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Project Combats Child Labor in Angola through Basic Education

At 9 years old, Armindo Catala spent his days anywhere but school. Some mornings, the boy worked at the market selling fuel – a hazardous job that requires heavy lifting of combustible materials. Afterwards, he supplemented his family earnings by burning wood to make charcoal and working in the fields.

Catala had few dreams for his future when World Learning's ONJOI: Combating Child Labor through Education in Angola Project reached out to him and his family. Launched in 2007 and funded by the US Department of Labor in partnership with ChildFund International, the project prevented or withdrew 7,000 Angolan children from engaging in the worst forms of child labor before ending in July 2010. ONJOI means "dream" in the local Angolan language Umbundu.

"In Angola, some children work eight hours and participate in five different exploitive activities each day," said Fern Teodoro, World Learning’s country director in Angola. The project worked with Catala over a three-year period to reduce the number of hours he spent working, eventually convincing his family to send him to school, an important safeguard against child labor.

It was a tough sell. According to Fern, Angolan parents cannot see the value of school in a country whose education system ranks among the least funded on the African continent. The failing education system, combined with Angola's rapidly growing economy and vibrant oil industry, produces a climate in which children are viewed as an additional source of immediate income rather than a future investment.

"Parents say to me, 'What’s the point of sending your child to school when the teachers don’t even know how to read or write?'" said Fern , who also cites crumbling school infrastructure and long commutes as contributing factors.

That's why the ONJOI project not only reached out to children and families, but also partnered with schools to build capacity and improve the quality of basic education. ONJOI worked with dozens of schools to train teachers in accelerated learning methods and active learning, supervised apprenticeships, and promote extra-curricular activities that boosted retention and kept children away from harmful work activities. In many cases, the ONJOI project brought education services to villages for the first time in decades.

Over time, parents started seeing tangible results in their child’s performance, including gains in literacy necessary for communication, reading official documents, and writing a letter requesting services. In a country where an entire generation disproportionately lacks literary and numerical skills, parents saw a future for their child for the first time.

In addition to strengthening education services, ONJOI worked with Angolan government officials to raise awareness about the widespread nature of child labor. Alongside a coalition of local nongovernmental organizations, ONJOI developed Angola’s first list of the Worst Forms of Child Labor -- as specified by the International Labor Organization -- and is working with the Angolan government to adopt it as the official list of the Worst Forms of Child Labor. Fern sees the government’s acknowledgement as a crucial first step in generating a national discussion about child labor that will hopefully lead the country to adopt formal child labor laws.

"There is already talk of incorporating mechanisms to improve the protection of children working in the labor force, both in the labor law and crime code," Fern said. This marks a major milestone in a working environment in which virtually no organization combating child labor had been active until ONJOI.

Despite these gains, the road ahead will not be easy for Angola's children. A long-term sustained effort from the Angolan government and international community alike is needed to keep them from working in the worst forms of child labor. Ultimately, the ONJOI project laid the groundwork for future efforts to protect Angola’s most vulnerable children – like Armindo Catala – from the worst forms of child labor.

By Michael Snyder