Teenager must work for family

OSLO, Norway (JP): It is 5:30 a.m. When most children her age are getting ready for school, 14-year-old Ida Narsidah leaves for work at a cookie factory in Tangerang, West Java.

She takes the bus and then walks for about 30 minutes to her workplace. Her hours are 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., with a lunch break from 11:30 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Her daily wage is Rp 5,000 a day.

"That's not enough. I need more money to support my family," she said.

She has lived with her grandparents since she was a baby as her parents were too poor to raise her. Her father's work is erratic -- he is a casual laborer -- and her mother farms.

Her grandfather is a becak (pedicab) driver and her grandmother is a housewife.

Narsidah was only 11 years old when she left school and started to work.

"I wanted to make money because I pitied my grandfather. He is too old to be a becak driver. Besides, I decided to leave school because I was embarrassed at being late in paying the school fee," she said.

"So, I told my grandfather, let me work and be the one who makes money. He agreed."

She packages the cookies, handling about 300 packs a day. In her first months at work, she earned Rp 5,000 a week, before receiving a raise to Rp 7,000. Her weekly wage now is Rp 30,000.

Her wage is net, and she does not receive allowances for transportation, meals or other benefits. For lunch, she eats rice with tempeh soybean cakes, which she buys at a foodstall in the factory compound for Rp 500.

Of the 600 people working in the factory, about 100 are children aged 12 to 15 years old, according to Narsidah.

Every weekend, she returns to her parents' home and gives some money to her parents to care for her three siblings. Her earnings are putting the eldest of the children through school.

She does not regret dropping out of school, but hopes one day to continue her studies.

"I want to study after work. But I have to work, because who will feed us if I stop working?"

She said she understood the importance of education "to get diploma", which she believed it was crucial to landing a job.

"I am ashamed I don't even have an elementary school diploma. When I applied for the job in the cookie factory, I used my aunt's diploma.

"If I can continue my study, I can get a diploma and hopefully get a better job."

She realizes her dream job may be outside her grasp.

"I want to be a flight attendant. I would love to fly and serve people," she said. "But how can I be one? I am only a factory worker." (sim)