Children trapped in vicious cycle of child labor
Rusman, The Jakarta Post, Samarinda
Thirteen-year-old Indra was exhausted after carrying the belongings of boat passengers at a river port in Samarinda, East Kalimantan. The most he can earn from the work is Rp 10,000 (US$1.10) a day, and on bad days he might go home with just Rp 3,000.
Hauling people's belongings to and from the boats every morning has become Indra's routine. He also carries groceries at the nearby market for shoppers after the riverboat schedule ends. The boy is skinny and his clothing ragged, but his arms and hands make it clear that Indra has already become accustomed to hard work at the age of 13.
He has no time to play with his friends. He fills his days with work so he can bring home money to buy food for his mother and a younger sibling.
"It has already been a year since I started working here to help my mother out. I quit school because my mother could not afford the fees. The main thing is that the job is legal," said Indra.
Indra is not the only youngster in the area forced to go out in the world and earn a living. Maria, 14, works in a stall selling drinks on the edge of Samarinda. She wears provocative clothing to lure men to the stall, where she serves drinks from 5 p.m. to midnight. Maria, who says she comes from a small village in East Kalimantan, must attend to the mainly male clients who patronize the stall.
She receives Rp 15,000 a night from the stall owner, plus tips from the customers.
"I can get Rp 25,000 to Rp 50,000 a night from tips, especially if the customer is satisfied with the service I provide," said the girl, who has worked at the stall for six months.
She said she never imagined she would end up working at the stall. At first, she only served customers soft drinks, but gradually she began to attend to male customers who brought alcoholic drinks with them.
Maria said she sometimes accepted invitations from the men to accompany them outside of the stall after her shift ended.
"If I accompany them drinking liquor, I usually get Rp 100,000. I usually go to a discotheque if they ask me out. Generally, I ask them to meet me the next day, when they are already sober, if they ask me for a more 'intimate' date," she said.
Both Indra and Maria just two of the many youngsters involved in child labor, which is widespread in the country. These children do not get to experience the simple joys of childhood. They work while other children play soccer, spend time with their family or just laze about. The lives of child workers are difficult, but they have no other choice if they wish to survive.
The number of child workers in East Kalimantan is alarming. According to the latest data released by the East Kalimantan Statistics Agency in 2001, some 23,283 out of 846,248 children below the age of 15 in the province were involved in child labor. As many as 13,969 children worked in the agricultural sector, 6,658 in the trade and services sector, 1,257 in the industrial sector and the remaining children in informal sectors.
Of 638,498 school-age children in East Kalimantan in 2005, 106,948 are facing financial difficulties that threaten their continued education. This is partly the result of a drop in provincial revenue from Rp 3 trillion to Rp 2.6 trillion.
The drop in revenue will have an impact on the number of child workers in the province. There will also likely be a rise in the number of abandoned children, which in 2003 totaled 22,161.
Kutai Kartanegara, the wealthiest regency in the province with a budget of Rp 3 trillion in 2004, had the most abandoned children in 2003 with 3,956. Then came Berau with 3,596, Bulungan with 3,487 and Samarinda with 3,325 abandoned children.
Even more alarming is the number of children involved in the sex trade. According to data from the East Kalimantan Care for the Children Agency (LPA), there are 690 children involved in the sex trade in the province. Most of these are in Samarinda, Balikpapan and Nunukan regency, which borders east Malaysia.
"Children have been exploited by corrupt officials and child trade syndicates, who use their poverty to lure them into the sex trade. Some were victimized by their relatives or friends, others entered the trade on their own accord. Others became involved because of drug addiction," said Jenny of the LPA.
East Kalimantan Vice Governor Yurnalis Ngayoh said his province was not alone when it came to the problem of exploited and abandoned children. He said his office was making efforts to reduce the number of child workers, as well as the number of children dropping out of school.
He acknowledged that many children had lost their right to play and study, forced to work to help support their families.
"Even more demoralizing is the fact that many parents have exploited their children to help make ends meet, even if it is harmful to the development of their own children," said Yurnalis, adding that the government was serious about dealing with the problem.