Untold stories of hardworking scavenging children

[Naveed Yaseen]

Noor Aftab
Child scavengers, who are believed to be unrecognised labourers, are now often seen searching for waste material to earn livelihood in the late evening hours or early in the morning, as most of them are not able to brave the sweltering heat.

An interaction with a small group of child scavengers at a junkyard in Dhoke Najju area revealed various untold stories of these hardworking ‘creatures’ that are very much part of an unofficial recycling industry in the society.

Having visible symptoms of various skin related diseases these children appeared quite oblivious of childhood recreation, mainly due to their hard and tough working life.

The most ‘junior’ among them was 8-year-old Nagina, who was continuously chatting with her ‘co-workers’ after submitting their waste-stuffed bags to owner of the junkyard. The attempt to talk to her proved futile, as she did not know any language other than Pushto. But her facial expressions were showing that she was a newcomer in this profession.

Twelve-year-old Hamza said he earns Rs100 to Rs150 in a day that he gives to a person who is his guardian after the death of his parents in Afghanistan some five years back.

He said his two brothers are living in Peshawar with their uncle who migrated with his family after the death of his parents in the feudal war in Paktika province of Afghanistan.

The group members said these days they work in the evening as it is near to impossible for them to search waste material under the smouldering sun. They start their search soon after the sunset and swiftly move towards the places like markets and hospitals where they usually find enough waste material. They also visit hotels late at night to collect leftover food for themselves and their families.

An ordinance was introduced in the Punjab province in 2004 that envisaged establishment of child protection bureau and welfare fund for destitute and neglected children. It was also planned to set up child protection courts having an authority to give custody of destitute children to suitable persons, who are able and willing to look after them. But, unfortunately, these laws failed to produce desired results due to absence of proper planning and their effective implementation.

Asiya Arif of Society of the Protection of Rights of the Children (SPARC) told ‘The News’ that scavenging is not a family profession as parents or elders of majority of child scavengers have no history of this profession.

She said, “We must realize the difference between child beggars and child scavengers as the latter earn their livelihood through their hard work, which is generally not properly acknowledged in the society.”

“The basic reason for entering into this profession is extreme poverty coupled with lack of resources, education and knowledge of any skill to start a business or any other profession,” she said.

Asiya said the only rehabilitation of child scavengers could be a compulsory education system with some monitory help of their poor families.

She pointed out that there have been various cases in which these child scavengers are forced into prostitution or to act as drug peddlers.

She demanded of the government to come up with a comprehensive policy to ensure the child scavengers are effectively transformed into efficient members of the society.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=179087