Coming in from the fields

SolarAid are supporting Zambian NGO "HODI" in their ongoing mission to eliminate the use of child labour in tobacco farming in Zambia.

Halfway between Choma and Kalondo, on the main road between Lusaka and Livingstone, a huge white stone sign declares 'education is a tool in life'. An older sign lays crumbling in its shadow but the bright new marker points to the start of the 4km dirt road towards the 'Tara Basic School'.

I was being driven by George Hamasunga, a programme manager with the Zambian NGO 'HODI', to see two examples of the work they were doing with SolarAid in the southern districts of Choma and Kalondo.

George has been based in Choma with HODI for three years, after working for six years in Lusaka at the Ministry of Finance and, more recently, on EU-funded micro-projects.

George's new home area is also home to a large number of small to medium sized tobacco farms. As we drove towards the Tara school, George explained why HODI were focussing on the region. He manages HODI's work under the 'ECLT' programme: the Elimination of Child Labour in Tobacco farming. The Switzerland-based foundation's members include well-known and infamous names such as Alliance One, British American Tobacco and Universal Leaf. Its simple aim - to combat the use of child labour in tobacco growing.

As we continued along the dirt track, partly flooded from the continuing heavy rains, George pointed out a young boy working in a field near the track, pulling up weeds from between the large leafed tobacco plants. He stopped the car and called over one of the labourers working in the same field. He asked the man if he knew the boy's parents and whether the boy was attending school. Not a lecture, but an example of HODI's well-practiced gentle pressure aimed at raising awareness of the importance of education.

More from me soon,
Andy Bodycombe.

Photos: Andy Bodycombe