Working children

When you are poor and have to find money wherever you can you dont focus on things that come high on the agenda of people who are more comfortable and can spend more time thinking about how they can better the world rather than how to get food into their stomach. A lot of people in developed countries rail against "child labour". In places like Guinea, as was the cases in developed countries several decades ago, sending young children out to work is normal. The family, amongst other things, has long been an economic unit, and children need to know how to earn their keep.

The children in this article are also the lucky ones. They can work on a stall instead of walking the streets with trays of food on their heads trying to find customers. They look quite clean and decently fed. Most satisfying, the young Peuhl girl (one of Guinea's ethnic groups, whose women often dress in indigo cloth), who was working nearing a roundabout at Enco 5, was so pleased to see herself on the digital camera. Guinea's people on one level are very simple and easy to please. I wont go beyond that at this stage. This child was pleased just by seeing herself in living colour.