My name is Belaynesh Molla. I live in Amhara National Regional State, South Gondar zone of Estie Woreda at Mekane-Eyesus kebele. I am 17 years old and attending grade 8 at Tejibara Primary School. I am the fifth child of my parents.
My parents are economically very poor to fulfill my educational expenses and they hardly fulfill the basic needs of the family. Being under pressure to overcome such problems, they sent me for daily labour and I became a child labourer at the age of 13. I was frequently absent from school 2 to 3 days a week and engaged in hazardous work in long hours of construction, domestic chores, and agricultural activities throughout the day. I was also dragging horses at a farm place when my father plowed the land. Dragging horses during farming is very tiresome for me. Even sometimes, I didn’t have the chance to wash my legs in the evening after work. Due to the hard labour in farming, I felt depressed and psychologically stressed especially when I observed my peers attend their education regularly. This resulted in low performance in my education.
Luckily, Wabe Children’s Aid and Training (WCAT) provided awareness creation on the negative effects of child labour for the community including my parents through community conversation. In addition, in 2019, WCAT provided 4000 birr as startup capital for my mother to engage in income-generative activities (IGA). Using this money, my parents bought 3 sheep and engaged in sheep-rearing activities. With the additional income from this IGA, my parents could fulfill my educational costs. The project staff of WCAT also protected me from hazardous labour by providing counseling and guidance for my parents through home-to-home visits.
Thanks to the support from WCAT and Kinderpostzegels via the CLFZ project, I feel happy attending my education regularly and have withdrawn from child labour.
I have a dream to be an activist in eliminating child labour and protecting affected children in Ethiopia.
