamu (cultured or treating people respectfully). For
example, the girl child has to kneel down when greeting her parents because it is a
sign of respect and there is nothing she loses. Also, a girl has to learn to prepare
traditional food because emmere yo mu mazzi (boiling bananas in plain water instead
of the traditional way of wrapping them in banana leaves before cooking) is not
nutritious [leads to loss of nutrients]. All this portrays our rich culture.

Turning our focus back to child labour, she rejected the idea that government should stop (or
discourage) children from doing certain kinds of work (mainly at home). She said: “That is
very wrong! Who will work for this child?” She also indicated that the government is in the
process of promoting its ideas on child labour because it has not consulted with the ordinary

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people. I asked: Is it that government has not consulted with ordinary people? She
responded:

Exactly!! Who will work for this child? With our presently poor country, a child has
to learn all kinds of chores like digging, cooking food, and washing clothes. Ago ge
maka (that is what makes a home solid). Also as this country develops, our children
will [most likely] neither be able to find nor afford housekeepers (abakozi b’awaka)
as is the case abroad. Housemaids have started venturing in their own work like
trading in the markets because they find a lot of liberty in being self employed.
Therefore, if a parent does not train a child to work, how will this child run his future
home? Parents should therefore train their children right from the grassroots so that in
future, they can ably look after their homes.

Although she put emphasis on the need for children to work, she pointed out that some
parents abuse their children by mistreating them through work to fulfil their ill conceived
goals. She nonetheless pointed out that the government and other campaigners had not
distinguished between children’s freedom and child labour:

This is the problem we have with our government. It has not differentiated between
children’s freedom and child labour. Government should clearly identify and set aside
the work which children are supposed to do and that which they regard as a form of
torture to the child. For example in schools especially the privately owned, teachers
no longer punish children for fear that children will accuse them of abuse, which
could force parents to look for other schools. This is wrong because it does not help
the weak pupils to learn, if punishment is the answer.

I have endeavoured to treat child labour as a form of abuse in the next chapter. This is what
has been constructed as the local equivalent of child labour and constitutes a discourse on its
own.

7.4 Child labour a ploy to make “us” dependent on the developed world

Before I concluded the interview which had now transformed into a free flowing and
interesting conversation (coupled with points of laughter), we were joined by another person
who I considered after the discussion, a very knowledgeable person in Kiganda ways of life
and also very knowledgeable on contemporary as well as on political issues. Mr Ssewa (name
not real for confidentiality) was also a serving Minister in Buganda Kingdom. He expressed
willingness to participate in the discussion. At this point, we were about five persons (me and

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the research assistant, Mr Nteyafande (name not real for purposes of confidentiality) an elder
and a point of contact, Mr Ssewa and Ms Sebugi).

Mr Ssewa’s views were in agreement with the views expressed earlier by the informants.
Those who were contributing during the discussion were also in agreement with his views.
His point of departure was that the people in the West were deliberately pushing ideologies
such as child labour to achieve their agenda. This agenda was aimed at weakening our society
and making it dependent, so as to exploit it to their economic benefit. In his own words he
explained:

Those who bring child labour policies have intentionally made us believe that they are
helping us, yet in actual sense they are not. Though we have transformed into a
modern world, super power countries still exploit labour in order to bail their
economies. They intentionally employ migrants whom they pay very little money. We
tend to think that such people have gone kukuba kyeyo (make money by doing blue
collar jobs abroad) yet in actual sense they have gone for their rights to be trampled
over.

(Laughs, laughs—sarcastically) They have never tackled the issue of taking people as
slaves. They disguise slavery to make us think that it is no longer there. Long ago
slaves used to grow sugarcanes and tea, but today’s slavery has come in another form.
Therefore, they still use ways such as those to make themselves rich.

(Laughs, laughs) Bagya nebakuteelawo embera egamba nti, ‘tokuluusanya mwana!

Ddembe lyamukazi okwoonona! (They introduce the policies and laws saying, ‘Do
not make a child toil! It is a woman’s freedom to do whatever she likes [irrespective
of man’s rights...’ [For the case of child labour] this has resulted into homes having
people without responsibility because no one is willing to work, e.g. a parent cannot
order his child to cut down a tree because if he does, it will be considered as
harassment. Homes [families] have therefore come to a standstill.

Long ago in Buganda, no one would work for his neighbour because everyone had to
strive on his own. .... There were certain crucial things ... aimed at building strong
families. The reason as to why Hitler killed all short men in Germany was because he
feared they would lead to a weak country and this would hinder it from overcoming
its problems. He figured out that short men would produce weak children and lead to
a weak Germany.

Bwebatuuka wano ku element y’okukola, nga bagamba nti ‘tukuluusanya abantu...’,

kakati nga abakazi batandika kubaleetera bizigo, bakeera kwesaaba! (When they
[Bazungu] come here to talk about work, they say, ‘we are making people to labour...’
In the case of women, they bring them jerry [lotions] so that [what they have to do] is
only to smear their bodies [and look attractive, without doing any work] ...they
(women) come from the villages to towns only to do nothing... This has resulted in a

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 weak and poorly educated society... we have selfish governments which don’t mind
whether people go astray or not.

You mean laws on child labour have been introduced to weaken us? I asked

Ah ha! They are introduced to weaken us. For example America has succeeded in
weakening other countries through policies like family planning. Today, the police is
harassing us we cannot defend ourselves because we are few, we are under populated.
In the long run, you will find some countries engulfing others. Mukulyangana kati
okwomulembe bakugamba tolina kukola bwoti! (The modern way of annihilating you
is for you to be told that ‘do not do this, do not produce many children.’ They are
weakening our society one step at a time.

The training that children get through work is what you refer to as kkulusanya’ (child
labour). This training enabled them to take care of their homes in the absence of their
parents. For example, if a parent got a snake bite on an errand and was admitted in
hospital, he would have no worries because his children would ably take care of
themselves. On the other hand, children today just sit and parents have to hire a house
girl/boy to take care of all the household chores. In other words, you bear the risk of
bringing a stranger into your home to render you a service, because your children
can’t take care of themselves, can’t wash their own clothes, can’t iron their own
clothes and can’t bathe themselves. Worse still, you have to look after the person
you’ve brought to render this service by giving her a place to sleep, plus paying
him/her salary.

Nowadays I hear many companies advertising that they have well trained house girls.

One participant completes the sentence:

Gyebagenda ate gyebabatulugunyiza (while employed, they get abused).

Yes that’s true.

Nolweekyo, waaliwo engeri engenderere, owulidde? (Therefore there is a malicious

intention here, you get me?)

You need to know that even if a child is still of tender age, he/she should not have all
the freedom she wants. Those who advocate for the children’s freedom want the
world to come to an end. Jesus came to the world to preach the gospel and that is why
he was called the son of God. However, what you have to know about him is that he
worked when he was young. His father trained him in carpentry until he started his
ministry. This is why we are told that Jesus was a carpenter. Today, they take away
our children (government owning them) without them having acquired any training.

The discussion became intricately linked to children’s rights more and more as participants
gave their opinions.

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7.5 The challenge on children rights

In a serious attack on the notion of children rights, discussants explained that the notion of
children rights was lopsided and had no place in the local ways of living:

This issue of rights is lopsided and cannot work here. I read about a student of
Makerere who stabbed another with a knife and killed him instantly, while they were
watching football. Two others were injured.

What kind of thing is that?

What will the parents of those children do? Three... children! Omupiira obupiira!
(Simply because of a mere football game). All this is because of giving children [too
much or] unnecessary freedom.

This thing of children rights cannot work here. Tekisoboka! Tekisobokera ddala oba
werimba bwerimbi! (Impossible, completely impossible, it is self deception).

God created tribes and he gave each tribe work to do e.g. some are herdsmen, others
are cultivators and others do other occupations. Therefore, the responsibility of
working as a cultivator or as a herdsman is inborn. If a child refused to wash the
plates, he would not eat food. In addition, if a neighbour gave food to such a child
being punished, the parents of the child would complain to their neighbour accusing
him of instilling indiscipline in their child.

Yenga nga bakukkiriza okulya mukyalo! Haaaaaaaaa! (Would parents even allow
you to eat from the neighbourhood!!). Children knew that they could neither be given
food at home nor eat it elsewhere after refusing to work. This kind of good upbringing
resulted into a nation with useful citizens. The presidents we’ve had over time did not
study much, but they ably led the country because of good upbringing. However
today, you can tell a university student to do some work and he fails because the
foundation on which he was raised is poor.

... Therefore, a person that has no culture cannot become anything in this world.
Someone can identify your tribe from your culture. For example, different tribes have
different ways of preparing meals because of cultural differences. Culture is very
important because it is like a flag of a nation. Also, you can identify a person’s culture
from the way he/she dresses.

Linking the issue of culture to children’s work, Mr Ssewa made this observation:

Before you come to the conclusion that the work given to a child is harassing, first
look at the benefits the child will get by doing it.

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In other words those who advocate for child labour don’t look at how work benefits the
children? I asked. The three participants agreed entirely. One of them pointed out:

Ah ha! If I tell my child to dig in the garden, I will be inculcating a sense of

responsibility in her. They [Bazungu] do not view cultural practices such plucking out
the front tooth for identification an ethnic group, using hot iron to mark parts of their
body ... these are not targeted as abusive practices. How come that they are able to
point out that children taking part in work, is a form of harassment?

Another participant added:

Abantu kubanga babalumya, abaana babalumya nyo nyo nyo!!!

(People suffer serious pain because of these practices—genital mutilation, removing
tooth, use of hot iron for body marking etc). Children suffer too much, too much...).
Such cultures are the ones I regard as tormenting the lives of children.

How can someone consider an activity like fetching water as a form of harassing a
child, eh! If a child’s parents are full time farmers, would it make sense for them to
leave the farm and fetch water when the child is just seated at home? Bazungu
themselves [some] have done despicable things such as turning children into
homosexuals... This is sexual harassment but to my surprise, Bazungu look at it as a
right. This is why you find so many states legalizing marriage of homosexuals.

(Laughter ...) To my dismay, Bazungu don’t look at it as kutulugunya. Such issues

need to be seriously tackled. ...children growing up abroad have become a nuisance.

You need to tackle this issue in your PhD research so that in future, people appreciate
your efforts (there was total agreement).

It is important to point out that contrary to the assertions of some study participants policy
makers do not necessarily reject the participation of children in domestic work. It appears
however, the general discussion of child labour and children rights in sensitisation activities
does not clearly bring out the distinction between tolerable and intolerable work within
homes. Alternatively, the intervention activities in some cases tend to generalise children’s
work leading to confusion. In these discussions and conversations, I had largely interacted
with the elite, especially in regard to levels of education and those who were more aware of
cultural and contemporary issues. Their views reflected a convergence of opinion that child
labour and the notion of children rights had a common denominator that they perceived to
work against their cherished values, norms, and other traditions. They felt that their views
were representative of people in many other parts of the country.

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7.6 Views of participants from fishing communities

The participants in fishing communities paid greater attention during the discussions, on the
problems parents faced in raising children and why children were at work. I present most of
these views in chapters that focus on child labour as a product of poverty. Under this section
however, I am concentrating on the views of participants who linked child labour to the
controversial subject of human rights.

In FGDs with parents majority of whom were women from Gerenge fish landing site and
Wakiso town Council (Kisimbiri B parish), it was explained that there was confusion in the
understanding of child labour because of its linkage to children rights:

What confuses people is the link between child labour and children rights. Many
people don’t understand children rights very well. They tend to confuse the two.

[They say] maama nze gende nkube omwana bansibe! (To discipline my child and
then I am locked up in prison!). So they end up not disciplining their children. Others
refuse their children to work for fear of being sent to prison.

Other participants showing agreement added:

Many people misunderstand the freedom of children. They think that children should
not be punished or even guided. They actually fear to punish their children because in
case they do, children report them to police and they are jailed.

Maama maama leka. Okube omwana osibwe!! (Oh oh, forget it. You chastise a child
and you are in (prison). Even teachers also stopped beating children at school for fear
of being imprisoned [but many still punish children violently].

It is bad to say that children should never be punished (beaten)—indeed children

should really be punished. I think it is okay to punish a child as long as it is not done
brutally or in a way that causes serious harm.

One woman wondered:

What beats my understanding is when a child misbehaves and is not supposed to be

punished. Even when he refuses to go to school! Yet it is something we must enforce
through punishment.

There was something positive though on this subject of children rights:

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 On the other hand, it has reduced child neglect and cruel acts or punishments against
children. The police have helped to sensitize people about these issues. This is really
good (Voice of a woman leader)

But many people in Uganda are still confused and ignorant about what children’s
rights entail and what they don’t (voice of a male FGD participant).

This was also emphasised in several discussions on the main land.

7.7 Views of the elderly about child labour and children’s rights

Elders aged between 57-90 years at Gerenge fish landing site on Lake Victoria, also
complained about the notion of children rights during an FGD:

Everything is now linked to children’s rights tetukyalina bwogerero (we no long have
a say). If you don’t take a child to school, it is violation of a child’s right, if you also
force a child to go to school, say you punish them that is also violation of his/her
rights. So we don’t know what to do.

The elderly pointed out that while the rights of children are emphasised, their points of view
are ignored even when they present their complaints to the local authorities:

Most people [on the islands] are young15, 17, 18, 20 years. When you try to advise a
14 year old, people start abusing you that you are old and you don’t know what you
are doing. People don’t recognize us as elders when you advise or guide them in the
right way, every one turns against you and there is no way you can defend yourself
because, they are the majority. Even if you take the matter to the LCs [Local Council],
those who will escort and support the wrong doer to the LCs are the majority. They
may for example be like 30 in number and you really can’t defend yourself from such
a group.

Some even ask you whether that child is the first one to do wrong, they even tell you
to leave the child alone. ‘Omwana muleke. Yasoose okkola ekyo?’ They claim that
children have their rights.

Attributing the confusion between child labour and child rights they pointed out:

Most people are ignorant about government policies and laws in relation to child
protection. People don’t know those things. Government policies have gaps and
people don’t know—they are ignorant about these laws. When the chairman organises

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 sensitisation meetings people ask: ‘Obaletedeyo ki? Mubaletedde buyambi?’ (What
have you brought for the people, any kind of [material] support?).

Supporting the view that abuse of children through work exists, elders and parents of children
pointed out that there were cases where parents made lives of children very difficult through
work or other situations. They considered this to be a form of maltreatment and I have
decided to treat it separately under the ‘child abuse’ discourse. Furthermore, they isolated
activities which in their view constitute abusive work. I have also considered this under the
local equivalent of child labour, where child labour has been isolated as part of child abuse.

7.8 Reflection on the emerging views and conclusions

On the basis of the findings in this section, child labour as a concept does not communicate a
meaning that resonates with the understanding of the people talked to. Instead, it is perceived
as a campaign to stop children from working, yet working particularly at home is part and
parcel of the ways of raising children. By implication, there is a lack of shared understanding
of the child labour concept, including its associate—child rights. This lack of shared
understanding suggests that the voices of those who are affected by the definition of child
labour have been shut out in the process of generating the meaning. It appears that a top down
approach of defining child labour has taken precedence over the bottom up approach.

Authors like Robert Chambers (1997:188) have challenged the ‘positivist, reductionist and
mechanistic, standardised-package and top-down models and development blue prints.
Within these prints, it can be argued that the understanding of child labour was conceived by
the professionals. By focussing on people’s involvement, he suggests the relevance of a
paradigm in which multiple, local and individual realities are recognised, accepted, and
enhanced and celebrated. Hence, the lack of involvement of local people has not helped in
reducing the communication gap on issues of child labour. It suggests that professionals’ and
power holders’ efforts to deal with the undesirable aspects of the phenomenon, may not gain
full support from the grassroots peoples, who perceive the meaning of child labour as foreign
and undesirable.

By linking the concept of child labour to that of child rights, it also suggests that there are
elements about children’s rights that arouse controversy and require dialogue with

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communities. One of the approaches to resolving these controversies involves use of
Community Dialogue (CD) approach, which has been defined as a continuous mutual
exchange of views, ideas and opinions between people or groups of people aimed at
developing mutual understanding and seeking a solution (see Canadian Rural Partnerships
2002). Using this approach can help in generating a shared understanding of child labour and
child rights concepts.

Another important aspect emerging from the findings relates to the absence or difficulty of
communicating the intended meaning of the concepts developed at the international level and
translating into the local languages. The concepts of child labour and child rights appear to be
affected by this failure. Richardson (1994:518) notes that “Different languages and different
discourses within a given language divide up the world and give it meaning in ways that are
not reducible to one another.” The concepts of child labour and child rights are introduced in
the English language and translated locally, for example in Luganda. More often, the
translations involve competing discourses (professional views, cultural views, political views
etc) as well as subjectivities of the translators. The outcome is a description of a reality (child
labour, child rights etc) with competing meanings over which there is no consensus. This
therefore, calls for community involvement and dialogue.

A reflection on people’s reasoning suggests that there is need to use alternative words or
concepts to communicate the intended meaning of child labour. For child labour, alternative
concepts such as emirimu egikuluusanya abaana (abusive work for children, work that makes
children toil’ etc) should instead be used. Tying this with the concept of children rights, there
was further indication that, use of the concept children rights (eddembe lya abaana) did not
fit within the traditions and ways of bringing up children. Instead, alternative terms such as
okuyisa abaana obulungi, endabirira y’abaana ennungi (raising children appropriately,
giving appropriate care to children) should be used. Putting emphasis on alternative terms or
revising the existing ones was emphasised as it would help protect children, without
necessarily causing antagonism between children and their parents. For example, it was
emphasised that child labour and child rights efforts needed to emphasise the rights and
responsibilities of both parents and children, and clearly articulate the scope for exercise of
these rights and responsibilities. Ansell (2005) has argued that rights in some communities
are more collective, rather than exclusive as implied in the international conventions.

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Responsibilities of children and parents for example, are articulated by the African Charter on
the Rights and Welfare of Children article 32.

The lessons from the views of participants suggest there is great room for exploration and
learning when people are involved in generating meanings of the concepts such as child
labour and others like child rights. Their involvement is not to justify the objective truth, but
rather to allow multiple voices to be part of defining problems and solving them.

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 Chapter Eight

8 Child abuse discourse: Child labour is abusive and

violent work

“Abusive work’ only a part of child maltreatment…”

The child abuse discourse brings to fore the local equivalent of child
labour. Child labour is work forced on children and involves cruelty,
torture, and is heavier than children’s capacities. The work is given
with bad intentions by adults. Abusive work is viewed as being only
a part of wide ranging abusive practices children face. Hence, the
selective consideration of abuse in work by actors is viewed with
suspicion. Under this discourse, children should under normal
circumstances not work for money except until they reach age 14
or 15. That money exerts a negative influence on children resulting
into problem behaviour like stealing, risky sexual activities and loss
of interest in education. The discourse views as a necessary evil for
children to work as a means of survival. At the same time it
recognises the benefits of work to children. It calls for identification
of abuse in work situations and an assessment of work in relation
to age and capacities of children.

This is the fourth and last construct of child labour which cuts across all the previous
discourses presented. Given the emphasis placed on abuse in both work and non work
situations, an elaborate account on the nature and contexts of abuse, as well as the broader
meaning of abuse which goes beyond work is presented. The presentation of the findings is
preceded by a discussion of existing international instruments aimed at protecting children
against abuse, conceptual clarity of violence or abuse and its measurement, and an analysis of
the situation of violence against children in Uganda.

8.1 Introduction

Efforts at both international and national levels aimed at stemming violence against children
whether experienced through work or other situations, are invariably driven by the

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commitment to protect children’s rights to survival (provision), development, protection, and
participation as spelt out by the UNCRC. Article 19 of the UNCRC states:

States parties shall take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and
educational measures to protect the child from all forms of physical or mental
violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation,
including sexual abuse while in the care of parent(s), legal guardian(s), or any other
person who has the care of the child

This and other provisions stem from earlier instruments including the 1948 Universal
Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) (article 5); the 1966 Convention on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights; the 1953 Convention on Political Rights of Women; the 1981 African
(Banjul) Charter on Human and People’s Rights; and the 1932 Convention No. 29 on Forced
Labour—just to mention a few. More recently, these concerns have further been reflected in
the convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labour (No.182) 1999; the 2000 Optional
Protocols to the UNCRC on the involvement of Children in Armed Conflict; and the one on
Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography.

While the concern to protect children remains a key goal within these instruments,
interventions to eliminate inappropriate work or child labour have often treated the problem
as disjunctive or separated from other multiple forms of violence children experience. This is
reflected in the numerous programmes that target abolition of children’s work deemed to be
hazardous, but which hardly focus on other forms of abuse children experience. As a
consequence, local people may view with suspicion some of the initiatives claimed to target
inappropriate work. In the academia there are numerous voices that question the notions
underlying the child labour interpretation (Nieuwenhuys 1996, 2007; Kielland & Tovo 2006;
Boyden 1990; Lancy 2007; Ennew, Myers & Plateau 2005), while others have pleaded with
key actors to listen to what children are saying with respect to child labour (see Woodhead
1999; Bass 2004). Hence, there is a risk that initiatives related to children’s involvement in
work could be interpreted as a ploy to disenfranchise children and their families from
utilising children’s labour for individual and family gain. The suspicions are fuelled by the
absence of efforts to generate local interpretations or insider views on what child labour is
and creating room for dialogue before pursuing the interventions.

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The purpose of this chapter is to present a local equivalent of what child labour means or
should mean, based on local peoples’ interpretations. The emerging view defines child labour
as a form of violence against children and that it should not be treated separately from the
broader abuses that children experience both at work and outside work. By placing emphasis
on child abuse or abusive work, the discourse places the right of the child to protection, at the
centre of the debate of children’s work and offers an opportunity for generating consensus on
abusive work from a rights perspective. Furthermore, it offers a chance to examine the social
and economic relations between children, parents and employers in a work environment.

8.2 Renewed efforts to deal with child violence

Violence and abuse are concepts that are more often used interchangeably particularly with
regard to children. According to the World Health Organisation ([WHO] 1996) violence is
defined as:

The intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself,
another person, or against a group or community, that either results in or has a high
likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, mal-development or
deprivation.

This definition bears greater similarity with the one on child abuse by the WHO (1999):

Child abuse or maltreatment constitutes all forms of physical and, or emotional ill
treatment, sexual abuse, neglect or negligent treatment or commercial or other
exploitation, resulting in actual or potential harm to the child’s health, survival,
development or dignity in the context of a relationship, trust or power.

These definitions are important in specifying and designating work as a form of violence in
as much as it has an intention to harm the child. They point out violent acts that result from a
power relationship between children and those who abuse them through work or other
situations. They also designate as violence all those acts whether by commission or omission,
which may include child neglect and all types of physical, sexual, and psychological abuse.
The definitions associate intentionality with committing the act itself irrespective of the
outcome (see Dahlberg & Krug 2002). The problem emerges however when some definitions
focus on the behaviours or actions of adults, while others consider abuse to take place if
there is harm or threat of harm to the child (see Straus 1979; 1995; Straus & Hamby 1997).

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Fig. 8.2: What to consider in defining abuse in a work situation

1 2 3
Behaviour/Actions Intent Outcome
(Parents and employers)
How should child labour be defined?
Either: a) 1+2+3? = Abusive work (when harm is intended; and not otherwise)
Or: b) 1+3? = Abuse (as long as there is harm whether intended or not)
Source: Author

As Runyan et al. (2002:59) point out, the distinction between behaviour, regardless of the
outcome and its impact is a potentially confusing one if parental intent forms part of the
definition of child abuse (violence). This is very critical to generating an understanding of
child labour owing to the fact that some experts appear to consider children as abused even
though they have been inadvertently harmed through the actions of a parent with good
intentions (such as involving children in work). Other experts require that harm to the child
be intended for the act to be defined as abuse. Another problem arises as regards how to
assess the intent putting into consideration that it is rare for a person to admit ill intent to the
child.

Despite the possible challenge in determining or defining what constitutes violence in some
situations, there are renewed international efforts to address the problem of abuse in its
multifaceted forms. These include physical violence, sexual, psychological, child neglect or
deprivation among others. The UN Secretary General’s study on Violence Against Children
(2006) provides statistics on violence based on submissions from various sources as part of
the preparation for the report. It shows at least:

53,000 of children deaths in 2002 were homicides

20 – 65 percent of school aged children are verbally or physically bullied in the
school system in developing countries
150 million girls and 73 million boys have experienced forced sexual intercourse

Other acts of violence have been defined [based on ILO reports 2002, 2004] as child labour
involving 218 million children in 2004, of whom 126 million were considered to be in
hazardous work. These estimates can be contested if there is no agreement on the definition
of child labour. It is for example argued that such estimates are based on methodologies that
tend to mix observations or facts on working children with negative value judgements. In

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essence, the concept is not an objective, technical description of a single observable set of
human relations (Ennew, Myers & Plateau 2005:28). Hence, it is very difficult to provide a
factual justification for the indicators. Some of these limitations are examined in this study.

Notwithstanding, there are children in internationally defined WFCL over which there is no
controversy. ILO estimates from 2000 indicate that 5.7 million children were in forced
labour, 1.8 million in prostitution and pornography, and 1.2 million were victims of
trafficking (ILO 2002).

In Uganda, violence is manifested in all forms including exploitative labour, physical, sexual,
emotional and child neglect. Of the cases reported to police stations in four districts (Apac,
Lira, Bundibugyo and Kasese) with a history of war between 2003 and 2005, child neglect
registered the majority of cases totalling 1412, followed by forced (or exploitative) sexual
intercourse (Walakira & Opio 2006). At the national level, sexual violence against children
accounts for 82 percent of the cases reported to Criminal Investigation Departments of the
Uganda Police (Government of Uganda Report to the CRC 2006). Cases of child prostitution,
trafficking, involvement of children in armed conflict are also documented (ILO 2007;
Walakira 2006; African Network for Prevention and Protection Against child Abuse and
Neglect [ANPPCAN] 2006; African Child Policy Forum [ACPF] 2006; Dipak 2006). On
involvement in armed conflict, between 1990 and 2001 an estimated 20000 children were
estimated to have been abducted by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in Northern Uganda
with boys recruited as child soldiers and girls as sex slaves (Human Rights Commission
2004; Ministry of Gender Labour and Social Development [MoGLSD] 2004). Other most
pronounced forms of violence against children include hitting, whipping or battering,
starvation, burning, child sacrifice, verbal abuse and emotional violence. People who
perpetrate most of the violence against children are those who are part of the children’s
immediate environment rather than strangers.

The ecological model developed by Bronfenbrenner (1979) helps to shed light on how a
combination of factors including the individual’s characteristics, personal history, his or her
family environment, the immediate social context (community factors) and the characteristics
of the larger society help to perpetuate violence or protect against it. This model in
combination with interpretive approaches will guide the interpretation of violence against
children in relation to work.

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This discussion on violence against children sets the contextual background for the discussion
of people’s interpretation of what constitutes abusive work or violence in a work situation.
This chapter therefore examines the local equivalent of child labour or intolerable work for
children.

8.3 The local equivalent of child labour: Abusive—cruel—violent work

Table 8.3: Child labour interpreted as child torture

Intention Characterisation Perpetrators Identified WFCL in their areas

Heavy work Child sex work
Un proportional allocation of household work Working in bars
Humiliate child Abusive language against child Stepmothers Children taking part in war
Exploit child Denial of basic provisions Stepfathers Using children in robbery
Harass child Unfriendly environment for child Employers Using children to sell drugs
Torture child Limited or no pay for child by employers Uncles
Denial of food to child
Denial of rest to child

Study participants gave their interpretation of child labour which is closely tied to child abuse
or violence against children:

Rather than help children learn as part of informal training, some people decide to
okuchiya (torture) children. For example, if you have ever been in a poultry farm, you
will realise that a chick leaves all other chicks and picks on one chick. It pricks it
continuously following it wherever it goes. N’ekabojja, nekadda eno n’ekanoonyayo
neddamu n’ekabojja (it runs after it pricking it wherever it goes).

In respect to work, a mother picks on one child and gives her [him] more tasks than
other children. She tells the girl to go back to the spring for more water, fetching it
more times than her peers. Meanwhile, the other children will be left to play.

In other words a mistreated child is given more work than her counterparts. Work in
this case is not distributed fairly among children. The tortured child is given harder or
complicated work. When the child is done, she will be told to undertake other tasks
without rest. Kino kiba kivude mukutendekebwa nga kifuuse kutuntuza (such treatment
to the child is no longer training but has turned into torture or mistreatment). Kino
kiretera omwana obwenyamivu (this mistreatment causes misery and psychological
torture to the child) (Cultural elder).

Further elaborating on abuse of children, participants explained that abuse involves not only
heavy work with bad motives, but is also accompanied with other abusive practices.
Nonetheless, not all practices including forms of punishment are regarded as abuse:

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 I cannot rule out the fact that children are harassed. However, what I regard as
harassing of a child is burning a child or recklessly beating a child when she does
wrong, making a child carry loads that exceed her ability and denying a child food
after she has done work and other things of this sort. However, it is healthy to punish
children when they do wrong. For example, a child getting three to four canes after
she has done wrong is very right. Children have to learn to work as long as we don’t
harass them (Former Woman Minister in Buganda Kingdom).

Further giving their own understanding of child labour, participants pointed to the practice of
giving children work which is beyond their age limit.

For me I understand child labour as making children to do work beyond their age
abilities. I do not consider a child working at home, say fetching water as child labour
... Child labour involves a parent [guardian] giving a child heavy work with a bad
intention of making the child suffer. This is what we call okkulusanya omwana
(making the child toil through work). This reminds me of a proverb: Atamuzadde,
amutikka jinja (a parent gives heavy load to a child other than her own). Even in
Buganda there were instances of child torture among stepmothers and maternal
uncles. In the distant past, maternal uncles would ask their sisters to take their
children to them. They would do this to use the children as sources of labour. In the
process, they would give them a lot of work and make them suffer. For this purpose,
that proverb was coined. The Baganda of those days decided to introduce a norm
whereby each time such children performed any work, the uncles had to give them a
reward. If they worked, say in the animal stead, they had to be given a calf or a kid. If
they cleaned the courtyard you had to give them money. If they cleaned the poultry
shed, you had to give them a hen or cock. They introduced a saying that if they
worked and were given nothing, the animals or birds would die. This was meant to
protect these children (Author of Luganda books and radio presenter).

8.4 Traditional means of addressing abuse

There were however other traditional means of addressing forms of abuse manifested
through hard work, beating and other forms of violence. It was explained that there were
traditional courts (ebigango) starting at the household level. If the case was not resolved, it
was forwarded to higher levels as indicated below:

Children court—headed by eldest child in household

House hold court (Kigango)—headed by Katikkiro of house (woman head)
Arbitrator at household—father
Head of family court—Omukulu w’oluggya (leader of households linked to one father)
Ow’olunyiri—head of family heads (grand parents) linked to one father
Ow’omutuba/
Owessiga—Head of clan (Kooti wakisekwa)

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 Katikkiro— administers the kingom on behalf of the Kabaka (King)
Kabaka—Overall leader

These were the cultural or traditional courts used to resolve cases. However, there were
administrative courts as well for resolving cases. The courts outlined below also handled
cases of child abuse.
Omutongole—village chief
Owomuluka—Parish chief
Oweggombolola—Sub County Chief
Owessaza—County Chief

Each of the cultural and administrative courts would handle a case depending on its
complexity and the parties involved. Abuse in relation to work was inexcusable as parents or
guardians were expected to be well conversant with the abilities of their children and
therefore, were not to give them work beyond their abilities. This brings me to another
attribute participants attached to the label of child labour. That is, work for pay, within the
broader discourse of child abuse.

8.5 Working for money corrupts morals of young children

The popular view among participants in this study comprising key informants at the grass
roots, local leaders, opinion leaders, parents, and children was that work involving pay for
children who have not attained a certain age (common age suggested was 14) or level of
independence from their parents, should be defined as child labour:

I take child labour to mean okkozesa omwana attaneetuuka nga ate akolera sente
(making an underage child work for money). Traditionally, children used to work
alongside their parents. Parents would teach their children by working with them. I
come from Buddu. As a boy we would wake up very early in the morning
netukwatilako ba taata ensamo n’ebiso netugenda okumuyamba ko okiyimbula
omutuba (we would carry the harmer (or chisel), pangas and knives, and together with
our uncles we would set out to go and debark the mutuba tree. Thereafter, we would
take the stem bark to the processing place (kkomagiro), where our father would
proceed to make bark clothes out of it. The rest of us would go home to do other tasks
such as herding goats, sun drying coffee, and beans or go to fetch water from the well.
But we were not working for pay. Our only payment was in form of kasiimo
(appreciation). Mzee (father) would simply buy for us shirts or shorts just like any
parent would care for his child (Opinion leader and former Buganda Kingdom
Minister).

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Working for money while under age was blamed for corrupting behaviours of children in
FGDs organised with parents at Gerenge, Kasenyi, and Wakiso:

It gets bad when children start to work for money because they lose interest in attending
school in addition to learning bad behaviours like stealing. We have cases of children
who steal fish here and hide it in sand for sale. Those children grow up with such habits.
That is why many of our children taste prison.

For some boys—after earning money, they use it to lure young girls. They give them
money and gifts. The girls in return have [unprotected] sex with them. As a consequence,
they become pregnant and in turn drop out of school. Because of the financial earnings by
peers who are not attending school, those attending school are persuaded to drop out.
They are easily lured by their peers who do fish-related work.

It was further blamed for loss of interest in education by parents at Kachanga Kavenyanja
islands as well:

It is alright for children to help their parents, but a problem arises when the child gets
money and does not go back to school again.

Some children deliberately drop out of school to earn an income from activities related to
fishing. This is because there is readily available work and money in settlements around
the lake. As such, some children prefer to work than go to school.

Table 8.5: “Child labour is making underage children undertake work for pay”

Parents: Working for money exerts bad influences on Children: Money needed but changes attitude
underage children (≤14<15) years of children (affected≤14)
Loss of interest in education
Learning bad behaviour like stealing Children will never offer to work for free
Engagement in sexual activity (sex is hardly protected, Money is needed for survival
performed hurriedly) Children need to work with guidance from
Boys make girls pregnant leading to drop out of school parents—if left on their own, they go astray
Working children are exploited Money stops boys from attending school
Makes earning money the only and most important goal Money contributes to family survival
in the lives of children Working for money for children without care
Children get too tired takers is inevitable
Children become rebellious at home
Children at that age need a token of appreciation, not
payment

While all parents in Kachanga Islands were in agreement that work for pay is not good for
children, a young girl aged around 15 disagreed:

Everyone survives to get money so it is not bad to work for money.

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A woman in her late 30s or early 40s immediately responded:

It is bad because the children can start stealing.

The young girl in trying to defend her position further argued that, if the problem was
learning to steal, parents had the obligation to teach them not to steal:

... Then you should teach them not steal.

Other participants (older women) stared at the girl and wondered in disapproval before
breaking into whispers.

Thinking that the views of parents living on the mainland (over 40 kms away from the lake)
would probably be different about children working for money, an FGD was organised
involving parents in Kisimbiri B zone (Village) in Wakiso Town Council. During the
discussion parents still considered not as a good thing, for children to start working for
money before attaining age 14. In some cases, they suggested 18 years as an appropriate age
for participation in work for pay:

Working for money is very problematic and I don’t support it.

If work involves helping parents it is good. If it involves working for money—it is

very bad. Children tend to become unruly.

If the child is in a candidate class like primary seven (P.7) or senior four (S.4)—even
working in a family business [shop] becomes problematic when entirely left to the
child. It does not allow the child to concentrate.

8.5.1 Views of children on working for pay

Children like other participants explained that work for pay for young children has a negative
side. However, it depends on circumstances:

There are boys who are not going to school and instead do work at the landing site to
earn an income. Some children—depending on the family they’re coming from, do

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 work at the landing site to earn money. Some do it to contribute to family survival,
while others do it because their parents are negligent or cannot control them (FGD
with children at Kachanga).

The interest in working also matters and the child is free to get any amount of money
depending on the amount and kind of work done. The child should also work under
the supervision or guidance of the elders so as not to be on his own (FGD with boy
children at Kasenyi aged 12-14).

Some children felt that doing work without parental supervision results in the problem
behaviour among children such as stealing, alcohol consumption, and indulgence in
unprotected sex.

8.6 Activities that characterise child labour (abusive work)

The views of participants suggest that the context or the working environment and the nature
of work determine whether work is abusive or not. The activities that parents considered to
constitute child labour are discussed below.

8.6.1 Working in markets

This was singled out as one of those activities that spoil the morals of children. In a
discussion with a former Buganda Kingdom Minister and an elder they had this to say:

These days, you find a six year old in the market selling polythene bags. Some of
these “kids” help you when you go to the market to carry some of your purchases
[goods] to your car and ask for money in return. You ask them ‘for what?’ and they
reply: ‘because I have helped you carry your purchases to your car.’ Kweggamba
omwana n’akula nga akakaalukana’ (as such a child grows up striving). With time
such children become conmen (pick pockets and thieves) nga bw’okawa ebintu byo
tekabiteekayo mu mmotoka, kakuyisawo buyisi… laughter … (when you tell him to
help take your purchases to the car, he will simply disappear with them) (Former
Buganda Kingdom Minister).

Even in the market place such children get to listen to emboozi z’abakulu (adult
conversations that involve mainly sex and related issues). The same thing is common
in garages. Children also learn obscene words ogenda okuwulira nga kakubyewo
eggambo (you get surprised to hear such a child utter an incredible obscenity)
(educationist and elder).

Besides work in the markets, domestic service (working as housemaid) was also singled out
as child labour and it is discussed below.

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8.6.2 Working as house girls (housemaids)

Young girls in urban areas, in the fishing communities and Uganda in generally, those aged
12 to 17 take up work as housemaids (house girls). House girls do a range of activities at
home including child minding, food preparation, house-cleaning, washing of household
utensils, clothes, and doing market routines. While the work offers accommodation, food, and
a small pay, it makes girls overworked and subjects them to sex abuse (MoGLD & ILO
2004). Hence, during an FGD with elders at Gerenge fish landing site, they were of the
opinion that this work should be seen as abusive work or child labour:

It is bad when girls are sent to work as house girls in people’s homes in order to raise
school fees ... The head of the household who is usually a man may develop funny
feelings towards that young girl and could end up defiling her. Most of the men who
rape the young girls return home while drunk.

Some participants nonetheless felt that working as a house girl can be described as good work
if the parents for whom the child is working are caring:

... Domestic service can be good for house girls, but this depends: nga abantu
b’akolera bategeera (if the girl works for understanding people). Because it is similar
to work that was traditionally in a home setting. If the family she is working for is
cultured (well behaved), they can nurture and take care of her as one of their children.
But if you find a bad family, this kind of work is even worse (Opinion leader and
former Minister Buganda Kingdom).

Moving away from the discussion of domestic service involving mainly girls, participants
turned to work in the fisheries comprising child labour (abusive work).

8.6.3 Children’s work on the fish landing sites—largely inappropriate work

The work on fish landing sites was considered abusive largely because of the environment
under which it was performed. This was more so for children below 14 years. One of the
aspects that make the work problematic is the criminality among the actors:

Fish landing sites are usually dominated by people who have committed crimes. The
criminals always come to the fish landing sites to hide from law enforcement
agencies. For this reason, you find all sorts of people from all different walks of life

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 coming to the lake. ... We have people who use drugs, who rape girls, and those who
do all kinds of things. ...

In their opinion, the criminality was responsible for widespread lawlessness involving child
rape, battering, and children involvement in sex for money in addition to use of drugs. The
resulting multiculturalism was also blamed for problem behaviour:

Because of the diversity in cultures, children learn a lot of bad behaviours. For
example, a grown up person bathes openly in the lake and faces all sides while naked
… laughter … this gives a bad picture to the children.

I recently met a man urinating and he did not mind whether I was passing or not. This
landing site has all sorts of bad behaved people. People have very bad behavioural
backgrounds. You may find one with a history of involvement in rape, having come
straight from the prison to this place. Surprisingly people do not enquire about the
backgrounds of such people before they give them a chance to work. Such people
have done a lot in spoiling our children (FGD with elders at Gerenge).

Not only is work considered to result into problem behaviour, but was also considered to
endanger the lives of children. Here is a brief narrative on how the discussion ensued with
participants at Kachanga. The discussion has been ongoing for nearly an hour in a wooden
shelter (which serves as an entertainment and drinking place). A woman in her mid 30s
abruptly joins the group. The number of women taking part in the dialogue now exceeds 15.
There is no way to limit their involvement as everyone is interested in the discussion. It is
also approaching 3.30 pm. The research team (I and six research assistants) have to sail back
to the mainland before it is dark. The distance could take us over two hours. The woman
says:

Embeera yaffe wano ku bizinga mbi nnyo era nkyaamu (Our living conditions here on
the islands are too bad and harmful for raising children).

Moderator: Tewali mwana ayinza giyitamu? (no child can grow up from such conditions?)

She replies: “No”

Moderator asks ‘why’?

She says:

Because there are no schools and when they come on the islands they are attracted to
stay because of money.

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Another participant interjects:

… So like some of us parents, we just have to allow our children to work and this way
they get spoilt. ... (Some participants seem to be embarrassed by this suggestion).

Another participant adds:

... During holidays they [children] come here and work and when they go back to
school, they don’t concentrate. They are very eager to come back and get money
instead. So if there is a law that forces children to go back to school, then this would
reduce children’s involvement in work. The fact that the lake is free, they keep
coming. …

One participant intervenes and says:

But still even on the mainland they work.

Explaining that work on the islands was very dangerous to children, participants had this to
say:

On the lake many children die because of drowning while fishing and all I can say is
that fishing is very delicate and therefore unfit for young girls and boys.

Another participant adds:

Girls of less than 18 years work in bars and restaurants around, yet they should not
work there. ...

Responding to a question as to whether there were many bars on the island they said:

We don’t know because the bars are in our own homes so our children automatically
get involved. Those who come to drink see our girls and touch them provocatively.
...they [girls] are repeatedly touched especially if you are behind the curtain trying to
get more drinks...you cannot see them. The same house or room where they serve
drinks is also used as the sleeping place. When the bar is closed sometimes late in the
night, they convert the room into a bedroom.

Another participant adds:

... if you have children who are big and not working with you, they can go out when
you are not aware and come back pregnant (some prolonged laughter among
participants).

The discussion continued to explore other research issues.

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8.7 Views concerning inappropriate work for children

Participants comprising adults and children identified other work which they considered
heavy for children. Elders at Gerenge fish landing site described carrying a bunch of fish and
goods as heavy work for children:

Lifting emigeto (bundles of fish) and heavy loads

Fishing from small boats...

I think all the lake activities are bad, they’re harmful. For example, spreading nets is
also bad because people spreading them tend to use vulgar language.

Table 8.7: Work considered inappropriate for children below 14 years

Type of activity Reason

Work in the markets Vulgar language
Learning other vices like stealing and pick pocketing
Work in bars Children sexually abused
Work in restaurants “ “ “
Actual fishing –using Children die in water
canoes, hooking ... Slide off the rocks while hooking and die
Heavy work i.e. rowing the boat
Carrying fish bundles Heavy work
Other work on fish Bad because the environment is bad, corrupt behaviour, use of vulgar
landing site language, interacting with criminals, loss of cultural identity
Nursing sick persons in Exposes private parts of patients to a child which is shameful
hospital/home Risk of catching sicknesses
Any night work Robs children of sleep, children risk accidents and disease, could be
criminal work, sexual abuse, limited or no protection at all for children
Prostitution Considered immoral, has many healthy risks, destroys the future of girls
through pregnancy and disease
Working for money Takes away children’s interest in education, encourages bad vices such
as rebellion, stealing, use of drugs etc
Any work in an abusive, Risk of rape, use of vulgar language, exposure to dangerous substances
unhealthy and morally like acids, dust in coffee hullers, maize mills etc; little rest for children
corrupting environment
Work in quarries Heavy

Other work such as involving children in war was considered adult work and not fit for
children. Provision of nursing care for a patient was considered inappropriate for young
children.

Some participants however explained that when children undertake certain forms of work at
home that are heavy or challenging, they develop resilience and are able to confront hard life

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as they grow up. The activities nonetheless “should not be extremely heavy for children”,
they pointed out.

8.8 Efforts against child labour misinterpret ‘normal work’

The views of participants show a disagreement on the way they interpret child labour
compared to how it is understood officially. In their opinion, the messages against child
labour targeted work that children do at home yet they considered this normal work:

It is necessary that those people talking about child labour classify or distinguish
between activities. It is not proper to lump together all activities. Some activities can
be heavy for children who have not attained a certain age. If there is a distinction in
games i.e. light and heavy weight for boxing… even activities should be
distinguished. I always have this saying. ‘In the world, there is nothing bad or good.
Everything depends on three things: a) measurement or appropriateness, in this case
the amount of work. How much is done? b) Effort required or heaviness. How heavy
is the work? c) The way work is done, how complicated is it? How is it done? All
these have to be considered to ensure that a child is given what she/he can manage ...
instead of generalising (cultural leader and elder).

The thinking of participants therefore suggests that government and other actors need to take
into account their point of view so that they can work together to eliminate what is defined as
abusive and inappropriate work for children.

8.9 Discussion of findings

Study participants viewed child labour as a form of violent work and that it is only part and
parcel of many forms of abuse that children experience. This form of abuse involves giving
children work in excess of their age specific capacities with an intention of hurting or
exploiting them. This discourse that constructs child labour as a form of violent work when
further analysed, reveals distinct sources of abuse which characterise ‘abusive work’. The
sources of abuse include:

a) The person—guardian or employer (bad actions and intentions)

b) Characteristics of the child (age, sex, skills, knowledge—when they do not match
the requirements of the work)
c) The environment in which work is undertaken (unhealthy, morally corrupting etc)

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 d) The work itself as a source of abuse (nature of work)
e) Money as a source of moral abuse (with its corrupting influence)

Fig. 8.9: The ecology of violent (abusive) work

Actions of Intention Characteristics of child

Employer/guardian To hurt, torture, exploit child Age< 14<15, Sex

Environment Nature of work Money

-morally corrupting, -abusive, -heavy—hard work, -long working -its negative influence
unfriendly, health hazards hours, risky work

Abusive—violent work

Victimised Child--Child labourer

The various narratives and expressions of study participants show that it is persons in the
child’s immediate environment who intentionally abuse children by forcing heavy or
inappropriate work on children. Within the home environment, stepmothers and fathers,
maternal uncles and aunts are responsible. Not only do they intend to hurt children, but also
exploit them as sources of cheap labour. Employers also abuse children through exploitation
of their labour in return for meagre pay. Outside of the home, there are children peers who
teach children alcohol consumption and discouraging them from attending school. There are
also those who teach them drug use or use of vulgar language among others. Places such as
bars and video halls, just to cite a few, expose children to sexual abuse.

In addition, money for underage children lures children out of school and drives them into
sexual unprotected sex activities resulting into contraction of sexually transmitted infections.
Girls suffer pregnancy leading to school dropout. Money was however considered a necessity
for children without caregivers or those with negligent parents. Work itself was seen to be a
source of abuse if it was risky and heavy for the child. Finally, the characteristics of the child
related to age (≤14) and sex, played a crucial role in determining abuse. Girls were more
susceptible to sexual abuse through domestic work, bar and restaurant work.

These factors that lead to violence or abuse through work situations are identified by the
Ecological Model as developed by Bronfenbrenner (1979) and later adopted by Dahlberg &

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Krug (2002) in analysing violence in general. The model singles out personal, community
and societal factors within a child’s environment that affect a child. In relation to violent
work, the above factors need to be targeted for change in eliminating violent work.

8.9.1 Areas of convergence with international view on child labour

The age of admission to work set at 14 by the Minimum age Convention was similar with age
limits suggested by parents and children. Some of the activities considered as very bad for
children such as prostitution, involvement in drug use, armed conflict among others; are also
part of the unconditional Worst Forms of Child Labour (WFCL) as delineated by the WFCL
Convention (No.182) 1999. Parents and children argue for the need to focus on the nature of
work children do and age capacities— also provided for in the international laws.

However, the call for analysis of the intention of children’s participation sets another
dimension that needs careful attention from the view of parents and children. It means that
work with bad intentions to hurt the child can be distinguished from that with positive
intentions. Furthermore, the view that abuse can be identified in a work situation, implies that
it can also be eliminated hence, a departure from requiring total abolition of children’s work
as some campaigners tend to recommend. For some activities however, children need total
withdraw. From the analysis, it is clear that exploitation of children will remain as long as
parents and governments are unable to meet the needs of children. This remains a key
challenge facing efforts aimed at fighting violent and abusive work among children.

8.9.2 Conclusion

This section has examined the discourse which defines child labour as a form of child abuse.
The sources of abuse have been identified to include; the person, the environment where
work is undertaken, money as a source of abuse and work itself. The discourse has
considered child labour to be only a part of the several abuses that children experience and
therefore, the need to consider it in this broad framework rather than treating it separately.
The discourse presents some form of agreement with international conventions on some
actions of perpetrators that constitute abuse, the age of admission to work etc. The point of
departure however rests on generalisation of children’s work as child labour including those
working to survive and who like their work. The positive intention for involvement of

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children is overlooked in such generalisations. The discourse points to the possibility of
eliminating abuses rather than calling for total abolition for work that is tolerable.

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 Chapter Nine

9 “We want practical learning”: Children’s views

about school and work

Children’s aspirations for attending school are frustrated by

manifold inadequacies in the school system manifested in the
inadequate curriculum and poor learning conditions. These factors
undermine the quality of education and deflate children’s interest in
attending school. Children crave for practical learning to acquire
traditional and modern skills, but the school is unable to meet their
expectations. The hidden costs of education force children out of
school. Distractions outside the school such as work and
mistreatment also affect school attendance. The environment in the
fishing communities makes school attendance difficult. Paid work
and education are generally not compatible with effective school
attendance.

This chapter examines children’s views on work and education, pointing out compatibilities
and incompatibilities. It answers the research question that sought to generate children’s
views on work and education. The introductory section reviews contemporary arguments for
and against children’s involvement in work in favour of education. It also presents some
statistical data on the situation of education in fishing communities before presentation of
findings.

9.1 Introduction

A global solution for elimination of child labour in the words of Nieuwenhuys (1996:242) is
based on the sanctity of the nuclear family on the one hand and the school on the other, as the
only legitimate spaces for growing up. Children growing up working and not attending school
manifest distorted childhoods as they deviate from childhoods of the industrialised West or
childhoods experienced by children of middle class families (see Boyden 1990; Zeliser 1994;
De Mause 1976). Indeed, the official discourse on child labour and education as articulated in
international law recognises children’s rights to education than their rights to work.
Children’s right to basic primary and secondary education is marked out in Article 28 of the
UNCRC. The intersection between children’s work and education is viewed negatively.

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Hence, Article 32 of the UNCRC calls for protection of children against any form of work
that interferes with their education. Furthermore, the Minimum Age Convention (No. 138),
1973, emphasises the need for children to complete the primary school cycle before joining
paid work at 14 years (for the case of developing countries). Children however, can undertake
light work at age 12.

It is necessary to examine children’s views regarding work and education particularly in the
fishing communities in Uganda. In these communities, school attendance is very low (MoES
2004). This enables an understanding of interests and categories of children best served by
the official discourse on child labour and those who are not. It also makes it possible to
examine the interests of children not best served by the official interpretation of child labour.

9.2 Protecting childhood? Rejecting children’s involvement in work in favour of

education

In general, there is a rejection of children’s involvement in work in preference to school

attendance. Some of the reasons advanced by this school of thought include: the negative
effect of child labour on achievement of Education for All (EFA); its effect on human capital
formation, which lowers enrolment ratio and literacy levels; school attendance, poor
performance at school and its disproportional effect on career tracks of girls and boys as girls
tend to be over represented in non economic activities (Allias & Hagemann 2008). Other
factors are related to health, protection of children against exploitation and the effects of
work on their physical and social development (ILO 2002, 2006).

While the reasons against children’s participation in work are compelling, they are largely
based on the premise that work is the primary factor for children’s non school attendance.
Existing evidence however contradicts this premise and reveals that children’s non school
attendance owes largely to the high cost of education and the poor quality of education
(which includes inefficient use of instructional time, lack of sufficient text books and other
learning materials, un secure, crowded and poorly maintained schools, poor sanitation and
inadequate content etc) and factors related to sickness, distance, hunger, and so forth
(UNESCO 2004, 2005 & 2007; UBOS 2006; Sengendo & Walakira 2004). While the effect
of children’s work cannot be discounted regarding school attendance, it accounts for only 4-5
percent of children in paid work and about 12-15 percent among those involved in domestic

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(home based) activities (MoES 2004; Walakira et al. 2005). In other surveys, the effect of
domestic work and paid work on school attendance is just above 20 percent (Klees, Haweley,
Byamazima & Kyeyune 2002; Walakira & Byamugisha 2008). The children are nonetheless
primarily drawn into work in search for school fees before the work becomes a barrier to their
school attendance.

Notwithstanding, the view that school attendance is the most effective antidote against child
labour has gained currency and fits squarely in the UNESCO’s EFA campaign that aims to
ensure educational access to every child of school going age by the year 2015 (see UNESCO
1990). It also fits the Millennium Development Goal 2 on Universal access to primary
education and goal 3 on elimination of gender disparity in primary, secondary, and all other
levels of education (see United Nations 2000, 2001). With more resources committed towards
increasing enrolment in schools, the world net enrolment ratio rose from 83 to 87 percent
between 1999 and 2005 (UNESCO 2007). Participation levels have increased most rapidly in
sub-Saharan Africa (23%) and South and West Asia (11%). The number of out-of-school
children has dropped by 24 million to 72 million between 1999 and 2005. Survival rates
nonetheless continue to be low. Countries like Uganda have had only 25 percent of children
able to complete the primary school cycle by 2004 (UNESCO 2007). Disparities between
countries, rural urban differences, gender, and poverty levels in relation to children, continue
to be major challenges (see UNESCO 2006, 2004, 2007). Indeed, there is still a long way to
go in providing an education that works for children in relation to: “learning to know”,
“learning to do”, “learning to be” and “learning to live together” (UNESCO 2004:30, 1996).

9.3 Situation of education in Uganda: Increased enrolment, lower survival rates and
achievement levels

Uganda still has more work to do to improve the educational indicators for the general
population. The Uganda National Household Survey (UNHS) undertaken in 2005/6 (see
UBOS 2006) shows that 20 percent of the population aged 15 years and above have had no
formal education. Persons aged 10 years and above who can read with understanding and also
write meaningfully, comprise 69 percent of the population. These have only increased
slightly from 65 percent between 1999/00 and 2005/06. There are still gender variations in
the literacy rates, with female literacy estimated at 63 percent compared to the male literacy
at 76 percent. Adult literacy for persons aged 18 years and above is estimated at 69 percent.

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The educational indicators ought to have looked better given the introduction of UPE over a
decade ago. Indeed, the major achievement of UPE since its inception in 1997 has been more
of quantitative rather than qualitative educational outcomes. Quantitatively, primary school
enrolment has tremendously expanded from around 3 million pupils in 1997 to about 7.5
million in 2003 and over 7.6 million in 2005/06 (UBOS 2006:14). Overall, primary school
enrollment for children aged 6-12 years relative to the total number of children in the same
age range in the population (net enrolment ratio) is estimated at 84 percent. Despite these
achievements, the qualitative outcomes are not pleasant. Less than half of the pupils
completing primary school have attained proficient skills (being able to read and write with
understanding). Citing Uganda Nation’s Examinations Board, the UNESCO EFA Global
Monitoring report of 2008 (See UNESCO 2007) shows that half of the pupils in grade 3 and
6 reached defined competency levels in English literacy. Achievement levels in numeracy
have however, declined.

Table 9.3a: Percentage of grade 3 and 6 pupils in Uganda reaching defined competency
levels by subject, 1996 to 2006
English literacy (% of pupils) Numeracy (% of pupils)
1999 2003 2004 2005 2006 1999 2003 2004 2005 2006
Grade 3 18 34 - 38 46 39 43 -- 41 43
Grade 6 13 20 28 30 34 42 21 38 33 31
Source: UNESCO 2007:69, Table 2.16, based on Uganda National Examinations Board 2006 report.

The poor achievement levels point to the quality challenges facing the UPE. In essence, the
rapid expansion of enrollment levels has not matched the pace of the initiatives aimed at
improving the quality of the learning environment. Notwithstanding, the government already
took note of these challenges and has been working to improve efficiency indicators which
give a picture on the learning and teaching classroom environment in terms overcrowding,
pupil- teacher contact, and availability of learning/teaching materials. These indicators
include, Pupil Teacher Ratio (PTR), Pupil Classroom Ratio (PCR), and Pupil Textbook Ratio
(PBR). Between 2000 and 2004 these indicators have shown a decrease which implies an
improvement in the efficiency of the education system.

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Table 9.3b: Efficiency indicators between 2000 and 2004

Indicator Target by 2004 Realised by 2004

Pupil teacher ratio 52 53
(Primary Government Schools) (all schools 50)
Pupil to Classroom Ratio 90 84
(Government schools) (all schools 79)
Pupil to textbook ratio - -
Source: MoES (2004) Uganda education statistical abstract, pp. xxi-xxii

The improvement in the two efficiency indicators above has not corresponded with
achievement levels particularly in mathematics where indicators in upper classes show a
declining trend (see table 9.3a on competency levels above). This implies that other factors
critical to improvement of the quality of learning are yet to be effectively addressed. These
include inefficient use of instructional time due to teacher absenteeism, lack of instructional
materials such as text books, security within schools, the content of learning and the physical
state of school structures among others. UNESCO (2005:73), for example, identifies Uganda
as one of those countries (including Kenya, Zambia, Tanzania, Mozambique, and Malawi)
where half of the grade 6 pupils reported learning in classrooms that did not have a single text
book. Citing evidence from Bonnet (2007) the UNESCO 2008 EFA Global Monitoring report
shows that within these and other African countries, between 25 percent and 40 percent of
teachers reported that they did not possess a book or guide in the subjects they taught.

The above factors affect the learning environment and partly account for the high levels of
school dropout. UBOS (2006) survey shows that less than two thirds (38%) of the pupils
enrolled in primary 1 complete grade 7. Only 685000 pupils managed to reach grade 7 in
2006 among those who enrolled in grade 1 in 2000. Less than 50 percent of children are able
to make a transition from primary to secondary education with the numbers gradually
reducing. The cost of education remains the most common reason for dropping out of school.
While UPE is considered free, it involves hidden costs such as uniforms, stationery,
transportation, and boarding which tend to exceed financial means of parents and pupils.
Other factors like distance, hunger, work, civil unrest, and a general poor learning
environment have been identified (MoES 2004; KURET 2007; Walakira 2007).

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9.4 Education status of children in fishing communities

Data from the Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES) based on the Annual School Census
of 2004 shows that districts with large water fishing bodies such as Kalangala and those
affected by cattle rustling such as Kotido have the lowest levels of primary school enrolment,
retention and achievement levels (see MoES 2004). The data however does not identify the
interests of children in the education system.

Table 9.4: Education indicators among working children in fishing communities

5-11 yrs 12-14 yrs 15-17 yrs Male Female Total
School attendance & enrolment % % % % % %
Currently enrolled 75.8 48.3 22.1 38.4 52.2 41.6
Dropped out 19.4 47.2 72.9 57.6 40.3 53.6
Never enrolled 4.8 4.5 5.0 4.0 7.5 4.8
Total 62 89 140 224 67 291
Highest level of education
None 4.8 4.5 5.0 4.0 7.5 4.8
Non formal education 3.2 0.0 0.0 0.4 1.5 0.7
Lower Primary 80.6 49.4 16.4 38.8 44.8 40.2
Upper Primary 9.7 42.7 58.6 45.1 37.3 43.3
O'Level 0.0 3.4 20.0 11.2 9.0 10.7
Others 1.6 0.0 0.0 0.4 0.0 0.3
Total 62 89 140 224 67 291
School day attended
0 Days 0.0 0.0 9.7 3.5 0.0 2.5
1 day 6.4 2.3 6.5 4.7 5.7 5.0
2 - 3 days 12.8 11.6 6.5 9.3 14.3 10.7
4 days 2.1 9.3 9.7 9.3 0.0 6.6
5 Days 78.7 76.7 67.7 73.3 80.0 75.2
Total 47 43 31 86 35 121
Ever repeated a classes
Yes 36.5 43.8 64.3 54.3 40.0 51.1
No 63.5 56.2 35.7 45.7 60.0 48.9
Total 52 73 98 173 50 223
Main reason for repeating
Poor grades in school 42.1 43.8 60.3 54.3 45.0 52.6
Missed exams 15.8 31.3 12.7 17.0 25.0 18.4
Parents changed residence 10.5 0.0 1.6 2.1 5.0 2.6
Joined new school 10.5 9.4 6.3 7.4 10.0 7.9
Missed Sch. due to work 0.0 9.4 3.2 5.3 0.0 4.4
Missed Sch. due to sickness/injury 5.3 0.0 7.9 5.3 5.0 5.3
Worked more days than attended school 5.3 0.0 4.8 3.2 5.0 3.5
Lost parents 5.3 3.1 0.0 1.1 5.0 1.8
Could not afford school fees 5.3 3.1 3.2 4.3 0.0 3.5
Total 19 32 63 94 20 114
Source: Walakira & Byamugisha (2008), Table 5.1, pp 31

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A study commissioned by the ILO also shows that educational indicators among working
children in fishing communities selected in Uganda’s four districts comprising Kalangala,
Kamuli, Wakiso, and Kasese, are among the poorest (see Walakira & Byamugisha 2008).
The study shows that majority of the working children (58%) aged 5-17 years were not
attending school. Over half (53.6%) reported that they had dropped out of school, while 4.8
percent had never enrolled in school. Only 11 percent studied beyond primary school while
51 percent have ever repeated class. The reasons given by children for non school attendance
were lack of school fees (78%), other school requirements (45%), sickness (33%), parent’s
lack of interest in education (32%), and work (27%). Poor grades and missing exams were
the main reasons given for repetition. As can be seen, the educational indicators for working
children in fishing communities are deplorably low compared to the national indicators.

Findings

9.5 Children’s views on education and work

In the sections which follow, children’s views about their inspiration for attending school,
their expectations and experiences are presented. The data presented was mainly accessed
from school going children who in most cases combine domestic and paid work with school
attendance. Children provide an insider perspective about the factors within and outside the
school system, which affect their learning and the decisions for abandoning school in favour
of work. The views of teachers and parents are also presented to offer insight into the
situation of education in the fishing communities from a variety of perspectives.

9.6 Inside the school: How children feel about education and the subjects they study

Studies about children and work have attempted to give a clear picture of why children drop
out of school. The studies however, rarely explore the views of children on why they attend
school, their opinions about what they study and how it might affect their interest in attending
school. In a dialogue meeting comprising 21 pupils selected from primary six and seven in
Bulega Primary school (close to a landing site) children gave their views about education.
They indicated that their main motivation for studying was to get good employment (all the
21 pupils), starting own business (17 out of 21), and wanting to become literate (4 out of 21).
These figures while not intended to be generalised to all children, give a picture on how

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compatible school curriculum may be with the interests of such children, whether it gives a
clear path for fulfilling their aspirations or not.

Children in Bulega and Kigero primary schools gave individual reasons as to why they were
attending school and not working:

To be able to read and write

Such that I am able to sustain myself in future by getting employed
To acquire knowledge that I can use for my future work
I want to learn a profession like engineering in future
Such that I can get a job and sustain my self when I grow older
To be literate
To be able to effectively communicate with people, for example a person may send
you a letter to go to Greece, but you fail to go because you cannot read and
communicate.
To be enlightened and become an expert who can even be consulted by other
countries.
I am studying such that I become a nurse.
I am studying so that I am able to establish my own business in future.

Table 9.6a: Jobs that children want to do in future (Bulega Pr School)

Desired job/occupation Those mentioning

Nurse (Mentioned by 3/21)
Pilot (Mentioned by 2/21)
Catering (Mentioned by 3/21)
Nun (Mentioned by 1/21)
Doctor (Mentioned by 1/21)
Driver (Mentioned by 2/21)
Engineer (Mentioned by 4/21)
Agriculturalist (Mentioned by 1/21)
Builder (Mentioned by 1/21)
Judge (Mentioned by 1/21)
Politician (Mentioned by 2/21)

Looking at the aspirations of children, one is prompted to ask, Does the school offer
opportunities for children to achieve these goals? The answer is “yes” but only to a limited
extent and “no” to a large extent. Taking the example of literacy, it is one of the aspirations of
children which the school can help realise by the time children reach upper primary.

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However, a sizable number of children reported that they could not read and write in English.
This was confirmed in a dialogue meeting with children in Bulega primary school. Out of the
21 who attended the meeting from P.6 and P.7, 12 raised their hands saying they could not
effectively read and write. Five of the twelve were in P.7.

Children further aspire to pass with good grades in primary seven and hope to join good-
performing secondary schools. The hope of getting enrolled into well -performing schools
raises the possibility that they can make it to the university or at least have better prospects
for doing courses at tertiary level—promising better career prospects. Looking at the
performance of pupils in Kigero primary school, the conclusion is that few of them pass with
grades good enough to continue with higher education. Hence, the dream of higher education
is unlikely to be fulfilled.

Table 9.6b: Performance of Kigero Primary school pupils in P.7 final national
examinations

Year 1st Grade* 2nd Grade 3rd Grade 4th Grade No Grade
2001 0 33 10 6 1
2004 11 73 15 15 29
2005 0 41 16 5 1
2006 5 41 19 9 1
st nd
Compiled from school records *1 Grade=A; 2 Grade=B etc

From the numbers generated, it can be clearly seen that pupils who succeed to sit for their
primary seven exams predominantly pass with 2nd grade results. Only few pass with first
grade results. In 2005 there was no pupil passing with 1st grade result. The factors that affect
the performance of pupils as explained by both teachers and children relate to the
unavailability of teachers, lack of instructional materials, poor facilities, and the lack of
commitment from teachers and children.

9.7 Children craving for modern and traditional skills

Pupils’ aspirations or expectation in the education system are further undermined by the gaps
they see in the existing curriculum. Children perceive that there are certain things that need to

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be strengthened or introduced in the curriculum to make their learning at school not only
attractive but also more meaningful and relevant.

At our school, they should strengthen the games and sports component. Games and
sports should include football, music, dance, and drama. We also need debates,
netball, and quiz. Computer studies should be part of the curriculum. They should
introduce associations and clubs such as the scouts and guides and debating club ...
They should introduce training arts in areas like technical drawing, painting, and
crafts. We should be taught how to make mats, brooms, ebibbo (baskets) as well as
pottery and painting. Painting and drawing is lacking. We are not taught arts and
crafts, yet they are very important. I think it is because they are not on the curriculum.
Cookery skills: We want to learn catering skills such that we can use those skills in
future to get employment (Dialogue with pupils from Bulega Primary School).

What is striking about the issues that the pupils raised for inclusion or strengthening in the
curriculum is the nature of practicality associated with the subjects or activities. While these
children were attending school in an urban locality, they raised both modern and traditional
learning activities that bring out the issue of practical learning very clearly. Their interest in
strengthening sports, music, and drama also points to the career prospects attached to these
learning activities. With regard to sports, there is a burgeoning interest in games like football
where boys particularly see a possibility of making it both locally (in the national football
team) and internationally (particularly in Europe). The pupils see many African players at the
international stage and are greatly inspired. They believe that they can have a chance to play
football and reach that stage if at all the school can offer the opportunities for more training.
Both girls and boys see enormous career opportunities in music and drama, which has
promoted many local singers and actors (e.g. Chameleon, Bebe Cool, Judith Babirye and
actors like Abby Mukiibi among others) at the international stage.

Pupils further want to have computer training, and are aware that it provides great access to
information through internet. The information can enable them to have knowledge and skills
for self or wage-based employment. Computers also fulfil a right to play when pupils use
them for games.

Besides sports and music, dance and drama, children were interested in acquiring other skills
in activities like catering. They hoped to get employed in the hospitality industry or to have
their own restaurants some time later. Making art crafts, drawing and painting were also
considered crucial. Unfortunately, the schools did not offer these learning opportunities for

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lack of teachers and failure to include these learning opportunities in the school curriculum.
Additional resources though unavailable, are also necessary for the school to buy the
necessary equipment.

9.8 The desire for practical learning from subjects taught at school

Children identified some subjects taught at school as very critical for their practical learning.
Although mathematics is a subject that is usually hated, pupils in Bulega Primary School
singled it out as one of the subjects that are important in their daily lives (for daily living and
doing small business) as well as in helping them to pursue careers such as banking or
engineering in future:

You cannot go anywhere without math [mathematics]. Math is needed in almost every
aspect of life and in every work.

This notwithstanding, they still expressed their dislike for some aspects of the subject and the
lack of instruments needed under certain topics:

In mathematics, topics on angles and geometry should be done away with, because
they are hard and sometimes pupils who lack instruments (a geometry set) are chased
out of class.

Children in Kigero primary School unlike their peers in Bulega Primary School, they
indicated their dislike for mathematics with the explanation that it was very hard: “The
teachers do not teach well, but bring very hard questions” they observed. Their preference
however, pointed to science on the basis that it was more practical and relevant:

We like science because it is practical. If you are studying for example, about the
head, you can see it. Science tackles daily life problems such as avoiding diseases
such as HIV/AIDS and about other health-related issues such as sanitation.

The importance of practicality in learning was further extended to the English subject. Indeed
students in both schools liked English very much despite the lack of teachers:

We need English for effective communication. Most countries use English and
without knowing it you cannot communicate [with people who can only communicate
with you in English]. Every aspect of work requires interaction with people.
Interaction with [educated] people requires fluency in English. It is important in

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 communicating with people from different tribal backgrounds (FGD with Pupils,
Kigero Primary School).

In the two schools, pupils emphasised the need for greater practice of English language in day
today communication, in debates and in other avenues, because it helps them gain fluency:

In English, the component of conversation should be strengthened because it helps us

understand English better and it is more applicable (FGD with Pupils, Bulega Primary
School).

English speaking should be practised. ... It is not compulsory to speak English here as
is the case in some other schools (FGD with Pupils, Kigero Primary School).

Practical learning however, is appreciated by students only to the extent that it is not given as
a form of punishment, which makes them labour inside the school. This is particularly the
case when it comes to children’s involvement in gardening as a form of learning on one hand,
and as a form of punishment on the other.

9.9 Pupils’ experiences at school that discourage school attendance

Pupils go to school with a lot of enthusiasm expecting to learn and achieve their dreams such
as getting good employment in future, starting their own business and attaining good life.
One of the discouragements they experience is the inability to have continuous learning at
school either because of teachers’ absenteeism or lack of enough teachers:

The turn up of teachers in class is not good. We can have around two lessons a day
and then we are advised to read our books or sent to the school garden (In depth
interview with pupil in one of the primary schools).

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 Children under UPE classrooms —by author

At the time of data collection in December 2007, Kigero and Bulega primary schools had 13
and 8 teachers respectively. The teacher pupil ratio for Bulega was 1:65 while that of Kigero
was 1:39. The ratio for Bulega is above the one recommended by the Ministry of Education
and Sports (1:52). While the ratio for Kigero looks good, it only shows that there are fewer
pupils attending school. This implies that there are low levels of enrolment and retention.
This paints a grim picture about enrolment and attendance in schools close to fishing landing
sites. In both schools, the lack of teachers to handle children’s preferred subjects was
evidently a source of agitation, given
Table: 9.9: Number of pupils in Bulega Primary School
their expectation of gaining practical
Class Boys Girls Total
skills from these subjects.
P1 30 22 52

P2 37 32 69
In an interview with the Deputy Head
P3 41 36 77 Teacher of Bulega Primary school, she
pointed out the inability of the school to
teach some subjects owing to lack of teachers:

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 We offer the four major subjects namely, Social Studies (SST), Mathematics, Science
and English for classes from P3 up to P7. For P1 and P2 we are supposed to teach 9
subjects which include Reading and Writing, Luganda, Agriculture, Religious
Education (RE), SST, Mathematics, Science, English, and Physical Education (PE).
However, we are not teaching PE, Agriculture, and RE due to lack of manpower
(Deputy Head Mistress).

Besides teaching, teachers also provide counselling services to girls on management of

menstruation, prevention of sexually transmitted diseases, and pregnancy. The absence of
teachers to take on the role of ‘senior women’ undermines the provision of these services:

The school doesn’t have a senior woman teacher with whom girls in particular can
share their problems. They either tell their friends or keep quiet. The only source of
important information we (girls) need at school about personal hygiene, HIV/AIDS,
sex, and menstruation is given during the official assembly every Wednesday and
Friday. It is the individual responsibility of every girl to get herself pads to use during
menstruation if their parents don’t give them ... (in depth interview with girl prefect).

Besides the problem of inadequate teachers, children explained that they lack adequate books
and experience hunger. In Kigero Primary School, children pointed out that they were
overburdened with course work and having to report to school very early daily at 7.00am and
leaving late after 5 pm.

Another issue that pupils in both schools singled out as a big problem was the punishments
administered by teachers:

The teachers beat us a lot. Sometimes they line up with sticks so that you have to go
through the line being whipped by about four teachers. If not whipped, they give us
big portions of grown up bushes for slashing and digging, as a punishment. We don’t
like this (in depth interview with P7 pupil).
Teachers make children lift heavy loads such as logs as punishment for offences
committed. They also force you to go around classes on your knees and you end up
getting bruises (FGDs with P6 and P 7 pupils).

While the punishments seem to cause fear among pupils and sometimes lead to compliance,
they also result into a negative association of punishment with learning subjects. This is the
case with a subject like agriculture, which at times is given as a form of punishment and other
times, as a form of learning:

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 We have gardening on the time-table, but you see giving us digging punishments
makes digging lessons unpopular. We don’t get the difference between normal
gardening and gardening as a punishment. [And] both are frequent [given regularly]
(In depth interview with pupil)

When asked about the punishments that should be allowed they pointed out:

Light punishments like sweeping, fetching water—a maximum of two jerry cans of
water weighing 10 litres, slashing or digging a small area

In their opinion, the harsh punishments cause some children to drop out of school. But none
of the working children gave punishment as a reason for dropping out of school.

9.10 Distractions outside school: Mistreatment at home

The punishments that discourage children from attending school take place not only inside
the school, but also outside of it. School going children explained that some parents and care
takers at home give very harsh punishments that force children to run away from their care
takers’ homes. Those who run away take up work and rarely continue attending school.

Some children face a lot of mistreatment at home and they can’t stand it. This forces
them to drop out of school. What I mean by mistreatment is being flogged by either
your parent or another caretaker and being forced to do straining work like lifting
heavy jerry cans of water, fetching very many rounds of water, and collecting fire
wood from isolated forests where someone can even rape you. ... Our parents are
cruel, we even fear to tell them that they are mistreating us. In fact you can be flogged
if they know that you told the teachers and besides, some teachers are friends with
these cruel parents asirise asinga (one is better off keeping quiet) (In depth interview
with P7 pupil).

Punishments at home and inside the school played a key role in affecting school attendance.
However, the cost of education was identified by children as playing a far greater role than
punishments, absence of teachers or any other factors.

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9.11 The hidden costs of education that force children out of school

The Uganda government introduced UPE in 1997. Since then, enrolment has increased
drastically as already indicated. Although UPE is presumably free for all children, parents are
expected to support the education of their children by buying uniforms and writing note-
books and pens, providing lunches, and other relevant materials. Some schools may also
determine charges including examination fees, printing paper, and toilette rolls just to
mention a few. These are required on a term basis. All these represent the hidden costs of
UPE which force children from poor families to work and support their education or drop out
straight away:

Some pupils drop out of school for lack of school fees. Even those who have it lack
the basic necessities to use both at school and at home. They therefore go to work to
get some pocket money for survival (In depth interview with P7 pupil).

In a meeting with school teachers in one of the urban schools visited in Wakiso district
(identity not revealed because of confidentiality), it was explained that the school requires
pupils to meet certain costs in order to attend. This being an urban school, the government
allows the school to make limited charges on the basis of its unique circumstances. The
charges made on a term basis are outlined in table 9.11. In addition, children are required to
report with three rolls of toilet paper and two brooms each term. In other schools, children
add payment for building and road
Table 9.11: Type of costs under UPE in a maintenance.
selected school in Wakiso district
Cost Ush. (1 U$=
1680) 9.12 Compatibility and
Upkeep for teachers incompatibility of children’s work
P1-P2 5000 with school
P3-P5 7000
P6-P7 10000
A sizable proportion of children
Porridge (P1-P7) 4000
School uniform (P1-P7) (23%-27%) on the fish landing
Girls 9000 sites, combine school and work
Boys 8500
(Walakira & Byamugisha 2008).
Source: This study
Taking this into consideration, I

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asked children to give their opinion on whether it was necessary to have an education system
or arrangement that allows children to work and at the same time attend school. For example,
children could work in the morning and then attend school in the afternoon.

The popular view was not to combine education with work. Those who opposed twinning
education and work argued that it affects children’s concentration and increases absenteeism.
They further explained that children were more likely to fail if they combined school and
work:

It is not necessary because some children won’t pay adequate attention to studies as a
result of work. Abaana abamu tebaggya kuteekayo mwoyo ku bye basoma kubanga
beesigulira kw’ebyo bye bakola (Some pupils will not care about education because
their hope will be vested in work).

Kibi kubanga omwana bayinza omugamba nti akole amale agende kusomero, naye
omulimu bwe gumunyumira n’agaana oggenda (A child may be told to combine work
and school but may end up being more interested in the job and therefore refuses to
attend school).

I imagine that a child who is working will have his mind elsewhere, even after coming
to school. Working may increase absenteeism and a child may be too tired to attend
school after working.

That kind of education system is not necessary because it may impede a child’s
learning process. Such a child is likely to perform poorly in school (FGD with pupils
from Kigero and Bulega Primary schools).

Despite the perceived limitations of combining school and work, some children supported it
arguing that it was necessary as it helps children to raise money for school fees and their
upkeep:

It is good because children can work and obtain school fees to attend school. It is
necessary because a boy, for example, cannot live without any money.

Moderator asked: Why is it that only a boy can’t live without money?

One pupil (a girl) said:

… Because boys have more opportunities to work compared to us girls. It is good

because it would teach children to work and thus, prepare them for future
responsibilities as adults.

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Teachers also opposed the idea that children should work for half a day and then attend
school for another part of the day. They revealed that there were children who were attending
school and at the same time working particularly in the upper age bracket mainly to support
their education:

There are quite a number of children in this school, especially in the upper age bracket
(P6-P7), who are involved in child labour as way of raising school fees. Some
children work so that they are able to meet their basic necessities such as clothes,
shoes, and others to lure girls.

These observations notwithstanding, teachers explained that it was not necessary to have an
arrangement that allows children to combine school and work arguing that it affects school
performance, accelerates school drop outs, and causes misbehaviour among children.

The arrangement allowing for school and work is not necessary because teachers may
get problems of completing the syllabus, especially where time is divided between
school and work. Children may fail to concentrate. Their minds will be divided
between work and school. In the end, pupils may not take their education seriously,
which may lead to drop out and poor performance.

Education and business (work) are not compatible. For example, there is a case of a
child who is working while at the same time attending school. This child bought a
phone and started behaving like a teacher. He became very undisciplined and unruly
in school. He became insolent to teachers given the fact that some of them never
owned phones. With this kind of system, absenteeism, escapism and drop out are
likely to be high. Some children may fail to attend school because of the thought and
feeling that they could lose a lot of money in case they are away from their work
(FGD with teachers from Bulega Primary School).

Linking the working children with poor discipline, teachers revealed that cases of indiscipline
are likely to increase with an increase in the number of working children attending school.

Some children especially in the upper primary level after selling fish they come here
and start bragging. Pupils who are working tend to behave contrary to school rules
and regulations because they have money. They often act as though they are above the
school rules and this distracts them from their education. Some [of these children] are
brought up very well, but the majority are poorly behaved, rude and ill mannered and
when you inform the parents about their children’s behaviour, they don’t respond
positively (teachers Bulega Primary School).

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They also explained that working boys attending school were more responsible for cases of
girls dropping out of school due to pregnancy. “Some boys use the money earned to lure girls
into sexual relationships. Some of these girls drop out on getting pregnant.”

9.13 “Take children away from fishing communities for them to study”

The view of a parent on one of the landing sites that children need to be taken away from the
landing sites if one wanted them to study is practically not feasible. However, it offers a
deeper insight about the challenges of supporting children’s education on the landings sites
amidst the distractions that they face. This parent who also doubles as a Local Council
Chairman at Gerenge has himself decided to educate his children in schools outside the
landing sites. He has four school going children all currently enrolled in schools in Kampala,
Rakai and Masaka districts. He explained that the reason for not enrolling his children in
schools on the landing sites is not only because of the poor quality of the schools (lacking
qualified teachers and having few classes (P1 to P7), but also because he did not want his
children to interact with children on the landing sites:

I do not want my children to associate with children from the site. The children from
the [fish landing] site have bad behaviours. They are [always] uttering vulgar words.
Also their hygiene is not good and can spread infectious diseases like measles.

With regard to the school here [Lake Side preparatory school], it has only five classes.
The school doesn’t have enough space like playground and compound. The pupils are
fed poorly. They only take porridge for lunch moreover without sugar.

He explained that for him he has capacity to take his children to boarding schools away from
the landing site. Asked on how he avoids his children from associating with the children on
the site when they are back for holidays, he revealed that he tries to be very strict and keeps
them inside his enclosed house:

I am very strict with my children. They are not supposed to play with other children.
They are not supposed to visit or receive visitors. I have put the necessary
entertainment for them in the house including television, radio, and video games.
These keep them inside and stop them from loitering in the village. I don’t even allow
my children to fetch water from the lake because they can easily associate with
undisciplined children.

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This parent by local standards is a rich man. He is the chairman of the Beach Management
Committee (BMC) and is also responsible for revenue collection from fish harvested by
fishermen. He went to school up to senior six and feels strongly about children attaining
education. His opinion is that children on the landing sites rarely concentrate on their studies,
a view that was evident among both parents and school going children. He said:

The children here do not go to school, but instead, they only think about fishing
activities to get money. They think about fetching a jerrycan of water for Ug. Shs 100
and cleaning fish... which activities earn them money. So they cannot concentrate on
studying. Most of the people on the site are undisciplined so they sow the seeds of bad
behaviour like use of obscene words, prostitution, use of intoxicants, and smoking
tubes (emmindi) which are done during broad day light.

For these reasons, he does not like his children to grow up on the landing site. He also
explained that he feels bad when he meets other people who call him a fishmonger, because
many people [men] on the site are notorious criminals who committed big crimes like killing
and raping, hence they hide at the site. By calling him a fishmonger, he feels he is categorised
among those fishmongers and criminals. His assessment of bad behaviour environment on
fish landing sites was supported by parents on every site where data was collected.

9.14 Parents view the lack of schools as the biggest concern

“Even the schools we have are of no good use”

Although fishing and

other work undertaken on
the fish landing sites play
a big role in affecting
children’s school
attendance, parents in
several FGDs pointed out
that the lack of schools
particularly on the Islands
of Lake Victoria such as
Kachanga Kavenyanja
Some of the poor learning conditions —by author was the greatest factor

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affecting school attendance.

On this village [Island] we are about 2000 persons. We do not have Universal Primary
Schools (Government schools where children do not pay). We have only one school
with a nursery and three classes P1-P3. The school is private and is owned by the
teacher. Imagine in our school, there is only one teacher who sits all the children in
one class room! He even goes to fish and leaves the children in class as he goes to
work.

The fact that the school offers education to children up to primary three, it implies that
parents have to take their children to schools on the mainland if they want them to continue
beyond primary three. Owing to the long distance and lack of transportation means, the
children would have to be in boarding schools or stay with relatives if they are to have an
education from the mainland. On this village which has over 2000 persons, it means that only
a handful of school age children will attend school beyond primary three. Lack of schools is
moreover not limited to this village alone. Several other neighbouring villages (Islands) face
a similar situation. The Islands in total have over 10,000 persons.

Given that all children study from one class (on this particular island) at the same time, it is
hard to imagine how they can learn meaningfully without each group distracting the other.
One parent claimed that her child of 2 years keeps saying the word ‘science’ yet science is
not taught to children in nursery.

Do children in nursery study science? My daughter in nursery keeps asking, ‘what is

science?’ It is because she studies in the same room with children in primary.

While the parents take the children to the school, they do not see children learn meaningfully
or benefit from the education because of the peculiar circumstances under which learning
takes place, including the poor conditions of learning. In the end, their only goal is to simply
keep children away from the community for some time:

Actually the only use of this school is to keep the children out of this harsh
environment. Or else, they would roam about this place and cause trouble.

However, the absence of buildings still forces children to stay in the community for a
considerable time during the rainy season:

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 When it rains, the children do not go to school. This is because their classroom is
roofed with a ‘kaveera’ [polythene cover], which leaks whenever it rains. Another
thing is that the children always return home for food because they don’t have food at
school.

When the parents perceive the schools to be of limited value to children, they reluctantly send
their children to school and are hesitant to pay the teacher for the teaching services. The
teacher in return commits part of his time doing other chores, sometimes leaving children
alone at school. Some parents nonetheless opted not to blame the teacher, but instead blamed
their failure to pay the teacher. “As for me, I do not blame him because even after demanding
Ug. Shs 8,000 (U$5) for fees, the parents here find it hard to pay up that money even by the
time the term ends.”

As it turns out, it is not only the children who lose in these circumstances, but also the parents
and the teacher.

9.15 Discussion

While the school is a place understood by children to obtain success or laying a foundation
for realising their aspirations, the school frustrates the aspirations of children because of the
multitude of inadequacies it manifests in its curriculum and other conditions in the learning
environment. The limited practical learning combining both traditional and modern skills is a
great point of concern. Pupils desire a form of education that imparts skills before completion
of the primary school cycle. Computer skills, football, singing and dancing, catering and
handcrafts are some of the key skills they require. Much as the need for practical learning is
recognised by government and multilateral funding organisations (see World Bank 1991;
Levine & Byaruhanga 2002; Republic of Uganda 1992), it remains a problem because of the
inability to come up with a feasible and resource manageable intervention by both schools
and the government.

Paid work and education are considered by children, teachers, and parents to be largely
incompatible. Work particularly takes away children’s interest in education as it provides
answers to some of their aspirations such as gaining access to money and enjoying a ‘good’
life, much earlier than anticipated. Yet, combining work and school is understood by parents,

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children and teachers as affecting children’s performance. This confirms the conclusions of
several studies undertaken (see Guarcello, lyon & Rosati 2005; Klees, Haweley, Byamazima
& Kyeyune 2002; UBOS 2006) on the linkage between work and school.

The views of study participants continue to point to the key issues that force children to drop
out of school and end up working. The issues identified imply that the major cause of drop
out is much more from within the school than outside of it. The high cost of education
involving hidden costs under the free UPE and USE and the lack of practical learning, the
absence of good learning conditions characterised by inadequate teachers, absenteeism, lack
of balanced curriculum, food, and learning materials as well as the poor physical state of
buildings. These factors are validated by evidence (see UNESCO 2007; Walakira,
Byamugisha, Omona & Nakabugo 2005; Klees, Haweley, Byamazima & Kyeyune 2002).
The factors outside of the school environment such as mistreatment of children, the attraction
for money through work on landing sites and the poor attitude by parents towards education
largely play a catalytic role. Notwithstanding, negative attitude towards educations implies
that some parents on landing sites place limited value on the existing form of education since
it does not contribute substantially to the improvement of family welfare in the short term. In
other words, the training does not impart skills that increase the usefulness of children at the
household level. The report by MoES (2004)—shows that 46 percent of children abandoned
school due to lack of interest. In the fishing communities, both children and parents who lose
interest in education cite its poor quality as a major cause.

When children feel burdened by excessive coursework, by punishments involving hard labour
alongside chastisement etc; it suggests that the inside of the school is not as free and safe, as
always projected. The view presented in the international discourse presents the school and
the home as safe places to grow up. While they are usually safer, there are pupils who
experience unprecedented levels of violence in school and home (Mirembe & Davies 2001;
ACPF 2006; OCHA 2006; Save the Children 2007; Walakira & Opio 2006). While the
school is indeed safer for children in comparison with working, the fact that some children
opt to work than attend school could imply a search for freedom away from school. This is
also the case when children opt to run away from homes where conditions are perceived to be
abusive. In these circumstances, children are exercising their agency to attain some degree of
freedom.

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The view presented by some parents that the only way for children to continue with education
beyond primary should be to take them away from the distractive environment on the fish
landing sites needs revisiting. This view could imply a certain degree of powerlessness some
parents experience with respect to child upbringing and supporting their education, which is
conditioned by the environment. The environment on the landing sites is not only less
supportive of children’s education, but also spoils their morals. This suggests that existing
social protection structures for children in such communities including the household or
family, the local leadership and law enforcement agencies are failing. For this reason, cases
of rape, beatings and other forms of physical and emotional abuse were reportedly common
in the fishing communities.

In the final analysis, the continuation of children in school requires addressing factors in the
school environments as a priority. These include lowering the hidden costs of education;
working towards integrating the interests and aspirations of children in the curriculum;
improving the general conditions of learning; attending to the interests of teachers; addressing
the requirements for practical learning taking into account traditional and modern skills
requirements and focussing on factors outside of the school environments. The school, local
communities and government have a role to play.

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 Chapter Ten

10 Interpreting child labour in light of existing laws

and policies: Local peoples’ perspectives

Parents agree to some provisions on child labour reflected in policies and

laws for example the start up age for paid work of 14, the elimination of
the defined WFCL, the incompatibility of work and education, and the view
that certain conditions of work and nature of work, seriously affect the
growth and development of children. The areas of disagreement relate to
what they see as assumptions in written and unwritten policies, for
example that children do not like working or that work is the major reason
behind children’s failure to attend school. They view as unrealistic, the
disregard of the positive aspects of work and the consideration that work
beyond two hours per day for every child aged 6-12 constitutes abuse.
There is need for dialogue on written and unwritten policy in addressing
work situations that jeopardise the future of children.

The last objective of this study was to undertake a discourse analysis on child labour in the
existing policies and assess it against people’s opinions on child labour. Hence, this chapter
presents the outcomes of this discourse analysis. The introduction sets the background for
presentation of findings. It involves a review of provisions on child labour in the local and
international laws, a review of discourses on children’s rights and childhoods and there
afterwards, the presentation of findings is made.

10.1 Introduction

Several existing international and national provisions on children rights, including abolition
of children’s involvement in work are blamed for representing a Western view of childhoods.
According to Boyden (1990:184) the notion that children should be raised in a “safe, happy
and protected childhood” is based on the norms and values that are culturally and historically
bound to the social pre-occupations and priorities of the capitalist countries of Europe and the
United states. This construction of childhood according to Qvortrup (1990), Young (1990),
James, Jenks & Prout (1998) and Cunningham (1995), presents children as innocent,

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vulnerable, passive and dependent on adults. They are perceived as becoming rather than
beings. Lancy (2007:273) warns against a whole sale exportation of a culture-specific child
rearing practice(s) that espouses the views of the upper strata of modern society (West).
Singling out child-mother play, he explains that such a child rearing strategy may be
incongruent with native belief and practice.

Several researchers (Qvortrup 1987; Toren 2002; Ennew, Myers & Plateau 2005; O’Neil
2000 & Lancy 2007) hold the view that the interpretation of childhoods is culturally and
socially variable. Hence, there are different ways of perceiving, understanding, interpreting
and raising children. What it means to be a child or the experience of being a child differs
among or within societies due to variations in social, cultural and economic contexts.
Consequently, the laws both international and local, that condemn certain child rearing
practices including those that castigate children’s participation in work (whatever the
definition of work) and those considered to stigmatise and even criminalise the poor people’s
ways of bringing up children (Cunningham 1991; Nieuwenhuys 1996; Boyden 1990) are
critiqued.

Yet, despite the variations in interpretations of childhoods, there is some consensus in every
society that children at various stages of development have both abilities and limitations. The
limitations subject them to a certain level of vulnerability, hence, the need for some form of
protection. The international and national (Uganda) laws concerning children rights, and
child labour in certain, were developed with the aim of protecting children. However, the
laws in specific circumstances punish those they are meant to protect, affecting their
livelihoods and disregarding their best interests. They also criminalise the actions of parents
or guardians undertaken in the best interests of children.

In this chapter, a discourse analysis of child labour is made with a view to generating the
local interpretation of the concept in light of the international and national laws and policies
and any other manifest practices by government and civil society agencies. The analysis is
informed by the views of local people in the fishing communities and policy makers and
implementers at national level. The views presented illustrate the meanings these social
actors attach to the concept of child labour and how this is translated into subsequent
intervention actions. In the first sections, I discuss the various provisions in the laws

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concerning rights of children in relation to work. Afterwards, I present the local peoples’ and
policy makers’ interpretations.

10.1.1 Children as complete human beings but with limited rights

Both the international and Uganda laws define children as complete human beings with full
rights. Children nonetheless do not really have full rights like adults in many respects. The
rights ascribed to all human beings including children are contained in the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the
Child (UNCRC) and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC).
These rights include social, cultural and economic rights, or civil and political rights. For
example, the UDHR by the United Nations in 1948 provides in Article 21 and 23:

Article 21
(1) Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or
through freely chosen representatives. (2) Everyone has the right of equal access to
public service in his country. (3) The will of the people shall be the basis of the
authority of government; this will, shall be expressed in periodic and genuine
elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret
vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.

Article 23
(1) Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and
favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment. (2) Everyone,
without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work. (4) Everyone
has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.

Children’s rights in the two articles above as will be discussed are restricted.
Notwithstanding, the UNCRC and the ACRWC also guarantee the rights of children
concerning provisions for basic needs, protection and participation. The right to be protected
from work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child's education, or to be
harmful to the child's health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development (see
UNCRC Article 32 (1) and ACRWC Article 15 (1)). Protection from hazardous work
including its worst forms is further well articulated by the ILO Convention (No. 182), 1999.
The Worst Forms of Child Labour (WFCL) include Child Pornography and Prostitution;
Child Slavery, Bonded Labour and involving children in Armed Conflict; Child Trafficking;
and any other work that is likely to be hazardous to the child.

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While the rights to provision, protection from harm and exploitation, and participation come
out strongly, children’s rights in the political and economic aspects are restricted making
them less equal to adults. For example, children’s political rights are restricted. In Uganda as
is the case in many countries, children below 18 years are not allowed to take part in elections
through voting. This is reflected in the Constitution of Republic of Uganda Article 59 (1-2).
Their rights to join trade unions are restricted in Uganda’s Labour Unions Act (No. 7) 2007.

Children are also not allowed to found families like adults. This is reflected in the UDHR
article 16. The Uganda Constitution Article 31 only allows a man and woman to found a
family only after attaining 18 years.

Article 16—UDHR
(1) Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or
religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal
rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution (Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, Article 16 (1).

Article 31—Constitution of Republic of Uganda 1995

A man and woman are only entitled to marry only if they are each of the age of 18
years and above and are entitled at that age; (a) to found a family; (b) to equal rights
at and in marriage, during marriage, and at its dissolution

Owing to vulnerability linked to age, children’s rights to work are limited by the ILO
Minimum Age Convention (No. 38) 1973. The minimum age for admission into employment
is set at 14 years for developing countries and 15 years for the developed economies. The
limitation on children’s rights to work according to age is also contained in the UNCRC 32
(2-a). The ACRWC however does not provide for the age limitation, but instead provides for
determination of minimum wages for all workers without excluding children. It also calls for
regulation of working hours and other conditions of employment (ACRWC 15 (2) a, b).

Article 15 [ACRWC 1999]

2. States Parties to the present Charter take all appropriate legislative and
administrative measures to ensure the full implementation of this Article which covers
both the formal and informal sectors of employment and having regard to the relevant
provisions of the International Labour Organization's instruments relating to children,
States Parties shall in particular: (a) provide through legislation, minimum wages for
admission to every employment; (b) provide for appropriate regulation of hours and
conditions of employment; (c) provide for appropriate penalties or other sanctions to
ensure the effective enforcement of this Article; ...

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Unlike the UDHR and UNCRC that place responsibilities only on adults (provision,
protection etc), the ACRWC allocates responsibilities not only to adults, but also to children:

Article 31: Responsibility of the Child

(a) to work for the cohesion of the family, to respect his parents, superiors and elders
at all times and to assist them in case of need; (b) to serve his national community by
placing his physical and intellectual abilities at its service;

Clause b of this Article appears to suggest that children may be obliged to work in the quest
to serve their national community.

Generally however, the international provisions do not treat children the same way like adults
particularly when it comes to economic and political rights.

10.1.2 Reasons for limiting children’s economic and other rights

The major reason for limiting children’s rights is linked to their mental and physical
inadequacies, which is both a biological fact and a social construction of childhoods across
cultures. Their perceived inadequacies or incapacities (see Wyness, Harrison & Buchanan
2004) suggest that children are in a state of becoming rather than (fully grown up) beings.
Their state of becoming implies that they are maturing, reaching a particular end state as per
the Piaget’s model of cognitive development (see Piaget 1955, Piaget & Inhelder 1962).
While it shows their developing abilities, it also implies that they have limitations that subject
them to vulnerabilities and hence, need protection. In relation to work, they need protection
from work that affects their development spanning social, physical, spiritual and moral
aspects. Accidents and diseases, extreme heat and cold, exhaustion and deaths, psychological
trauma, and exploitation are some of the effects of harmful work. However, their growing
capacities need nurturing so that they can grow and develop fully and enjoy their full rights.
For this reason, the laws require them to spend more time at school rather than at work.

The antipathy towards any measures that limit children’s rights in relation to work is based
on the argument that the measures (laws or policies) seek to serve the interests of adults. By
keeping children away from the labour market, it limits children’s competition for
employment with adults. The importance of work in contributing to children’s development
is not taken into account.

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10.2 Child labour in light of international and national laws

The Uganda government generally appreciates the provisions within international instruments
concerning child labour or children’s rights. As a result, the Uganda government has ratified
many of instruments as indicated in the table below:

Table 10.2: Selected conventions ratified by Uganda to protect children’s rights

ILO Convention No. 29 on Forced Labour, 1932 (Ratified 04/06/63)
ILO Convention No. 5 on Minimum Age (Industry), 1919 (Ratified 04/06/63)
ILO Convention No. 59 on Minimum Age (Industry) Revised, 1937 (Denounced on 25/03/2003)—working on
ratification
ILO Convention No. 105 on the Abolition of Forced Labour, 1957 (Ratified on 04 /06/63)
ILO Convention No. 123 on Minimum Age (Underground Work), 1965 (Ratified on 23/06/67)
ILO Convention No. 138 on Minimum Age of Employment, 1973 (Ratified on 25/03/2003)
ILO Convention No. 182 on the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour 1999 (Ratified I9/10/2000)
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989 (Ratified 17/08/1990)
UN Optional Protocol to the CRC (CRC-OP-AC) on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict (Ratified
6/05/2002)
UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, 1979 (Ratified on 22 July
1985)
UN Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 1966 (Ratified on 21 June 1995)
UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966 (Ratified on 21 June 1995)
UN Convention on the Political Rights of Women, 1953 (Ratified on 10/12/1974)
African [Banjul] Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, 1981, (Ratified on 10/05/1986)

Many of the provisions of international conventions have been domesticated through the
enactment of local legislation which includes the Uganda Constitution of 1995, the Children
Act (Cap 59) 2000; the Penal Code Act (cap 120) 2007; the Magistrates Courts Act 2007 and
Police Act (cap 303) 2000, among others. The Uganda Constitution which is the supreme law
provides for protection of all the rights of children, among which is their right to be protected
from harmful work:

Uganda Constitution [as amended by] 2006

Article 34 (4) Children are entitled to be protected from social or economic
exploitation and shall not be employed in or required to perform work that is likely to
be hazardous or to interfere with their education or to be harmful to their health or
physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development

(5) For the purposes of clause (4) of this article, children shall be persons under the
age of 16 years.

Article 25 protects all persons including children from slavery, servitude, and forced
labour. (1) No person shall be held in slavery or servitude. (2) No person shall be
required to perform forced labour (except if required as a consequence of a sentence
or order of court, for requirements of hygiene where a person is detained, cases of

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 emergency or communal service). This nonetheless would exclude the very young
children below 14 years.

The provisions of the constitution are further elaborated by the most comprehensive
children’s law ever put in place—the Children Act, Cap 59 of 2000 (amended 1997), section
8; and the Employment Act of 2006, section 32:

Children Act cap 59 2000

Section 8: No child shall be employed or engaged in any activity that may be harmful
to his or her health, education or mental, physical or moral development.

Employment Act No. 6 2006

Section 32: (1) A child under the age of 12 years shall not be employed in any
business, undertaking or work place. (2) Any child under the age of 14 years shall not
be employed in any business, undertaking or work place, except for light work carried
out under supervision of an adult aged over 18 years, and which does not affect the
child’s education. ... (4) A child shall not be employed in any employment or work
which is injurious to his or her health, dangerous or hazardous or otherwise
unsuitable... (5) A child shall not be employed between the hours 7 p.m. and 7 a.m.

There are more similarities than differences between the provisions in international and
national laws. Local laws, like international laws, interpret child labour as work which is
harmful to the physical, social and moral development of children, one that interferes with
education, and one whereby children are exploited.

The age for admission into paid work is 14 years under the Uganda Employment Act. This is
in conformity with Article 7 (1-4) of the International Labour Office (ILO) Minimum Age
Convention for admission to employment (No. 138) 1973. Employment of children aged 12-
14 in light work is allowed in both the Minimum Age Convention and Uganda’s Employment
Act. In Uganda, light work can also be performed by children under 12 years at home and
this is defined as child work and is not meant for pay, but for training. Light work is defined
by the Employment Act as that which is not “physically, mentally, and socially injurious to
the child.” An additional indicator of light work is the number of hours a child spends
working (See ILO/International Programme on Elimination of Child Labour [IPEC] 2002:32,
ILO 2006:4). The hours must not exceed two per day (Max 14 per week) for children aged
12-14 and must not exceed 42 for children aged 15-17 years. In Uganda, the hour limits are
only specified for adults in the Employment Act, Section 53 (1-8), that is 48 hours or 56
hours under certain conditions. However, the hour limits (a maximum of two and six hours

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for children aged 12-14 and 15-17 respectively) have been used in the measurement of child
labour in several studies undertaken by the government in collaboration with international
agencies.

10.3 Gaps in relation to legal provisions on child labour

Within both international and national laws, focus on child labour is largely placed on formal
and contractual employment or at least, work where there is an employment relationship
between the child and the employer. Many working children have an employment situation
that shifts between self employment, casual or regular employee (see ILO & MoGLSD
2004:57; Walakira et al. 2005; Walakira et al. 2008). When a child is self employed, it means
that she/he is the employee and employer. Self employment is rarely considered by the
national laws, except if it fits categories defined as intolerable work such as sex work and
drug trafficking. In such cases, children are simply apprehended.

Law makers and policy makers appear to have realised that most of the working children
have an employment situation shifting between self employment and being employed on a
short term basis (casual employment). They also seem to have realised that majority of the
working children are toiling simply to meet their basic needs owing to lack of provision from
parents and the state. Consequently, there are no prescribed penalties in the Penal Code Act
(Cap 120) amended 2007, regarding child labour.

The positive aspects of work are not recognised except if children work under adult
supervision within a home, which is mainly domestic work. Work however, contributes
enormously to children’s survival and development. As the findings in chapters 5-7 of this
study reveal, parents and children appreciate the contribution of work to skills acquisition and
survival. This appreciation however, counts little when priority is put only on formal
education through the conventional school system, as the source of authentic training and
learning. Evidence nonetheless shows that the existing formal system right from primary to
advanced level, is riddled with weaknesses more so in the area of practical training (see
chapter 9).

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The case of children attending school instead of working is defended with sound reasons, for
example, that the school is safer and the fact that work is usually incompatible with
schooling. Notwithstanding, it is relevant to explore the circumstances where working
children successfully support their education and also to examine situations when they can
become more productive compared to their counterparts who acquire education, but cannot
sustain themselves in the absence of formal employment.

10.4 Child labour in light of national policies and programmes

Uganda does not yet have an employment policy. What is in place is a draft developed in
2003 and revised in 2006. The key policy guide is therefore, the Child Labour policy
formally adopted in 2006. The policy’s definition of child labour is similar to the one
contained in relevant international instruments:

It is work that is mentally, physically, socially and morally dangerous and harmful to
children; and also interferes with children’s school attendance. It is also [any]
hazardous work, which by its nature or the circumstances under which it is performed;
jeopardizes the health, safety and morals of a child.

Activities singled out as constituting child labour besides the known unconditional worst
forms include fishing, domestic service, work in commercial agriculture, construction and
working in quarries or stone crashing.

While the policy makes a strong case for dealing with work that is harmful to children, its
translation into practice faces difficulties owing to contradictions in isolating situations of
child labour that do not necessarily involve the known unconditional worst forms of child
labour. This contradiction emanates from the definitions whose boundaries are contestable
(Ansell 2005; Ennew et al. 2005) and the subsequent measurement of child labour using these
definitions.

10.5 The challenge of distinguishing between working children and child labourers

The guidelines for measurement of child labour as developed by the responsible international
agencies, for example, the Manual on Child Labour Rapid Assessment Methodology (See
ILO/UNICEF 2005) make a distinction between working children and child labourers. The

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distinction has indeed served the purpose of generating estimates of working children and
child labourers. Notwithstanding, in several cases it has yielded results which can be
contested.

Working children: These undertake work for pay or engage in work defined as
economically productive. The work yields goods or products with market value. In a home
situation, activities defined as economically productive could involve working in a family
business such as a carpentry workshop. The non-working children are those who undertake
what is defined as “non productive” work, which is domestic work. This work includes
fetching water, house cleaning, taking care of children, nursing the sick, cooking, washing
clothes, kitchen utensils, going to the market to buy things, among others. If the non
productive work is performed for pay, then it is considered productive work. Critics have
argued that this work is discounted because it is mainly performed by women and children
(Ansell 2005).

Child labourers: If children aged 14 years and below (5-14 years) undertake any of the
above work, both productive and unproductive in excess of two hours per day (above 14
hours a week) they are categorised as child labourers. By implication, child labour at that
level has incorporated what is defined as “work” on one hand, and what is not defined as
“work” on the other.

Similar activities in a home situation (whether productive or not) can also be designated as
light work or child labour in different circumstances depending on whether the child was
injured or not, went to school or not, was paid or not. The outcome is a general picture
(bringing together all household data) that shows that in at least every activity at home and
outside home, there is child labour, or at least in every situation of work, there is child labour.
This slowly but progressively leads to the inevitable but unintended: The generalisation
that ‘all the work children do’ involves child labour.

In the eyes of ordinary local people however, given the conditions of raising children, such
categorisation is seen as a misjudgement of children’s work. It is seen as an imposition of a
foreign understanding of child labour (see chapter seven on Child Labour as Foreign Cultural
Hegemony, this volume). Local participants are nevertheless aware that in many work
situations both in and outside of the home, there are activities that can harm children in one

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way or the other. However, in their opinion, this should not necessarily imply that the work is
intentionally meant to harm children. On the contrary, in several cases, it is meant for the
good of children.

The child labour policy makes an observation that:

There is a lack of understanding regarding the difference between child work and
exploitative labour. In many settings, child labour is considered “normal” even if it
poses risks to the health and development of the child (ROU 2006, Child Labour
Policy, Sect 2.7, p.6)

This observation illustrates the difference in opinion between those who define child labour
on one hand and those affected by it, including children and parents. One possible
explanation for this normalisation of work, which outsiders define as child labour is related to
the unexamined assumptions underlying the outsiders’ definition of harmful work (see
section on views of policy makers below). To deal with the misunderstanding, the child
labour policy makes a clear distinction between child work or light work, and child labour:

The term light work refers to non-hazardous activities done by children within their
homes under observation and supervision by their families in an environment free of
exploitation. Light work can enable children to learn the roles that they are expected
to take on during adulthood. Household activities if done in moderation and in
consideration of the capacity and age of the child are acceptable as a process of
learning and exercising responsibility within the household, to the extent that such
activities do not constitute a threat to the well-being of children or prevent attendance
in educational programs (Section 1.1.4, Child Labour Policy, p.3.).

To avoid controversy, government interventions implemented through Civil Society

Organisations (CSOs) with support from ILO/IPEC have largely targeted the known worst
forms or hazardous activities focussing on prevention from entry by children in certain
activities, withdrawal and rehabilitation and sending children back to school. This has been
the hall mark of direct action interventions. Activities targeted have included commercial sex
work and withdrawal from illicit activities. Other activities defined as hazardous work
include domestic service and work in the urban informal sector work (See ILO/IPEC 2005,
2004). Focus on the known worst forms has received support from children and parents. For
other activities including work in the informal sector, there is some degree of suspicion
regarding the intentions of actors.

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Despite the carefully planned interventions and the clarifications between child labour and
child work or light work, there are some interventions supported or allowed by government
and implemented by CSOs that tend to generate controversy or at least show a tendency
towards generalisation of all children’s work as a form of child labour. The interventions are
designed on the basis of evidence, but as noted earlier, the results seem to be challenged by
people’s reactions. Some of the programmes introduced, for example, have aimed at
eliminating child labour in commercial agriculture including coffee, rice, sugarcane growing,
and domestic work. In the case of large commercial plantation farms, children get exposed to
agricultural chemicals. They are at times overworked and paid little. Generally the conditions
may not be favourable for children. However, for many small holder commercial growers
(household producers), they are suspicious of the tendency to categorise their involvement of
children in work as part of child labour. They reason that children take part in work as a part
of traditional household responsibility, to raise school fees, and also to sustain the families.
Yet, they are also aware of certain situations where parents or guardians may abuse and
exploit children through this kind of work. Their problem is to generalise the abuse across all
work within households.

In general, when children are seen working, irrespective of their unique circumstances, both
the exploited and the non exploited are categorised as child labourers by outsiders. The work
is interpreted as a hindrance to education, even when it is meant to support it. Hence, some
parents in some intervention areas complained about the intention to stop their children from
helping on the families’ small coffee farms (FUE Evaluation Report 2008). This was an
expression of discomfort in defining the involvement of their children as a form of child
labourer. Similar expressions have been made by parents and children in this study. Informed
opinion in Uganda, Kenya, and Zambia sees child labour in export agriculture, but not in
small scale agriculture (Bhalotra 2003).

10.6 Interpretation of child labour by policy makers and implementers

Some officials in government agencies such as the Ministry of Gender Labour and Social
Development (MoGLSD) and CSOs show a profound depth of understanding of child labour
synonymous with international child labour conventions as well as existing national laws. To
some extent, they try to moderate the international understanding with their own experiences
or knowledge of local contexts. They identify child labour as involving the unconditional

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worst forms (sex exploitation, child trafficking, bonded labour and participation in armed
conflict etc). They also single out the commonly identified features such as exploitation,
potential to cause injury, and heavy work relative to the age of children. One official pointed
out that child labour involves invisible forms as well:

There is invisible child labour. Many of us go to the villages to get children who in
fact may be our relatives. While other children are going to school, these children are
behind doors working and not going to school. But this problem is not openly seen. If
a girl child is working for a male adult or when there are boys at home, they may
exploit her sexually. In such cases, there are verbal abuses and humiliation and the
child will not access her relative may be until Christmas, Easter or any other
important day. Children have no time for leave or rest and they experience physical
and psychological fatigue (Head of Child Labour Unit, MoGLSD).

These officials are particularly responsible for generating and drafting a number of policies
addressing children issues including child labour. To this effect, they take both the praise for
the good aspects and the blame for any weakness in the policies. For example, the policies
they have developed on child labour present a strong case for protection of children who
suffer exploitation, abuse and injuries among other risks, while doing work in commercial
agriculture, informal sector, and domestic work among others. They have advocated for
awareness-raising and sending back children to school, as well as seeking to prevent the
vulnerable children entering child labour.

Notwithstanding, these social actors advance within the policies the case for children with the
assumption that there is always someone employing them as pointed out earlier. Yet,
evidence shows that many children move between self employment and being employed on a
short term on a daily basis. When children are self employed, the laws and policies are
difficult to apply to them since there is no employer to hold them accountable. The exception
to this is in the pronounced cases of unconditional worst forms such as child prostitution. In
this case, the child is prosecuted according the Penal Code Act Section 139.

Another assumption underlying the views of policy makers and actors as reflected in the
policies is that children do not like the work defined as child labour, are aggrieved about their
work situation, and are always willing to work with social-actors including government and
CSOs, to prevent child labour. On the basis of this and any other assumption, sensitisation
programmes are developed to target children and the employers. Many of these programmes,

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while helping to increase awareness about the official version of child labour; they also
arouse suspicion and sometimes resistance in the communities (see chapter on child labour as
cultural hegemony). Children like most of the work they do, which however, many of us
‘outsiders’ define as hazardous work. They are also not likely to cooperate if there are no
alternatives to work that supports their livelihoods and education.

Hence, with the exception of very attractive interventions for children, which tend to be very
few, many children view the involvement of social actors as a form of interference or an
inconvenience. This is one of the reasons why it was so difficult to get children to discuss
openly issues concerning their work as they viewed me and my research assistants as
government spies. The reason they perceive involvement of social actors as a form of
interference owes much to their economic situation, which could be exacerbated with their
withdrawal from work. For this reason, children who are supported to go back to school
under child labour programmes, often drop out when the funding stops (Sengendo et al.
2004).

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10.7 Comparing the interpretation in policies and laws with views of ordinary persons

Table 10.7: Views of local people [including children] on legal and policy positions that define child labour

Parameter for Policy and legislative provisions & practices Views of ordinary persons and children 14 years and below
defining child (From FGDs and KIIs)
labour
Working hours Maximum 2 hours per day for 12-14 year olds Not practical, fetching water alone can take more than 2 hours
Maximum 6 hours for 15-17 year olds per day Moderation is important but depends on heaviness of activity
Parents know how much and how long children can handle, except the bad ones or employers
Entry into paid For children aged 12-14 years, paid work should be 14 years and above is reasonable for paid work
work only light work Below 14 should only be allowed for children without care takers

For those aged 14+, it is acceptable as long as it is Work for money generally affects children’s interest to attend school; spoils children
non hazardous work
Work that interferes with schooling Yes, but it is the inability to pay school fees that forces children to work than vice versa
Depends, if it is for the survival of the child it becomes inevitable
Depends, if it is a decision of the child
Unacceptable work Parents/employers over working children Yes, it is unacceptable, it is a form of abuse
Work that affects the health, morals and social Unacceptable, in the home, many people care and love their children except in a few cases where parents mistreat
development of children their non biological children through hard work
This is harmful work and can take place where a child works for pay like domestic service, some employers do
not care
Worst forms of Sex work, forced labour, work in armed forces, Yes, these are very bad activities that should be forbidden
child labour trafficking

Fishing and work informal sector Some activities in fishing are positive, tolerable or acceptable while others are very dangerous and intolerable for
the very young children
Commercial agriculture If in plantations it generally problematic, but at home it is okay. It is part of our tradition.
Other bad work Fishing... [In fishing communities] Fishing is bad for young children (below 14); Hooking is viewed as acceptable for older
(Construction, Hawking, Quarry work) children. Work defined as unacceptable includes work in bars, video halls, markets (for young below 14), lifting
heavy loads and people, work in restaurants [if not home business] and sand mining
Acceptable work Domestic work under parental supervision and Yes, domestic work, helping a parent in a shop, carpentry workshop, and any other family business—as long as
performed under moderation work is not given as a form of punishment to the child; done with good intentions

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Continued

Parameter for Policy or legal position Views of ordinary persons and children 14 years and below
defining child (From FGDs and KIIs)
labour
Best place to keep Home -Yes, home is a safer place—except in places like islands [or slums etc] where it is difficult to control the
a child safe movement of children—many criminals, use of vulgar language, defilement of children etc

Yes, school is a safer place; but there can be canning, hunger and redundancy of children when teachers do not
turn up. Also working for teachers.
School
Depends, if work is performed away from home, it is not a good place to keep the child. If at home, it is a source
Work not a good place to keep child of learning—especially if a parent is not ill intentioned.

Work is generally bad for children Work is very important for children training and family survival. If undertaken for pay, for young children of 14
Assumption about years and below, it spoils them.
children’s work Children do not like all the work defined as child children do not like work when they are forced to do it against their will
labour many children actually like the work they are doing even when it exposes risks to them
work for most children is a source of their survival and livelihood for their families
children do some work which they do not like but have no alternatives

Parents are to blame when children are working and Many children are not attending school, because of the high cost of education or the poor quality of education.
not attending school There however some parents, but these are not the majority, who may intentionally make it difficult for children to
attend school and spend their time working
Work and school Work interferes with school performance Yes, work and school are not compatible

Children are out of school because of neglectful Children are out of school largely because of high cost and poor quality of education
parents
Abolition of child All child labour/harmful work should be abolished It is not always the work itself which is bad, but the way it is done; or the way the child is treated. Certain forms
labour of work should be abolished, but in other cases, conditions can be improved for children.

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As can be seen from table 10.7 there are both points of convergence and divergence
regarding the issue of child labour. Children and parents agree generally to policy and
law positions regarding the protection of children from harmful work. They underline the
fact that some parents and employers abuse children and subject them to heavy work or
tasks which are injurious. They like interventions that support children’s education and
agree that the home and school are safer places for bringing up children. They also agree
with the view that work and school are incompatible.

They nonetheless do not agree with the assumption that wherever children are seen to be
working, it is work which has prevented them from school. Instead, they mention that it is
the lack of school requirements which prevents them from attending school. They do not
agree with the view that children are always aggrieved about their work. In most cases,
children like to work and use work to support themselves and the family. They also point
out that certain forms of work help in child development if done with moderation, taking
into account the age and abilities of children. They argue that children below 14 years are
spoiled (acquire problem behaviour, lose interest in school etc) if they start to work for
pay. They reveal that money changes their attitude towards education and that working
away from home is usually bad for young children (see also chapter five on children’s
discourse on child labour). They nonetheless acknowledge that the prevailing
circumstances condition children to work. These include the high numbers of orphans,
children without care, and the difficult economic situations. They emphasise their point
of view that for most of the work children do, it is simply poverty which is the cause and
the one that needs to be addressed.

10.8 Conclusions

This chapter has revealed that involving children in work has cultural and economic
imperatives according to children and parents. However, the laws and policies both at
local and internal levels problematise work. Of critical importance is the confusion in the
policies that on one hand define domestic work as non productive, and on another, as
productive when undertaken for pay. It is discounted in the categorisation of working
children, but included in the measurement of child labour. While the policies view
hazardous work as broad-sectoral activities such as fishing activity, the children and care
givers view both acceptable or tolerable work on one hand, and intolerable work on the
other, even in broad sectoral activities defined as hazardous and condemned by the law.
Parents and children are not comfortable with the generalisation of their work as child
labour such as subsistence farming, although they do not rule out forms of abuse in this
work, particularly in situations that constitute forced work or work as a form of torture.
They however reject generalisation. There are assumptions in the categorisation of
children’s work in the policies, which parents and children find to be half true. For
example, working children are not necessarily working under a certain employer as the
policies seem to suggest, but rather are self employed or keep swinging between
temporary, regular employee and self employed categories.

There appears however, to be points of convergence in the views of parents and those
expressed in the international and national laws and policies. For example, accessing
children to education makes them safer than keeping them at work. Worst forms of child
labour defined by the WFCL Convention are also considered intolerable. Both children
and parents believe that when young children start to earn money, they lose interest in
education. In essence, work and education are incompatible. The designated age 14 that
allows children to undertake paid work is considered fair by parents.

In the final analysis, parents and children feel the laws and policies do not accurately
represent the realities they are facing. They transfer the blame for the phenomenon of
child labour on parents when it is in most of the cases driven by economic and other
factors beyond their own control. Some interventions against child labour appear to
condemn acceptable and gainful ways of raising children.

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 Chapter Eleven

11 Conclusions: Implications of findings to theory

and practice

11.1 Introduction

This study examined the context of child upbringing in the fishing communities, the
nature of selected work activities undertaken by boys and girls, how generally child
labour is constructed by children and adults, children’s views on work and education, and
an interpretation of child labour in light of existing laws and policies. Generally, the
study sought to interrogate the concept of child labour as constructed by children and
other local people so as to better define and generate the local equivalent of this concept.
This should hopefully create avenues for developing a shared understanding on child
labour and other concepts such as children’s rights and childhoods for both theoretical
and practical considerations. This study envisions social space for expression and
consideration of alternative views of children and local peoples wherever possible, who
are directly affected by the public policies and programmes enacted on child labour.

In this chapter, a presentation of conclusions and their implications to theory and practice
is made. The presentation follows the chronological arrangement of chapters comprising
findings.

11.2 The context of child upbringing in fishing communities

This study has established the domineering influence of ecological factors over parenting
factors in shaping working childhoods in the fishing communities. The study shows that
parents in most circumstances have limited or no control over these factors that shape the

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nature of childhoods. The factors include income poverty, neighbourhoods, and the role
of open spaces consisting of activities that present possibilities for modelling positive and
problem behaviour. There is also multiculturalism that emerges from urbanisation and its
associated problem of youth identity groups. Other factors in the environment include
indifferent attitudes towards education and the importance or desire for money by
children.

For theoretical considerations, how work is eventually interpreted is informed by the

social context, including social practices and lived experiences (Richardson 1991;
Hacking 1999; LeCompte & Schensul 1999). The constructed reality about this work
keeps evolving as contexts keep changing with some activities considered acceptable
while others are deemed unacceptable.

Moreover, the predominance of ecological factors in shaping working childhoods over

the role of parenting brings us back to the ecological theory as advanced by
Bronfenbrenner (1979). The complex layers of relationships within a child’s environment
and the factors operating in these circles of care deserve attention. The circles of care
comprise the home (micro context), community (meso), national (exo-system), and
macro (international context. At each level there are forces that draw children into work.
The theory points to the failure in the concentric circles of care which results into
undesirable working childhoods. These factors shape the profiles of children making
them susceptible to different kinds of work including tolerable and intolerable work.

Ultimately, the conditions of poverty in the micro system and failure to address them
within the meso, exo and macro systems, makes working childhoods inevitable. These
findings have practical implications for policy makers seeking to shape desirable
childhoods. The point of entry is not only to focus on the failures or gaps in the
concentric circles of care in the ecology of care, but also to engineer changes that
influence fundamentally, the social and structural elements that shape the living contexts
of the poor peoples and children in the fishing communities.

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11.3 Nature of children’s work and lifestyles

Children’s work in the fishing communities involves a wide variety of activities on and
off the lake. They include work in fishing (before, during and after), restaurant work,
domestic work, transport, trade, entertainment, repair services and carpentry among
others. The profiles of working children in fishing communities are shaped by poverty,
vulnerability, and social exclusion. This finding confirms the view of the social
responsibility perspective (Myers 2001; Ennew et al. 2005) that sees children who in the
context of social and economic development, have been separated from mechanisms of
social protection, participation, and opportunity.

The work that children do varies considerably with respect to conditions where it is
undertaken. Over all, the conditions are generally dirty and involve people of diverse
backgrounds whose behaviour and language use borders on moral and physical abuse of
children. The work that children do is some times light (like washing plates, fetching
water etc) while other work is heavy (such as fishing, working in restaurants, and
carrying goods). Children characterise work as appropriate or inappropriate, acceptable or
unacceptable depending on the age abilities of children, the nature of work, and to some
extent the context in which it is performed. Emphasis nonetheless is put on the first two
parameters—age abilities and the nature of work. Exception to this comprises work in
restaurants, bars, and entertainment. Children view the context in which these activities
are undertaken as compromising their morals and safety. Children’s construction of child
labour therefore bears some similarity with the ILO Convention No 182 on the Worst
Forms of Child Labour with respect to article 3 sections a-d. The convention nonetheless
calls for identification of the hazardous activities by social partners (employers, workers
and government) thereby excluding children.

Notwithstanding, children call for a considerable assessment of their work (excluding the
known WFCL) without necessarily generalising every activity they do as hazardous. For
example, while work in fishing is designated as hazardous, children prefer to examine it
at three levels: i) work before actual fishing, ii) actual fishing and, iii) work after fishing.
Work before and after fishing is viewed as tolerable for children of less than 14 years.

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However, work in actual fishing is viewed as inappropriate for this category of children.
Only children aged 14 years and above are considered ready to undertake work in actual
fishing. Children’s views call for use of a constituent approach in assessing work that
falls outside the intolerables, rather than generalising as hazardous, all work in fishing
(see Walakira 2008). By implication, there is scope for modifying or improving the
contexts within which certain forms of tolerable work are performed without pursuing a
strategy of total withdrawal.

Girls are more vulnerable to abuse in work situations because they are more into wage
rather than self employment. The conditions of work in restaurants and bars make them
objects of sexual abuse and exploitation. Work in bars is viewed by children (school
going children) as intolerable.

Children find happiness and meaning in life using proceeds from work despite the
challenges they experience while working. Both boys and girls allocate time for a variety
of entertainment, sports, body care, buying a variety of wear (which point to culture of
consumerism see Rabello Castro 2006) and also take part in making relationships and
sexual activities. However, their tendency to ignore or normalise the dangers associated
with HIV transmission through unprotected sex makes them a high-risk group for HIV
infection. The dangerous behaviour is further accelerated by the emergent youth sub
cultures (See Shildrick 2006) that specialises in courting risk (Dobson, Brudalen &
Tobiassen 2006; Maurer 2007)—involving sex experimentation, alcohol consumption,
and drug use.

Policy implications from the study findings point towards the need for measures to ensure
children’s safety in both work and non work related activities. Dialogue with children can
lead to measures that pre-empt some dangers and risks children experience while at work.
For example work in actual fishing (excluding hooking—where children do not need to
swim off the lake shoreline) was described by children involved in fishing, to be
acceptable for children aged 14 and above. The findings further point to the need for
measures that can improve the context where work is undertaken particularly for girls

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who face serious abuse. The findings further call for involvement of children in defining
aspects and contexts of work that are considered tolerable and those which are not.

The emerging discourses on child labour

11.4 Children’s discourse on child labour

The children’s discourse constructs child labour in three categories: Vulnerability,

Traditional Responsibility, and Children’s Agency. These categories do not necessarily
explain what child labour is, but why there is child labour. Hence, their construction of
what child labour is and what it isn’t is summed up in their narratives:

Child Labour is that work which is abusive because it overloads children’s

capacities and is performed under the control of adults in an environment that is
not friendly to children. Work undertaken by children (own account employees)
aimed at their survival is not viewed as child labour. Activities such as sex work
are defined as child labour.

Hence child labour is not all work children do, not all harmful work, but that which is
abusive, forced on children, and/or heavier than their capacities.

Reflecting on the children’s discourse, when people define child labour, they do not
differentiate the various activities that children do on the basis of vulnerability to poverty
or abuse at home, the activities they do which are considered to be part of their traditional
responsibility at home, or the activities which they undertake (away from home) which
are a result of their personal choice. When all these activities are lumped together and
given a generic name of child labour with a singular meaning of “harmful work”, it gives
a distorted interpretation of what child labour means and what it comprises. Hence, the
conventional interpretation of child labour with terms such as, “all paid work”, “harmful
work” etc, represents an outsider rather than insider perspective. Therefore, the emic
(popular) view of child labour comes out more prominently in the children’s discourse.

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Notwithstanding, children’s views are not entirely homogenous. For example school
going children may characterise as child labour, certain activities that working children
consider normal. The varying interpretation of certain activities such as fishing, work in
bars for girl children etc, demonstrates the heterogeneity of children, their complexities,
as well as varying contexts in which they grow up.

Turning to the construction of child labour as vulnerability, this in part points to the needs
based perspective on child labour which is essentially a deficit model of the child in
terms of his or her neglect by adults (Wyness, Harrison & Buchanan 2004:89). Yet
beyond vulnerability framed in poverty, abuse is also singled out both in paid and
domestic work. For domestic work, its meaning as traditional responsibility changes
when children detect abuse. Child labour as a product of children’s agency underlines the
sociological theories of structure and agency (Giddens 1984). Children are seen as social
agents who can influence change (in institutions such as family, community etc,
consciously or unconsciously) and/or determine their course of action. However, their
agency (self determination) could serve to stifle actions done in their best interests such
as being forced to attend school instead of working. This can be interpreted as a
generational conflict. Thus Reynolds, Nieuwenhuys & Hanson (2006) have suggested
that concepts of children’s rights in certain cases represent a paradox where the
application of notions of children rights such as their best interests entrenched in the CRC
clashes with priorities that children themselves set (p. 291).

The fact that children’s interpretation of child labour is building into an autonomous
discourse on child labour is a testimony that they can express themselves as argued by the
UNCRC. It is also a confirmation that their growing abilities can be exploited for policy
and programme issues. Here is the potential reflected in their ideas, to contribute to the
identification of indicators of abuse in a work situation from their own perspective.

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11.5 Child labour as a traditional child rearing practice discourse

A traditional approach to human capital development

This discourse on child labour asserts the authority of the traditional, historical, and
intergenerational approach to child upbringing which comprises training for social and
economic reproduction. The discourse nonetheless does not rule out abuse in the
traditional child rearing approach. Feintuch (1997) has pointed out the value and
authority attached to tradition:

Tradition is a category that individuals and societies ascribe to expressions,

beliefs and behaviours in the present to add value to the future. Always referring
to the past, this categorising adds weight and momentum to what it names,
symbolically designating something as tradition implies meaning and value (p.
470).

The discourse in essence projects child labour as an outsider’s construction that views all
children’s work in a home context as abusive work; yet in the local peoples’ opinion, it is
work conditioned by contexts and traditional values and lived experiences. This view is
validated by Kielland & Tovo (2006), Tucker & Young (2005) and Bass (2004) who give
accounts of children’s involvement in work at home as a form of apprenticeship or
socialisation. Peoples’ views on child labour project an essentialist and normative view of
children’s participation in work. The abuse, exploitation, and actions driven by bad
intentions for children are what they characterise as child labour. The discourse singles
out a corrective system in the traditional child upbringing and training approach for
dealing with abusers. The challenge is that this traditional approach is increasingly being
challenged by social and structural changes that limit its effectiveness particularly in
urbanising situations.

The discourses on children’s rights, urbanisation, and formal education etc. have for
example undermined parental collective responsibility in child upbringing, have
challenged traditional conceptions in raising children, and have contributed to the
breakdown of the cultural institutions that used to address the abuse in the training.

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The implication of the discourse to theory is that the values, approaches, and assumptions
in the traditional child raising practices while continue to be valued—are being contested,
challenged, and interrogated in several ways by modernisation discourses and outcomes
of social structural changes. New values and traditions are therefore likely to emerge out
of these processes, while those deemed essential will survive the testing and continue into
the future.

For practical purposes, useful or beneficial indigenous resources including traditional

values and practices need to be incorporated into formal training, particularly those that
address abuse of children through a variety of ways, and those that promote safe and
productive childhoods. Organisations including government departments and
organisations implementing grass roots activities need to explore the indigenous
resources and practices and integrate them into their activities.

11.6 Child labour as cultural hegemony of the West discourse

The discourse out rightly rejects as foreign and hegemonic the concept of child labour
and alludes to the view that those imposing the Western view of childhoods, framed in
the rights discourse, aim to serve their interests at the expense of local people and the
poor peoples of the developing nations. The views in this discourse correlate with those
that suggest that child labour (and the associated concepts of children’s rights in some
respects) fit more favourably within the Western than local contexts (Boyden 1990,
Lancy 2007 & Woodhead 1999).

The discourse highlights methodological issues that involve a mix of observations about
children’s work and judgements about the same (see Ennew et al. 2005) and shows that
the emerging mainstream interpretation is more of a social construct which ideally should
vary with local contexts, yet is universalised. It is presented as a natural phenomenon
with a tangible referent yet it is a social construct.

206
The discourse calls to attention the need to respect local opinion and the need for
dialogue with those for whom the concept of child labour is enacted. Dialogue more
particularly on the local meanings in the local languages is critical. Richardson
(1994:518) notes that “Different languages and different discourses within a given
language divide up the world and give it meaning in ways that are not reducible to one
another.” Hence, it is necessary to re-examine concepts such as child rights, child labour,
childhoods etc, in order to determine what meanings they project in the local languages.
This also goes hand in hand with isolation of activities that people feel are not
appropriate for children at particular ages. The call agrees with the opinion of Chambers
(1997:188) who calls for inclusiveness of local opinions in development practice,
including generation of shared understanding of concepts being applied. Hence, he puts
emphasis on a paradigm in which multiple, local, and individual realities are recognised,
accepted, enhanced and celebrated.

Finally, it is important to underline the view that entirely discarding the mainstream
interpretation of child labour as hegemonic may serve the interests of those who hide
under the pretext of tradition to exploit children.

11.7 Child abuse discourse: Child labour as abusive, violent and forced work

The discourse views child labour as work that is abusive, violent, and involves cruelty,
torture and is too heavy for the capacity of the child. The discourse shows that abusive
work is only a part of the broader abuses that children experience. By implication, these
abuses need to be considered together with abusive work. The selective focus on child
labour makes parents suspicious of the intentions of the abolition campaign.

The discourse presents a child with a certain level of vulnerability to adult abuse
including authoritarian parents whose parenting styles are responsible for children’s
externalising behaviour (see Mckee et al. 2008) and at times child labour. The
characteristics of the child, the environment in which work is undertaken, work itself, and
money are some of the factors that perpetuate abuse against the child.

207
The discourse presents a convergence of opinion on some of the provisions within
international and local instruments on issues like age of entry into paid work (14 years)
(Minimum Age Convention, No 38, 1973) and protection from abuse and exploitation
among others (WFCL Convention No. 182, 1999). The discourse calls for examination
of the work intentions so as to identify work which is intended for abuse and that which
is not. However, there is a complication of defining or determining intentions especially
for work where children are not self employed. Notwithstanding, individuals and
communities in general can generate a considered opinion about kinds of work and
situations where children are being abused. The discourse further encourages the
identification of those factors that increase children’s vulnerability in work situations so
that they can be addressed.

Where parents limit the access to money by children, it may imply that they are
exploiting children’s labour to their benefit. It could also be that it is the best way to
protect children against loosing interest in education in favour of work.

Views on school and work, child labour in relation to public policy …

11.8 Children’s views about school and work

The schools in the fishing communities frustrate the aspirations of children because of the
manifold inadequacies they manifest both in the curriculum and the conditions in the
learning environment. As a result, both parents and children, while showing interest in
education, make conscious choices that favour work at the expense of education. The
absence of teachers, the lack of practical learning, hunger, and the lack of text books
undermine the quality of education and deflate children’s interest in attending school.
Other factors affecting school attendance relate to poor structures and harsh punishment.
Owing to these factors, about 43 percent of children drop out of school due to lack of
interest (MoES 2004). The situation is exacerbated by the high costs of education that

208
ordinarily should not be charged under the UPE programme. These comprise examination
fees, tuition, construction and charges for stationery just to mention but a few. As a
result, 55 percent of the children do not attend school.

Taking the school as a system, the findings reveal that it is more of the factors inside the
school system that discourage school attendance than those factors outside. But work
outside the school also draws children away from school. Children claim that while work
may be inevitable for some due to poverty it is generally incompatible with effective
school attendance. This is validated by researchers (see Allias & Hagemann 2008; Klees,
Hawley, Byabamazima & Kyeyune 2002).

Children’s pre-occupation with practical learning—craving for both traditional skills

(various sports, music dance and drama, catering, making art crafts, carpentry etc) and
modern skills (computer science, fluency in English…)—presents an enormous challenge
to education planners as it requires introduction of new subjects or strengthening of
existing ones, yet the available resources may not permit this. At the same time, it
requires teachers with requisite practical training and skills to teach the subjects. Practical
learning would create an avenue for children to fulfil their aspirations such as seeking
paid or enter self-employment. In the absence of practical learning, children and parents
choose work as the best available option.

In the final analysis, the continuation of children in school requires prioritising and
addressing factors in the school environments that act as barriers to their education. These
include lowering the hidden costs of education, working towards integrating the interests
and aspirations of children in the curriculum, improving the general learning conditions,
and attending to the interests of teachers. Further more, addressing the requirements for
effective practical learning should take into account the integration within the curriculum
both traditional and modern skills. Factors outside of the school environment that distract
children’s attention away from school also deserve attention. The school, local
communities and government need to work together with children in solving these
challenges.

209
11.9 Local people’s interpretation of child labour in light of public policy

There are areas of convergence and divergence in people’s opinions about child labour in
relation to provisions in existing laws and policies. The areas of convergence include the
shared view that the defined WFCL need to be eliminated as provided for under
Convention (No. 182). Children involved in the defined WFCL were however not
involved in this study and therefore their views are not contained in this shared view.
There is also agreement that children should enter paid work after attaining age 14.
Parents agree that work and education are incompatible, they point out that exposure of
young children to money affects their interest in education. Finally, there is general
agreement that certain conditions of work may not be conducive to early childhood
development.

The areas of disagreement include what they see as the assumptions underlying the
introduction of policies and laws: For example policies and laws are made with the
assumption that work is mainly responsible for children’s non school attendance; yet they
see the cost of education and poverty as the major factors. They disagree with the
assumption that children do not like the work that they are doing. Their narratives argue
that many children consciously look for work to meet pressing needs. They castigate the
tendency to overlook the positive aspects of work. They reject the tendency to categorise
all work children do as child labour and cite the failure of law makers to designate
acceptable and unacceptable types of work (excluding WFCL). They reject that work
beyond two hours per day for middle age childhood (6-11) constitutes abusive work.
They point out that law makers appear to appreciate the view that children are working
due to poverty hence there are no penalties in the Uganda Penal Code Act for cases
linked to child labour. While many of these disagreements are not in reaction to what is
written in the policies and laws, considerable disagreement is generated by what officials
say about these policies and laws.

210
The fact that there are some areas of convergence, it suggests that the view of child
labour in international instruments is not wholly or totally hegemonic as normally
assumed. Hence, there is a general agreement regarding the negative effect of certain
contexts or activities on the health and development of children. Nonetheless, children
and other ordinary local people reject the many assumptions which underlie the public
policies. In this they critique the intentions which they claim are not meant to serve the
interests of the poor. This serves to caution the policy makers to be well versed with the
views, contexts, and perceived realities of the poor people. This would pre-empt the
assumption that they are pushing a hegemonic agenda of the West.

For practical implications, there is need for dialogue on written and unwritten policy in
addressing work situations that jeopardise the future of children. The dialogue should
involve the people at the grassroots including children, policy makers, and implementers.
End

211
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Wheeler, L. (1966) ‘Towards a Theory of Behavioural Contagion’, Psychological Review

73: 179-192.

Walakira, E.J. (2008) A Review of Policies And Legislations Relating to Violence Against
Children in Uganda. Addis Ababa: The African Child Policy Forum Addis Ababa.

Yesner, D.R. (1980) ‘Nutrition and Cultural Evolution’, in N. Jerome, R. Kandel and G.
Pelto (eds) Nutritional Anthropology, pp. 85-111. Pleasantville NY: Redgrave Publishing
Company.

Chapter Four

Woodhead, M. (1999) ‘Combating Child Labour: Listen to What Children Say’,

Childhood 6(1): 27-49.

Boyden, J. (1990) ‘Childhood and Policy Makers: A Comparative Perspective on the

Globalisation of Childhood’, in A. James and A. Prout (eds) Constructing and
Reconstructing Childhood: Contemporary Issues in the Sociological Study of Childhood,
2nd Edition, pp. 184-215. London: Routledge-Famer Press.

Nieuwenhuys, O. (1996) ‘The Paradox of Child Labour and Anthropology’, Annual

Review of Anthropology 25: 237-251.

Walakira, E.J. (2002) ‘An Investigation into Commercial Sex Exploitation of Children in
Uganda’, Mawazo Journal 8: 46-55.

221
Ennew, J., W.E. Myers, D.P. Plateau (2005) ‘Defining Child Labour as if Human Rights
Matter’, in [Link] (Ed.) Child Labour and Human Rights: Making Children Matter,
pp. 27-54. London: Lynne Reiner.

Alderson, P. (1995) Listening to Children: Children, Ethics and Social Research. Bar-
nardos: Barkingside, UK.

Edward, M. (1996) ‘New Approaches to Children and Development’, Journal of

International Development 8(6): 813-827.

Kirby, P. and M. Woodhead (2003) ‘Children’s Participation in Society’, in H.

Montgomery and M. Woodhead (eds) Changing Childhoods: Local and Global, pp. 233-
283. London: Wiley/Open University.

Lansdown, G. (2004) ‘Participation and Young Children’, Early Childhood Matters 103:
4-14.

Nippierd, A., S. Gros-Louis and P. Vandenberg (2007) Employers and Child Labour.
Guide 1: Introduction to the Issue of Child Labour. Geneva: International Labour Office.

MOFPED (2004a) Poverty Eradication Action Plan 2004/5-2007/8. Kampala: Ministry

of Finance, Planning and Economic Development.

MOFPED (2004b) Background to the Budget 2004/5. Kampala: Ministry of Finance

Planning and Economic Development, Republic of Uganda.

UBOS (2005) The 2002 Uganda Population and Housing Census Main Report. Entebbe:
Uganda Bureau of Statistics, Republic of Uganda.

MAAIF (2005) Strategy for Reducing the Impact of HIV/AIDS on Fishing Communities.
Entebbe: Department of Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries,
Republic of Uganda.

MAAIF (2003) Guidelines for Beach Management Units in Uganda. Entebbe: Ministry
of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, Department of Fisheries Resources,
Republic of Uganda.

New Vision (2008) ‘Coffee Earns Uganda Sh440b in 2007’ Thursday, 15th May 2008.
[Link]

Uganda Human Rights Commission (2004) 7th Annual Report to Parliament of Uganda.
Kampala: Uganda Human Rights Commission.

World Vision (2007) Karamoja Situation Assessment. Kampala: World Vision Uganda.

222
International Labour Organisation (2007) Rapid Assessment Report in Trafficking of
Children into Worst Forms of Child Labour, Including Child Soldiers in Uganda: A
Study Conducted in The Districts of Busia, Pader, Kalangala, Masaka and Kampala As
Part of IPEC TBP Preparatory Activities. Kampala: International Labour
Organisation/International Programme on Elimination of Child Labour.

MOFPED (2007) Background to the Budget 2007/08: Reorienting Government

Expenditure Towards Prosperity for All. Kampala: Ministry of Finance, Planning and
Economic Development, Republic of Uganda.

Baguma, P. and L. Matagi (1995) An Exploratory Study of Urban Working Children in

Kampala City, Uganda. Kampala: Child Health and Development Centre.

Rubaga Youth Development Association (2000) A Baseline Survey On Children Working

In Hazardous Areas: A Case Study of Owino, Nakasero and New Nakivubo Road
(Kisekka) Markets. Kampala: Rubaga Youth Development Association.

Kyomuhendo, S., R., Ssenabulya, M., Matovu and J. Kiwanuka (2004) Rapid Assessment
on the Nature, Prevalence, and other Dynamics of Child Labour Within The Coffee
Agricultural Sector in Uganda: Employers’ Perspective. Kampala: International Labour
Office and Federation of Uganda Employers.

Platform for Labour Action (2003) Report of the Rapid Assessment of the Situation of
Child Domestic Workers in Tororo District. Kampala. Platform for Labour Action.

ILO-IPEC and MOLGSD (2004a) Report of the Sectoral Study on Child Labour and
Commercial Sex Exploitation of Children In Uganda. Kampala: ILO/IPEC and Ministry
of Gender, Labour and Social Development.

ILO/IPEC (2004b) Report on the Thematic Study on Child Labour and Armed Conflict in
Uganda. Kampala: International Labour Office/International Programme on Elimination
of Child Labour and Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development.

ILO/IPEC (2004c) Report of the Thematic Study on Child Labour and Cross Border
Trade in Uganda. Kampala: International Labour Office—International Programme on
Elimination of Child Labour and Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development.

ILO-IPEC and MOLGSD (2004d) Sectoral Study on Child Labour in the Urban Informal
Sector in Uganda. Kampala: International Labour Office—International Programme on
Elimination of Child Labour and Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development.

ILO-IPEC and MOLGSD (2004e) Thematic Study on Child Labour and HIV/AIDS in
Uganda, Kampala: International Labour Office—International Programme on
Elimination of Child Labour and Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development.

223
Nitiruangjaras, K., B. Predkitti and P. Tantisearanee (1998) Research on Child Labour in
Fishery Industry and Related Industry in Pattanee Province (Thai Version). Pattanee:
Family Planning Association.

Save the Children (2004) So You Want to Involve Children in Research? A Tool Kit
Supporting Children’s Meaningful and Ethical Participation in Research Relating to
Violence. Stockholm: Partner Print.

Walakira, E.J, P. Bukuluki And J. Sengendo (2006) ‘The Untapped Knowledge in

Condom Promotion: A Case of Young People in Uganda’, in A.M. Pertet (ed.)
Rethinking Research and Intervention Approaches that Aim at Preventing HIV Infection
Among Youth, pp 73-80. Nairobi: The Regal Press Kenya Ltd and Social Science and
Medicine Africa Network (SOMA-Net).

Sengendo J., E.J Walakira and P. Bukuluki (2006) ‘Participatory Action Methodologies
and Community Dialogue as Tools for HIV and AIDS Prevention’, in A.M. Pertet (ed.)
Rethinking Research and Intervention Approaches that Aim at Preventing HIV Infection
Among Youth, pp 17-21. Nairobi: The Regal Press Kenya Ltd and Social Science and
Medicine Africa Network (SOMA-Net).

Chapter Five

Boyden, J., B. Ling and W. Myers (1998) What Works for Working Children. Sweden:
Save the Children Sweden and UNICEF (International Children Development Center).

Cutler, D. (2001) Taking the Initiative: Promoting Young People’s Involvement in Public
Decision Making in the UK. London: Children and Young People’s Initiative.

Claver, F. (2001) ‘Institutions, Agency and Limitations of Participatory Approaches to

Development’, in B. Cooke and U. Kothari (eds) Participation: The New Tyranny?, pp.
36-55. London and New York: Zed Books.

Kirby, P. (1999) Involving Young Researchers: How to Enable Young People to Design
and Conduct Research. London: Joseph Rowntree Foundation and Save the Children UK.

Worrall, S. (2000) Young People as Researchers: A Learning Resource Pack. London:

Joseph Rowntree Foundation and Save the Children.

Alderson, P. (1995) Listening to Children: Children, Ethics and Social Research. Bar-
nardos: Barkingside, UK.

Save the Children (2004) So You Want to Involve Children in Research? A Tool Kit
Supporting Children’s Meaningful and Ethical Participation in Research Relating to
Violence. Stockholm: Partner Print.

224
Lancy D. F. (2007) ‘Accountability for Variability in Mother-Child Play’, American
Anthropologist 109(2): 273-284.

Bluebond-Langner, M. and J.E. Korbin (2007) ‘Challenges and Opportunities in the

Anthropology of Childhoods: An Introduction to Children, Childhoods, a Childhood
Studies’, American Anthropologist 102(2): 241-246.

Toren, C. (2002) ‘Childhood’, in A. Barnard and J. Spencer (eds), Encyclopaedia of

Social and Cultural Anthropology, pp. 92-94. London/New York: Routledge/Francis and
Taylor Group.

Edward, M. (1996) ‘New Approaches to Children and Development’, Journal of

International Development 8(6): 813-827.

Kirby, P. & M. Woodhead (2003) ‘Children’s Participation in Society’, in Montgomery,

H., and M. Woodhead (eds) Changing Childhoods: Local and Global, pp. 233-283.
London: Wiley/Open University.

Lansdown G. (2004) ‘Participation and Young Children’, Early Childhood Matters 103:
4-14.

Ansell, N. (2005) Children Youth and Development, London/New York: Routledge

Perspectives on Development.

Boyden, J. (1990) ‘Childhood and Policy Makers: A Comparative Perspective on The

Globalisation of Childhood’, in A. James, and A. Prout (eds), Constructing and
Reconstructing Childhood: Contemporary Issues in the Sociological Study of Childhood,
2nd edn, pp. 184-215. London: Routledge-Famer Press.

UNDP (2002) Uganda Human Development Report. The Challenge of HIV/AIDS:

Maintaining the Momentum of Success. Kampala: United Nations Development
Programme.

Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979) The Ecology of Human Development: Experiments By Nature

And Design. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

UBOS (2005) The 2002 Uganda Population and Housing Census Main Report. Entebbe:
Uganda Bureau of Statistics, Republic of Uganda.

ILO (2007) Rapid Assessment Report in Trafficking of Children into Worst Forms of
Child Labour, Including Child Soldiers in Uganda. A Study Conducted in The Districts
Of Busia, Pader, Kalangala, Masaka and Kampala as Part of IPEC TBP Preparatory
Activities. Kampala: International Labour Organisation/International Programme for
Elimination of Child Labour.

225
Save The Children in Uganda (2007) United Nations Study on Violence Against Children
in Uganda—Consolidated Report. Kampala: Save the Children in Uganda, UNICEF and
Republic of Uganda.

ACPF (2006) Violence Against Girls in Africa: A Retrospective Survey in Ethiopia,

Kenya And Uganda. Addis Ababa: African Child Policy Forum.

Uganda Human Rights Commission (2004) Fourth Report to Parliament. Kampala:

Uganda Human Rights Commission.

UPFC (2007) UPFC All-Party Parliamentary Mission to Northern Uganda Report:

Assessing the Situation of Children in Northern Uganda. What Has Changed? Putting
Issues on the Agenda of Parliament. Kampala: Uganda Parliamentary Forum for Children
and Save the Children in Uganda/Save the Children Uganda.

Walakira, E.J., A. Okwany and E. A. Ochen (2008) A Situation Analysis of the Care
Environment for Young Children in Uganda. The Hague/Kampala: Bernard Van Leer
Foundation/Health Child.

Chapter Six
Abebe T. and A. Aase (2007) ‘Children, AIDS and the Politics of Orphan Care in
Ethiopia: The Extended Family Revisited’, Social Science and Medicine 64: 2058–2069.

Ansell, N. (2005) Children Youth and Development. London/New York: Routledge.

Bass, L.E (2004) Child Labour in Sub-Saharan Africa. Boulder/London: Lynne Rienner
Publishers.

Boyden, J. (1990) ‘Childhood and Policy Makers: A Comparative Perspective on the

Globalisation of Childhood’, in A. James and A. Prout (eds) Constructing and
Reconstructing Childhood: Contemporary Issues in the Sociological Study of Childhood,
(2nd edn), pp. 184-215. London: Routledge-Famer Press.

Edward, M. (1996) ‘New Approaches to Children and Development’, Journal of

International Development 8(6): 813-827.

Fluitman, F. (ed.) (1989) Training for Work in the Informal Sector. Geneva: International
Labour Office.

Haan C, H and N. Serriere (2002) Training for Work in the Informal Sector: Fresh
Evidence from West and Central Africa. Turin: International Labour Office/International
Training Center.

Haan, C.H. (ed.) (1994) Community-Based Training for Employment and Income
Generation: A Guide for Decision Makers. Geneva: International Labour Office.

226
ILO (2006) The End of Child Labour: Within Reach. Geneva: International Labour
Office. Report of the Director-General. Global Report under the Follow-up to the ILO
Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work International Labour
Conference 95th Session 2006. Geneva: International Labour Office.

ILO (2002) Every Child Counts: New Global Estimates on Child Labour. Geneva:
International Labour Office.

ILO (2007) Rapid Assessment Report in Trafficking of Children Into Worst Forms of
Child Labour, Including Child Soldiers in Uganda. (A Study Conducted in the Districts of
Busia, Pader, Kalangala, Masaka and Kampala as Part of IPEC TBP Preparatory
Activities). Kampala: International Labour Organisation/International Programme for
Elimination of Child Labour.

Harper, M. (1989) 'Training and Technical Assistance for Micro Enterprises', in J.

Levitsky (ed.) Micro Enterprises in Developing Countries, pp.177-88. London:
Intermediate Technology Publications.

Hellett B.S. and M.E. Lamb (eds) (2005) Hunter-Gatherer Childhoods. Evolutionary,
Developmental and Cultural Perspectives. New York/London: Transaction Publishers.

Herschbach, D. (1989) ‘Training for the Urban Informal Sector: Issues and Approaches’,
in K. King (ed.) Training for Work in the Informal Sector, pp. 3-15. Geneva:
International Labour Office.

Kielland, A. and M. Tovo (2006) Children at Work: Child Labour Practices in Africa.
Boulder and London: Lynne Reinner Publishers.

King, K. (1996) Jua Kali Kenya: Change and Development in an Informal Economy
1970-95. London: James Curry.

MOGLSD (2004) National Strategic Programme Plan of Interventions for Orphans and
other Vulnerable Children. Fiscal Year 2005/6 –2009/10. Kampala: Ministry of Gender,
Labour and Social Development.

Moser, O.N. C., A.J. Herbert and R.E. Makonnen (1993) ‘Urban Poverty in the Context
of Structural Adjustment. Recent Evidence and Policy Responses’, TWU DP Discussion
Paper 4. The World Bank.

Nieuwenhuys, O. (1994) Children’s Life Worlds, Gender, Welfare and Labour in the
Developing World. London: Routledge.

Nieuwenhuys, O. (1995) ‘The Domestic Economy and the Exploitation of Children’s

Work: The Case of Kerara’, International Child Rights 3: 213-25.

227
Nieuwenhuys, O. (2005) ‘The Wealth of Children: Reconsidering the Child Labour
Debate’, in J. Qvortrup (ed.) Studies In Modern Childhood. Society, Agency, Culture, pp.
148-167. Houndmills and New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Nieuwenhuys, O. (2007) ‘Embedding the Global Womb: Global Child Labour and the
New Policy Agenda’, Children’s Geographies 5(1-2): 149-163.

Oloko, B.A. (1991) ‘Children’s Work in Urban Nigeria: A Case Study of Young Lagos
Street Traders’, in W.E. Myers (ed.) Protecting Working Children, pp. 11-23. London:
Zed Books.

Punch, S. (2001) ‘Household Division of Labour: Generation, Gender, Age, Birth Order
and Sibling Composition’, Work, Employment and Society 15(4): 803-23.

Reynolds, P. (1991) Dance Civet Cat: Child Labour in the Zambezi Valley. Ohio: Ohio
University Press.

Robson, E. (1996) ‘Working Girls and Boys: Children’s Contributions to Household

Survival in West Africa’, Geography 81: 403-407.

Robson, E. (2004) ‘Children at Work in Rural Northern Nigeria: Patterns of Age, Space
and Gender’, Journal of Rural Studies 20: 193-210.

Save The Children (2002) The Silent Majority: Child Poverty In Uganda. London: Save
the Children, U.K.

Ssennono, V. (2007) A Report on Child Labour in General Agriculture in Uganda.

Kampala: International Labour Office/International Programme for Elimination of Child
Labour.

Tucker, B. and A. Young (2005) ‘Growing up Mikea: Children’s Time Allocation and
Tuber Foraging in South Western Madagascar’, in B. S. Hellett and M. E. Lamb (eds)
Hunter-Gather Childhoods. Evolutionary, Developmental and Cultural Perspectives, pp.
147-171. New York/London: Transaction Publishers.

UBOS (2001) Child Labour in Uganda: A Report Based on the 2000/2001 Demographic
and Health Survey. Entebbe: Uganda Bureau of Statistics, ILO/IPEC and Ministry of
Gender Labour and Social Development.

UBOS (2003) Uganda Household Survey 2002/2003, Report on the Labour Force
Survey. Entebbe, Uganda Bureau of Statistics, Government of Uganda.

UNESCO (1984) Terminology of Technical and Vocational Education, Revised edition.

Paris: United Nations Education and Social Cultural Organisation.

228
UNESCO and UNEVOC (1997) ‘Under the Sun or the Shade? Jua Kali in African
Countries’, National Policy Definition in Technical and Vocational Education: Beyond
the Formal Sector. A Sub-Regional Seminar for Eastern and Southern African Countries,
Nairobi—Kenya, 15-19 September 1997. Berlin: UNEVOC.

UNICEF (2006) Government of Uganda-UNICEF Country Programme. Kampala:

United Nations Children Fund Country Office.

Walakira, E.J., J. Byamugisha, J. Omona and G. Nakabugo (2005) Child Labour and
Situation of Education for Children in HIV/AIDS Affected Communities in Uganda.
Kampala: World Vision, Academy for International Development and United States
Department of Labour.

Walakira, E.J. and Byamugisha (2008) Child Labour in the Fisheries Sector in Uganda:
A Rapid Assessment. Geneva: International Labour Office and Federation of Uganda
Employers.

Walakira, E.J. (2009) ‘Constructing Child Labour: Perspectives of Traditional Health

Workers (Healers) and their Working Children’, in R. Kutalek and A. Prinz (eds) Essays
in Medical Anthropology. The Austrian Ethnomedical Society after 30 Years, pp. 159-
177. Wien/London: Lit Verlag.

Walakira, E.J (2003) Skills Training Strategies to Combat Worst Forms of Child Labour
in the Urban Informal Sector. Four Country Studies in Anglophone Sub-Saharan Africa:
The Case of Uganda, Geneva: International Labour Office/International Programme on
Elimination of Child Labour.

Walakira, E. J. (2002) ‘An Investigation into Commercial Sex Exploitation of Children in

Uganda’, Mawazo Journal 8: 46-55.

World Bank (1991) Vocational and Technical Education and Training. A World Bank
Policy Paper. Washington D.C: World Bank.

World Bank (1993) Skills for Productivity, Vocational Education and Training in
Developing Countries. New York: Oxford University Press.

World Vision (2007) Karamoja Situation Assessment, Kampala: World Vision Uganda.

Chapter Seven
Denzin, N.K. (1986) ‘A Post Modern Theory’, Sociological Theory. 4: 194-204.

Denzin, N.K. (1991) Images of Postmodern Society. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Denzin, N.K. (1989) Interpretive Biography. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

229
Clough, P.T. (1992) The End(s) of Ethnography: From Realism to Social Criticism.
Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Richardson, L. (1991) ‘Post Modern Theory: Representational Practices’, Sociological

Theory 9: 173-180.

Geertz, C. (1983) Local Knowledge: Further Essays in Interpretive Anthropology. New

York: Basic Books.

Turner, V. and E.M. Bruner (eds) (1986) The Anthropology of Experience. Champagne-
Urbana: University Of Illinois Press.

Denzin, N.K. (1992) Symbolic Interactionism and Cultural Studies. Cambridge, UK:
Basil Blackwell.

Denzin, N.K. and Y.S. Lincoln (eds) (1994) Handbook of Qualitative Research.
Thousand Oaks/London: Sage.

Denzin, N.K. and Y.S. Lincoln (2003) The Landscape of Qualitative Research: Theories
and Issues, 2nd edn. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Gergen, K.J. (1985) ‘The Social Construction Movement in Modern Psychology’,

American Psychologist 40: 266-275.

Gergen, K.J. & M.M. Gergen (1991) ‘Toward Reflexive Methodologies’, in F. Steier
(ed.) Research and Reflexivity, pp. 76-95. New Bury Park, CA: Sage.

Geertz, C. (1983) Local Knowledge: Further Essays in Interpretive Anthropology. New

York: Basic Books.

Yanow, D. and P. Schwartz-Shea (eds) (2006) Interpretation and Method: Empirical

Research Methods and the Interpretive Turn. Armonk, New York and London: M.E.
Sharpe.

Taylor, C. (1987) ‘Interpretation and the Sciences of Man’, in P. Rabinow and W.M.
Sullivan (eds) Interpretive Social Science: A Second Look, pp. 33-81. Berkeley:
University of California Press (Reprinted From the Review of Metaphysics 1971, 25: 3-
51).

Lecompte, M.D., J. Preissle and [Link] (1993) Ethnography and Qualitative Design in
Educational Research, 2nd edn. New York: Academic Press.

Hammersley, M. (1992) ‘Some Reflections on Ethnography and Validity’, International

Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education 195-203.

230
Chambers, R. (1997) Whose Reality Counts? Putting the First Last. London: IT
Publications.

Canadian Rural Partnerships (2002) Community Dialogue Toolkit. Government of

Canada. [Link] March 15 2003.

Chapter Eight
African Child Policy Forum (2006) Violence Against Girls in Africa: A Retrospective
Survey in Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda. Addis Ababa: African Child Policy Forum.

African Network for Prevention and Protection Against Child Abuse and Neglect (2006)
Analysis of Child Abuse in Uganda. A Report Based on Secondary Information, Kampala:
The African Network for Prevention and Protection Against Child Abuse and Neglect
(ANPPCAN) Uganda Chapter.

Bass L.E. (2004) Child Labour in Africa. London: Lynne Rienner Publishers.

Boyden, J. (1990) ‘Childhood and Policy Makers: A Comparative Perspective on the

Globalisation of Childhood’, in A. James and A. Prout (eds) Constructing and
Reconstructing Childhood: Contemporary Issues in the Sociological Study of Childhood,
2nd edn, pp. 184-215. London: Routledge-Famer Press.

Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979) The Ecology of Human Development: Experiments by Nature

and Design. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Dahlberg, L.L. and E.G. Krug (2002) ‘Violence—A Global Public Health Problem’, in
Krug, E.G., L.L. Dahlberg, J.A. Mercy, A.B. Zwi and R. Lozano (eds) World Report on
Violence and Health, pp. 1-22. Geneva: World Health Organisation.

Dipak, N. (2006), Violence Against Children: The Voices of Ugandan Children and
Adults. Kampala: Raising Voices and Save the Children in Uganda.

Ennew, J., W.E. Myers and D.P. Plateau (2005) ‘Defining Child Labour as if Human
Rights Matter’, in B. Weston (ed.) Child Labour and Human Rights: Making Children
Matter’, pp. 27-54. Boulder and London: Lynne Reiner.

Kielland, A. and M. Tovo (2006) Children at Work. Child Labour Practices in Africa.
Boulder and London: Lynne Reinner Publishers.

Lancy, D.F. (2007) ‘Accountability for Variability in Mother-Child Play’, American

Anthropologist 109 (2): 273-284.

MOGLSD and ILO (2004) Report of the Sectoral Study on Child Labour and
Commercial Sex Exploitation of Children in Uganda. Kampala: International Labour
Office and Ministry of Gender Labour and Social Development.

231
MOGLSD (2004) National Strategic Programme Plan of Interventions for Orphans and
other Vulnerable Children. Fiscal Year 2005/6 –2009/10. Kampala: Ministry of Gender,
Labour and Social Development.

Runyan, D., C. Wattaman, R. Ikeda, F. Hassan and L. Ramiro (2002) ‘Child Abuse and
Neglect by Parents and other Care Givers’, in: E.G Krug, L.L. Dahlberg, J.A. Mercy,
A.B. Zwi and R. Lozano (eds). World Report on Violence and Health, pp 57-81. Geneva:
World Health Organisation.

Straus, M.A. (1979) ‘Measuring Intra-Family Conflict and Violence: The Conflict
Tactics (CT) Scales’, Journal of Marriage and the Family 41: 75–88.

Straus, M.A. and S.L. Hamby (1997) ‘Measuring Physical and Psychological
Maltreatment of Children with the Conflict Tactics Scales’, in G.K. Kantor and J. Jasinsk
(eds) Out of the Darkness: Contemporary Perspectives in Family Violence, pp. 119-135.
London: Sage.

Straus, M.A. (1995) Manual for the Conflict Tactics Scales. Durham, NH: Family
Research Laboratory, University of New Hampshire.

Uganda Human Rights Commission (2004) Fourth Report to Parliament. Kampala:

Uganda Human Rights Commission.

United Nations (2006) World Report on Violence Against Children. Geneva: Switzerland.

Walakira, E.J. (2006) ‘Worst Forms of Child Labour in Uganda: An Investigation into
Commercial Sex Exploitation of the Girl Child’, in F. Ebila and F.K. Muhanguzi (eds)
Women, Culture and Creativity, pp. 98-114. Kampala: Makerere University Printer.

Walakira, E.J. and R. Opio (2006) Child Protection and Empowerment Baseline Report
of a Study in Apac, Bundibudgyo, Kasese and Lira Districts. Kampala: Save the Children
In Uganda.

Woodhead, M. (1999) ‘Combating Child Labour: Listen to What the Children Say’,
Childhood 6(1): 27-49.

World Health Organisation (1996) Violence: A Public Health Priority. Global

Consultation on Violence and Health. Doc. WHO/EHA/[Link].2. Geneva: World
Health Organisation.

World Health Organisation (1999) Report of the Consultation on Child Abuse Prevention.
March 29–31 1999, Document WHO/HSC/PVI/99.1. Geneva: World Health
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Chapter Nine
ACPF (2006) Violence Against Girls in Africa. A Retrospective Survey in Ethiopia,
Kenya and Uganda. Addis Ababa: African Child Policy Forum.

Allias, F.B. and F. Hagemann (2008) Child Labour and Education: Evidence from
SIMPOC Surveys. Geneva: International Labour Office.

Bonnet, G. (2007) What do Recent Evaluations tell us about the State of Teachers in Sub-
Saharan Countries? Background Paper for EFA Global Monitoring Report 2008. Paris:
UNESCO.

Boyden, J. (1990) ‘Childhood and Policy Makers: A Comparative Perspective on the

Globalisation of Childhood’, in A. James and A. Prout (eds) Constructing and
Reconstructing Childhood: Contemporary Issues in the Sociological Study of Childhood,
2nd edn., pp. 184-215. London: Routledge-Famer Press.

De Mause, L. (ed.) (1976) The History of Childhood. London: Souvenir.

Klees, S., J. Hawley, V. Byabamazima and R. Kyeyune (2002) Findings Report: The
Status of Basic Education for Disadvantaged Children in Uganda. Kampala: Ministry of
Education and Sports.

KURET (2007) Children’s Holiday Work in Gulu and Lira Districts. Kampala: Kenya,
Uganda, Rwanda and Ethiopia Together Programme, World Vision, Academy for
Educational Development and International Rescue Committee.

Levine, V. and C. Byaruhanga (2002) Uganda Post Primary Education and Training:
Issues and Options. Final Draft. Kampala: Ministry of Education and Sports.

Mirembe, R. and L. Davies (2001) ‘Is Schooling a Risk? Gender, Power Relations and
School Culture in Uganda’, Gender and Education 13(4): 401-16.

Moes (2004) Uganda Education Statistics Abstract. Kampala: Ministry of Education And
Sports.

Nieuwenhuys, O. (1996) ‘The Paradox of Child Labour and Anthropology’, Annual

Review of Anthropology 25: 237-251.

OCHA (2006) Uganda Northern Uganda Briefing Paper May 2006. Kampala/Gulu:
United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Republic of Uganda (1992) Government White Paper on Implementation of the

Recommendations of the Report of the Education Policy Review Commission Entitled
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233
Save the Children in Uganda (2007) United Nations Study on Violence Against Children
in Uganda. Kampala: Save the Children in Uganda. UNICEF and Republic of Uganda.

Sengendo, J. and E.J. Walakira (2004) Mid-Term Review of ihe Implementation of the
ILO/IPEC Sponsored Project on ‘Elimination of Child Labour in Coffee Sector in Coffee
Growing Areas in Uganda (Mbale District). Kampala: Integrated Rural Development
Initiative (IRDI).

UBOS (2005) 2002 Population and Housing Census Report. Kampala: Uganda Bureau of
Statistics.

UBOS (2006) Uganda National Household Survey. Kampala: Uganda Bureau of

Statistics.

UNCRC (1989) United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Adopted and
Opened for Signature, Ratification and Accession by General Assembly Resolution
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Annexes

Annex 1: Profile of author

Eddy Joshua Walakira,

Mr Walakira is a Lecturer at Makerere University, Faculty of Social Sciences (SWSA
Dept). He holds a Masters in Development Studies (Human resources and
Employment) and a Post Graduate Diploma in Children and Youth—from the
International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) of Erasmus University, Rotterdam,
Netherlands. He completed his Bachelors Degree in Social Work and Social
Administration at Makerere University. He started his academic journey from a rural
setting at Nsambwe Primary School before joining Kasaka Secondary School for his
Ordinary Level studies and Kibuli Senior Secondary School for his Advanced Level
Studies.

Mr Walakira is now a distinguished researcher on issues of children and youth. He has offered advisory
services to several international organisations and local NGOs working with or on issues of children in
countries including Uganda, Rwanda, Ethiopia and Kenya.

A few of his publications are listed below:

 Walakira, E.J. (2009) ‘Constructing child labour: Perspectives of traditional health workers [healers]
and their working children’, in Kutalek, R. & A. Prinz (eds) Essays in Medical Anthropology. The
Austrian Ethnomedical Society after 30 years, pp. 159-177. Wien/Berlin/London: Lit Verlag,
 Reflective learning in action research: A case of micro-interventions for HIV prevention among the
youth in Kakira-Kabembe, Jinja-Uganda (Forthcoming online in August 2009, in print, March 2010 in
Journal of Action Research, Sage publications)
 Walakira Eddy, J & Jimrex Byamugisha (2008)
Child Labour in the fishing sector in Uganda: A rapid assessment, Geneva: International Labour
Office.
 Bukuluki, Paul & Eddy J. Walakira (2008)
‘Questioning the link between poverty and vulnerability to HIV infection: Views of young people in
Jinja Dsitrict’, in Awortwi, Nicolas. & Charles Kanyesigye (eds) Aspects of social development in
Uganda, pp. 53-75. Maastricht: Shaker Publishing BV
 Walakira, Eddy Joshua, ‘Child labour in Uganda’, (forthcoming) in Child Labor World Atlas: A
Reference Encyclopedia. Hugh D. Hindman (ed), New York: Me Sharpe, Inc
 Walakira, Eddy Joshua, ‘Children’s work among traditional healers in Africa’, (forthcoming) in Child
Labor World Atlas: A Reference Encyclopedia. Hugh D. Hindman (ed), New York: Me Sharpe, Inc
 Walakira, Eddy Joshua, 2006, ‘Worst forms of child labour in Uganda: An investigation into
Commercial Sex Exploitation of the Girl Child’ in F. Ebila and F.K. Muhanguzi (eds) Women, Culture
and Creativity, pp. 98-114. Kampala: Makerere University printer
 Walakira Eddy Joshua, 2004, ‘Child labour in Uganda’s urban informal sector: The perceptions and
work practices of employers’, Abuja Journal of Sociology, 2 (1): 67-80
 Walakira, Eddy Joshua, 2002, ‘An investigation into Commercial Sex Exploitation of Children in
Uganda’ Mawazo Journal, Vol .8: 46-55
 Walakira, Eddy, Paul Bukuluki, and James Sengendo, 2006, ‘The untapped knowledge in condom
promotion: A case of young people in Uganda’ in Pertet Anne M (ed.), Rethinking research and
intervention approaches that aim at preventing HIV infection among youth, pp 73-80. Nairobi: The
Regal Press Kenya Ltd and Social Science and Medicine Africa Network (SOMA-net)
 Bukuluki, Paul, Rehal Satwinder, Eddy Walakira and Isaac Musaya, 2006, ‘Implications of research
findings for policy development’ in Pertet, Anne M (ed), M, Rethinking research and intervention

242
 approaches that aim at preventing HIV infection among youth, pp 91-102. Nairobi: The Regal Press
Kenya Ltd and Social Science and Medicine Africa Network (SOMA-net)
 Bukuluki, Paul, Eddy Walakira and James Sengendo, 2006, ‘Caught in the fear of pregnancy and HIV:
A dilemma for youth in Jinja, Uganda’, in Pertet Anne M (ed.) Rethinking research and intervention
approaches that aim at preventing HIV infection among youth, pp 65-72. Nairobi: The Regal Press
Kenya Ltd and Social Science and Medicine Africa Network (SOMA-net)
 Sengendo James, Eddy Walakira and Paul Bukuluki, 2006, ‘Participatory action methodologies and
community dialogue as tools for HIV and AIDS prevention’, in Pertet Anne M (ed), Rethinking
research and intervention approaches that aim at preventing HIV infection among youth, pp 17-21.
Nairobi: The Regal Press Kenya Ltd and Social Science and Medicine Africa Network (SOMA-net)
 Sengendo, J., P., Bukuluki and E. J., Walakira, 2002, The cultural approach to HIV/AIDS prevention
and care in Uganda; A case of Kawempe project. Paris: UNESCO, Division of cultural policies,
special series Issue No 15.
 Walakira E.J., J. Byamugisha, J. Omona, G. Nakabugo, 2005, Child Labour and Situation of Education
for Children in HIV/AIDS affected communities in Uganda. Kampala: World Vision, Academy for
International Development and United States Department of Labour
 Walakira, E.J., 2005, ‘Small enterprises in a competitive economic environment in Africa: Do they
have a future?’ in Mukama Ruth and Murindwa-Rutanga, Confronting twenty first century challenges.
Analyses and rededications by national and international scholars, pp.143-157. Kampala: Makerere
University Printer.
 ***author of over 10 research reports on issues of children, youth, child labour, HIV/AIDS, services
for children and youth etc.

243
Annex 2: Statistical picture of child labour in fishing communities

Annexes for Chapter 4

Annex 4.5a: Age distribution of respondents

Age distribution of respondents

Age category Male Female Overall
Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent
5-9 18 8.0 17 25.4 35 12.0
10-11 18 8.0 6 9.0 24 8.2
12-15 103 46.0 31 46.3 134 46.0
16-17 85 37.9 13 19.4 98 33.7
Total children 224 100.0 67 100.0 291 100.0
Head of household
< 18 4 2.8 0 0.0 4 1.8
18 - 25 17 11.8 4 5.1 21 9.5
26 - 35 45 31.3 24 30.8 69 31.1
36 - 45 42 29.2 28 35.9 70 31.5
46 - 55 27 18.8 13 16.7 40 18.0
56 - 65 7 4.9 4 5.1 11 5.0
66 + 2 1.4 5 6.4 7 3.2
Total heads of 144 100.0 78 100.0 222 100.0
households
Source: Walakira & Byamugisha (2008) Table 3.2 pp. 16

Annex 4.5b: Social economic characteristics of the sampled children

Social economic characteristics of the sampled children

Marital status Male Female Total
No % No % No %
Single 217 96.9 65 97.0 282 96.9
Married (Single spouse) 5 2.2 2 3.0 7 2.4
Married (Polygamous) 2 0.9 0 0.0 2 0.7
Total 224 100.0 67 100.0 291 100.0
Highest level of education
None 8 3.6 4 6.0 12 4.1
Lower Primary (P1-P4) 93 41.5 31 46.3 124 42.6
Upper Primary(P5-P7) 95 42.4 26 38.8 121 41.6
O-Level 27 12.1 6 9.0 33 11.3
Others 1 0.4 0 0.0 1 0.3
Total 224 100.0 67 100.0 291 100.0
Orphan hood status
Both parents alive 108 48.2 36 53.7 144 49.5
Only mother alive 58 25.9 19 28.4 77 26.5
Only father alive 20 8.9 7 10.4 27 9.3
None is alive 36 16.1 5 7.5 41 14.1
Don’t know their whereabouts 2 0.9 0 0.0 2 0.7
Total 224 100.0 67 100.0 291 100.0
Place/area where the child resides

244
At the landing site 144 64.3 51 76.1 195 67.0
Near the landing site(<3km) 67 29.9 15 22.4 82 28.2
Far from landing site(>3km) 13 5.8 1 1.5 14 4.8
Total 224 100.0 67 100.0 291 100.0
Source: Walakira & Byamugisha (2008) Table 3.3, pp 17

Annex 4.6: Work done by children on landing sites

Work done by children on landing sites

Activities done by children 5-11 12-14 15-17 Male Female Total
Years Years Years
% % % % % %
Water transportation 7.4 11.1 6.6 10.3 0.0 8.1
Washing/cleaning fish 18.5 28.4 27.7 26.8 23.7 26.1
Washing nets 18.5 14.8 19.7 21.1 6.8 18.0
Sorting fish 14.8 17.3 25.5 26.3 1.7 21.0
Scaling fish 24.1 40.7 35.8 37.6 25.4 34.9
Sand mining 0.0 3.7 0.7 1.9 0.0 1.5
Salt mining 0.0 2.5 2.2 2.3 0.0 1.8
Rowing the boat 1.9 16.0 12.4 13.6 3.4 11.4
Riding motorized boats 1.9 2.5 2.9 3.3 0.0 2.6
Picking fish fats 7.4 9.9 10.9 9.9 10.2 9.9
Mending nets 3.7 4.9 11.7 10.3 0.0 8.1
Making/repairing canoes/boats 0.0 4.9 10.2 8.5 0.0 6.6
Loading/offloading good/fish from boats/ship 1.9 16.0 14.6 16.0 0.0 12.5
Hotel/bar/entertainment services 1.9 9.9 13.9 4.2 32.2 10.3
Hooking/spearing fish 7.4 11.1 8.8 11.7 0.0 9.2
Hawking/vending/selling fish 13.0 11.1 18.2 17.8 5.1 15.1
Fish vending 18.5 17.3 27.7 25.4 13.6 22.8
Fish transportation 5.6 6.2 14.6 12.7 1.7 10.3
Fish smoking/salting/sun drying 20.4 18.5 21.2 22.1 13.6 20.2
Fish bisecting 7.4 13.6 23.4 20.2 6.8 17.3
Fetching water for sale 11.1 2.5 0.0 2.3 5.1 2.9
Collecting firewood 29.6 22.2 16.1 18.3 28.8 20.6
Ferrying fish 5.6 8.6 3.6 7.0 0.0 5.5
Emptying water from the boat while fishing 5.6 22.2 16.1 18.3 6.8 15.8
Construction, maintenance of building 0.0 1.2 1.5 5.6 0.0 1.1
Cleaning boats 9.3 18.5 21.2 21.6 5.1 18.0
Catch/gather sea food (Actual fishing) 13.0 34.6 45.3 44.1 5.1 35.7
Casting nets 5.6 16.0 26.3 23.9 1.7 19.1
Others 20.4 8.6 3.6 5.2 20.3 8.5
Total (No) 54 81 137 213 59 272
Source: Walakira & Byamugisha (2008:22) Table 4.3

245