Rural children in Zambia have a rather complex lifestyle. It  is  generally  thought that children  should not  have to work to survive. This constitutes what is known as the worst forms of child labour. The little boy in the picture is from Luapula province. I met him briefly a few years ago on a trip to these parts on an unrelated assignment. But I took concern at this boy who was attempting to go into the choppy waters of Lake Mweru on this early morning to catch some fish for his breakfast and lunch. The water was quite dangerous and the little friend to the extreme left in the picture was trying also to dissuade him. We managed to keep him from taking the risk, the dilemna though is that he had to have a meal that day and fishing by dug-out canoe is the way it's done in these parts. This is an example of the complexity of dealing with child rights issues in the context of under-development and poverty. It would be good if such children did not have to work for their food, but unfortunately they will continue doing so until their parents are empowered to look after them by national governments.

One aspect of child labour touching on the rural child is that of how much weight a child should carry. The lack of cheap and available motorised transportation leads to the over-loading of both children and adults when carrying weighty luggage. When one cannnot make too many trips back and forth to move items required for consumption or business then one overloaded trip becomes inevitable. Below is an example of this over burdening of children. This picture was taken in Luapula on the road from Kawambwa villge to Mushota Village. This a very common occurrence and is not a talking point in the village. However, national laws are there to prevent this kind of work for children. Yet again the dilemna of "if not the child, then who (does the work)?" arises. The parents of the childre below are not necessarily cruel, neither do they have an option but to let these children pitch in. It may not even be that anyone asked these children to do this work...as starnge as it may appear theses children could well have offered to do this work.


The point is not for governments to escape responsibility by blaming already weakened "parents", assuming these even exist. Broader socio-economic development and equitable distribution of national resopurces is the key to the protection of children against the worst forms of child labour. Policies and laws are only enforceable if they are logical and practical, if not natural pressures will dictate what society does. It is worth noting in the above picture that both boys and girls are carrying virtually the same weight of  goods. These could be children from four different families, each with its own gender configuration. Hence the general perceptions that assume gender-specific roles in the rural areas need to be informed better. Not every family has a girl-child to abuse, not every family has a boy-child to spoil. Families are unique in composition and will use whatever member of the family to do whatever is required. What should be a common concern is that all children should be protected from all forms of child abuse.