HODI and SolarAid work together to combat child labour

This update follows on from my last post...

As we drove on, George described some of the work that children can become involved in:

"Children as young as 5 years old start on 'cultivation' - that's preparing seedlings for planting. And 'waiting' - carrying seedlings for transplant into the fields. As they get older, they take on heavier work such as weeding and spraying, usually with no protection".

But children can find themselves in the fields well before their fifth birthday. Further along the track, women were spraying the tobacco plants with pesticides, their babies tied onto their backs, exposing both to dangerous chemicals. "They have no choice, but no one seems to really care" George continued.

HODI's work with SolarAid is part of 'Phase One' of their ECLT programme, which aims to address the effects and impacts of the use of child labour. Making access to education as easy as possible is key. And SolarAid is helping HODI to achieve this by installing solar power systems on a number of schools and training centres in the area. Tara Basic School and Kalonda Basic School are two of the five sites that were identified by HODI and SolarAid in August 2008. Both schools were fitted with solar installations early in November 2008 and teachers and pupils there are starting to understand the benefits that these systems can bring.

At the Tara Basic School, headmistress Fay Mabulo explained how the two classrooms lit by solar power are being used by teachers for lesson preparation as well as being made available to pupils for evening study between seven and eight o'clock. The lights are so popular that the school has now drawn up a timetable for their use to make sure that as many people as possible have access.

Andy Bodycombe

Photos: Andy Bodycombe

TOP: Pupils of Tara Basic School in Zambia work under the light which is powered by solar.

RIGHT: A pupil stands outside Kalonda School in Zambia which, like Tara Basic School, recently had a macro-solar system installsed on the roof.