童工：困在翁多東部和西部地方政府區的男孩和女孩的困境

翁多東部和西部地方政府的 Bolorunduro、Fagbo、Igushin 和 Bagbe 等沉睡社區擁有翁多州最大的可可生產能力。

The cocoa-producing communities of Bolorunduro, Fagbo, Igushin, and Bagbe in Ondo East and West Local Government Areas are facing a major challenge in accessing education due to the prevalence of child labour in the area.

由於該地區童工現象普遍存在，翁多東部和西部地方政府地區的博洛倫杜羅、法格博、伊古申和巴貝等可可生產社群在接受教育方面面臨重大挑戰。

A recent investigation by BusinessDay revealed that children as young as nine years old are engaged in hazardous cocoa farming activities, such as fumigation, cocoa pudding, and packing, often for minimal pay or to assist their parents.

BusinessDay 最近的一項調查顯示，年僅 9 歲的兒童從事危險的可可種植活動，例如燻蒸、可可布丁和包裝，通常只是為了獲得最低工資或幫助父母。

According to National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data, 52.6 percent of children in Ondo West are engaged in hazardous cocoa farming work, while 57.4 percent of those aged 5-14 in Ondo State skip school for cocoa farms.

根據國家統計局(NBS)的數據，翁多西州52.6%的兒童從事危險的可可種植工作，而翁多州5-14歲兒童中57.4%的人因可可農場而逃​​學。

The investigation found that while on the cocoa farms, the boys are saddled with the responsibility of fumigation, while the girls pod the cocoa and pack it out of the farms. They also confirmed that they work as labourers to earn additional money.

調查發現，在可可農場裡，男孩們負責燻蒸，而女孩們則負責將可可豆莢裝運出農場。他們也證實，他們做勞工是為了賺取額外的錢。

“I assist my father on the cocoa farms because if I don’t go with him to the farm, there is no way of feeding the family and paying my school bills,” 13-year-old Elewe Damilola, a student of Igushin Community Grammar School, told BusinessDay.

「我在可可農場幫忙，因為如果我不和他一起去農場，就無法養家糊口，也無法支付我的學費。」13 歲的埃萊韋·達米洛拉(Elewe Damilola) 是伊古申社區的學生文法學校告訴《商業日報》。

“Anytime I helped them fumigate the cocoa, I had a lot of itches on my body and a kind of peppering feeling in my eye.”

“每當我幫他們熏可可時，我的身體就會很癢，眼睛裡有一種刺痛的感覺。”

The Ondo State Child Rights Act, passed into law in 2007, protects the rights and privileges of children aged 0 to 16. The law stipulates that a child has the right to survival and development.

2007年通過的《翁多州兒童權利法》保護0至16歲兒童的權利和特權。

However, the investigation found that the law is being flouted by many cocoa farmers in the area, who engage children in hazardous work to maximise profit.

然而，調查發現該地區許多可可種植者藐視法律，他們讓兒童從事危險工作以實現利潤最大化。

“The roads are bad, the pests are destroying our cocoa, the chemicals we use are expensive, and most of the time after harvest, moving the goods is challenging. That’s why we often engaged children in labour work to maximise profit,” Ariyo Benjamin, a cocoa farmer who rented his farm for a year, told BusinessDay.

「道路狀況不佳，害蟲正在破壞我們的可可，我們使用的化學物質價格昂貴，而且在收穫後的大部分時間裡，運輸貨物都是一項挑戰。這就是為什麼我們經常讓孩子們從事勞動工作，以實現利潤最大化，」租用農場一年的可可種植者阿里約·本傑明 (Ariyo Benjamin) 告訴《商業日報》。

According to Ariyo, labourers are paid N4,000 per day and N350,000 per year, unlike before when it was cheaper and the climate challenges were not as challenging as they are now.

據 Ariyo 稱，工人的工資每天為 4,000 奈拉，每年為 350,000 奈拉，與以前不同，當時的工資更便宜，而且氣候挑戰也不像現在那麼具有挑戰性。

The Alara of Igunshin land, Oba Lawrence Adelaisoye, expressed frustration with climate challenges affecting cocoa production and the huge sums of money charged by labourers, which are pushing farmers to engage children in their farms.

伊貢辛土地的阿拉拉人奧巴·勞倫斯·阿德萊索耶(Oba Lawrence Adelaisoye) 對影響可可生產的氣候挑戰以及向勞工收取的巨額費用表示失望，這些都迫使農民讓兒童參與他們的農場。

“Our farmers are suffering, the road to our farms has been destroyed by flood, and the poor road network has made the charges from labourers very exorbitant,” Oba Adelaisoye said.

奧巴·阿德萊索耶說：“我們的農民正在遭受苦難，通往農場的道路被洪水沖毀，糟糕的路網使得勞工的費用非常高昂。”

“We send our children to school, but we don’t allow them to go to the farm on school days because the ILO Acclawa project and some NGOs were in the community to sensitise the farmers on the danger of child labour, and we have stopped doing that.”

“我們送孩子上學，但我們不允許他們在上學日去農場，因為國際勞工組織 Acclawa 計畫和一些非政府組織在社區中向農民宣傳童工的危險，我們已經停止這樣做。”

In some schools in Ondo West and East, the Scream Club was established with the support of the International Labor Organization (ILO) Aclawa project, which supports children’s education, arts, and the media.

在翁多西部和東部的一些學校，尖叫俱樂部是在國際勞工組織 (ILO) Aclawa 計畫的支持下成立的，該計畫支持兒童教育、藝術和媒體。

In Bolorunduro, Bagbe, and Igushin communities, the teachers in charge of the scream club stated that the club’s establishment had assisted the students in understanding the dangers of child labour and engaging children in hazardous work.

在Bolorunduro、Bagbe和Igushin社區，尖叫俱樂部的負責老師表示，俱樂部的成立幫助學生了解童工的危險，並讓兒童從事危險工作。

“Before the establishment of the streaming club, during the school period, some of them used to be absent following their parents to the farm, but the club had influenced them positively, there are still records of absentees, but it’s reducing day by day,” Adejana Isaac, a teacher at Igushin Community Grammar School, told BusinessDay.

「在直播俱樂部成立之前，在上學期間，他們中的一些人曾經跟隨父母去農場缺席，但俱樂部對他們產生了積極的影響，缺勤的記錄仍然存在，但正在日益減少，伊古申社區文法學校的老師阿德賈娜·艾薩克(Adejana Isaac) 告訴《商業日報》。

“We need the attention of the government in the schools. The heavy rainfall has affected most of the school facilities.”

「我們需要政府對學校的關注。強降雨影響了學校的大部分設施。