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English to Danish: The Continued Struggle to End Child Labour General field: Other Detailed field: Journalism
Source text - English It hasn't been easy to try and stop child labor in Nicaragua, and the following videos provide a look into the reasons why many children are still working despite the new laws. While some families are seeing value in getting their children educated and are responding to awareness campaigns, for others child labor is the way they keep their families afloat. While the law establishes that government, employers, syndicates and families all have the obligation to prevent child labor that could harm a child physically or emotionally and which keeps them from studying or developing, the hard economical situation in Nicaragua makes it very hard for families to resist either sending their children out to work or assigning domestic work for them to do at home.
Journeyman pictures cover this in Hard Labour, where it shows children doing dangerous work, while authorities either deny their existence or declare themselves unable to turn a child away when they know the income is needed by their families:
A group of children smash stones into small pieces, risking blindness as chips of rock fly into the air. Officially, child labour is illegal in Nicaragua and the cooperative leader in one quarry is quick to deny that any children are working there. “It is prohibited for children to work as stone cutters. It's much too risky. Children should go to school, not work.” But Anibal, a ten-year-old labourer, tells a different story. He has already spent a year in hospital after he was injured working at the quarry. “A pile of dirt fell from up high. It fell on me and injured my leg.” Despite the objections of the Sandinista government, being one of the poorest countries in Latin America leaves families with little choice. Diana Espinoza, the local representative from Save the Children admits it is a very difficult situation: “there's a whole market with child labour at several levels”.
However, some changes have been made, particularly in the coffee industry. Farmers who wish for their coffee to be part of Fair Trade, need to guarantee the children in the farms are not picking coffee but instead going to school. The coffee-pickers were child laborers themselves, and while they are aware of the challenges for them to send their kids to school instead of having them adding income, one of the woman also mentions that it is a sacrifice that needs to be made in order to successfully raise her children. However, getting a child back into school is not easy, as shown by the story of Fabiola and her son Jose, where even though she has wanted to enroll her child in school instead of having him working in the streets, she has faced obstacles all along the way, and even if Jose enrolls, he'll probably have to deal with the stigma of being a child worker.
Journeyman pictures cover this in Hard Labour, where it shows children doing dangerous work, while authorities either deny their existence or declare themselves unable to turn a child away when they know the income is needed by their families:
A group of children smash stones into small pieces, risking blindness as chips of rock fly into the air. Officially, child labour is illegal in Nicaragua and the cooperative leader in one quarry is quick to deny that any children are working there. “It is prohibited for children to work as stone cutters. It's much too risky. Children should go to school, not work.” But Anibal, a ten-year-old labourer, tells a different story. He has already spent a year in hospital after he was injured working at the quarry. “A pile of dirt fell from up high. It fell on me and injured my leg.” Despite the objections of the Sandinista government, being one of the poorest countries in Latin America leaves families with little choice. Diana Espinoza, the local representative from Save the Children admits it is a very difficult situation: “there's a whole market with child labour at several levels”.
However, some changes have been made, particularly in the coffee industry. Farmers who wish for their coffee to be part of Fair Trade, need to guarantee the children in the farms are not picking coffee but instead going to school. The coffee-pickers were child laborers themselves, and while they are aware of the challenges for them to send their kids to school instead of having them adding income, one of the woman also mentions that it is a sacrifice that needs to be made in order to successfully raise her children. However, getting a child back into school is not easy, as shown by the story of Fabiola and her son Jose, where even though she has wanted to enroll her child in school instead of having him working in the streets, she has faced obstacles all along the way, and even if Jose enrolls, he'll probably have to deal with the stigma of being a child worker.
Journeyman pictures cover this in Hard Labour, where it shows children doing dangerous work, while authorities either deny their existence or declare themselves unable to turn a child away when they know the income is needed by their families:
A group of children smash stones into small pieces, risking blindness as chips of rock fly into the air. Officially, child labour is illegal in Nicaragua and the cooperative leader in one quarry is quick to deny that any children are working there. “It is prohibited for children to work as stone cutters. It's much too risky. Children should go to school, not work.” But Anibal, a ten-year-old labourer, tells a different story. He has already spent a year in hospital after he was injured working at the quarry. “A pile of dirt fell from up high. It fell on me and injured my leg.” Despite the objections of the Sandinista government, being one of the poorest countries in Latin America leaves families with little choice. Diana Espinoza, the local representative from Save the Children admits it is a very difficult situation: “there's a whole market with child labour at several levels”.
However, some changes have been made, particularly in the coffee industry. Farmers who wish for their coffee to be part of Fair Trade, need to guarantee the children in the farms are not picking coffee but instead going to school. The coffee-pickers were child laborers themselves, and while they are aware of the challenges for them to send their kids to school instead of having them adding income, one of the woman also mentions that it is a sacrifice that needs to be made in order to successfully raise her children. However, getting a child back into school is not easy, as shown by the story of Fabiola and her son Jose, where even though she has wanted to enroll her child in school instead of having him working in the streets, she has faced obstacles all along the way, and even if Jose enrolls, he'll probably have to deal with the stigma of being a child worker.
And from Abre Tus Ojos Nicaragua [es], teens also reported on the issue in Matagalpa, to the North of Nicaragua. Through interviews with child workers as well as authorities in organizations trying to prevent child labor, the reasons behind these kids working are much of the same. For example, sometimes their family group is only the child and the mother, so the extra income is needed to make ends meet, or through sickness, these children become the only ones able to bring in income to feed their family and have to become adults overnight. Other times, parents have their children working so they learn about working and not lazying about doing nothing. Although they work all day and go home very tired, these children and teens take pride in the help they give their families, not considering it as “work” or something that denies them their rights. Actions being taken are combining education in the morning and then allowing for the children to go and help their families while raising awareness among the children and teens so they are aware of their rights.
Translation - Danish Det har ikke været nemt at sætte en stopper for børnearbejde i Nicaragua, og de efterfølgende videoer viser, hvorfor mange børn stadig arbejder på trods af de nye love mod børnearbejde. Mens nogle familier indser værdien i at lade deres børn få en uddannelse — og således reagerer positivt på oplysningskampagner, der officielt gør børnearbejde ulovligt, er børnearbejde for andre familier en måde at overleve på. Også selvom loven præciserer over for både regering, arbejdsgivere, syndikater og familier, at alle har pligt til at forebygge børnearbejde, som kan skade børn fysisk eller psykisk, og som kan hindre dem i at lære at læse eller udvikle sig. Den svære økonomiske situation i Nicaragua gør det imidlertid meget vanskeligt for de svageste og dårligst økonomisk stillede familier at afvise børnearbejde både på arbejdsmarkedet og i hjemmet.
Den engelske nyhedsorganisation Journeyman Pictures afdækker dette i Hard Labour (Hårdt Arbejde) [en], en video der viser børn i færd med at udføre farligt arbejde, mens autoriteterne enten benægter deres eksistens eller erklærer sig ude af stand til at bortvise et barn, når de ved, at familien er afhængig af indtægten:
Når en gruppe små børn arbejder i f.eks.et stenbrud, hor de slår sten i stykker, risikerer de at blindes, hvis deres øjne rammes af de små stenstumper, der flyver op i luften. Børnearbejde er officielt ulovligt i Nicaragua og den kooperative leder i et stenbrud er hurtig til at benægte at børn arbejder der. ”Det er forbudt for børn at arbejde som stenhuggere. Det er alt for risikabelt. Børn skal gå i skole og ikke arbejde”, siger han.
Men Anibal, en tiårig børnearbejder, fortæller en anden historie. ”En bunke affald faldt ned højt oppefra. Det ramte mig og kvæstede mit ben.” På trods af indsigelser fra Sandinist- regeringen, har mange familier imidlertid intet andet valg, da de tilhører et af de fattigste lande i Latinamerika. Diana Espinoza, en lokal repræsentant fra Red Barnet, indrømmer at det er en meget vanskelig situation: ”Der er et helt marked med børnearbejde på mange niveauer”, siger hun.
Nogle ændringer har dog fundet sted, specielt i kaffeindustrien. Landmænd, der ønsker, at deres kaffe skal være en del af Fair Trade, skal kunne garantere, at børnene på gårdene ikke plukker kaffebønner, men at de i stedet går i skole. Kaffeplukkerne var selv børnearbejdere, og samtidig med at de er klar over, hvilke udfordringer der ligger i at skulle sende deres børn i skole i stedet for at lade dem arbejde, så de kan bidrage med indtægterne til familien, nævner en af kvinderne, at det er et nødvendigt offer at bringe for at børnene kan få en bedre fremtid.
Det er dog ikke nemt at få sit barn tilbage i skolen, hvis det har haft børnearbejde. Det viser historien om Fabiola og hendes søn Jose. Selvom hun ønsker sit barn skrevet op til at gå i skole i stedet for at tjene på gaden, er hun stødt på mange forhindringer. Skulle Jose ende med at komme i skole, vil han sikkert alligevel være stemplet som børnearbejder.
Børn deler deres meninger om børnearbejde i Nicaragua i de to efterfølgende videoer. Ved hjælp af video-træning gennem Xchange Perspectives, rapporterer børn fra Jinotega-regionen i Nicaragua om problemet:
Og fra Abre Tus Ojos Nicaragua [es], rapporterer teenagere også om problemerne i Matagalpa nord for Nicaragua. Gennem interviews med børnearbejdere såvel som med autoriteter inden for organisationerne, der prøver at forebygge børnearbejde, ses det, at grundene til at børnene arbejder, er meget ens. For eksempel at familien blot består af et barn og dets mor, og at barnets indtægt derfor er en nødvendighed for at overleve. Børnearbejde kan også skyldes sygdom i et hjem. Hvis børnene er de eneste, der formåer at skaffe den nødvendige indtægt til at forsørge familien. Disse børn bliver alt for tidligt voksne.
Andre gange lader de voksne deres børn arbejde, for at de kan lære at udøve en gerning og ikke bare drive den af. Selvom de arbejder dagen lang og kommer hjem meget trætte, så sætter disse børn og teenagere en ære i at kunne hjælpe deres familier og betragter det ikke som ”arbejde” eller noget, der fratager dem deres rettigheder. Blandt de foranstaltninger, som er ved at blive iværksat, er en kombination af skolegang om formiddagen og med mulighed for at arbejde hjemme om eftermiddagen. Den model skal gøre barnet bevidst om dets rettigheder.
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PhD - University of Leicester
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Years of experience: 12. Registered at ProZ.com: Feb 2012. Became a member: Oct 2012.
English to Danish (MA University of Exeter) Danish to English (MA University of Exeter) German to Danish (University of Exeter) German to Danish (Institute of Translation and Interpreting)
I have been fascinated by foreign languages for as long as I can remember. As a result of this interest, I acquired several languages as a child and have since developed some of these to a high level. Danish, being my mother tongue, has indirectly inspired me to learn foreign languages that would allow me to communicate outside of Scandinavia. So with A-Levels in Greek and Latin, I embarked on German and later English. I am currently living in England where I have been for the past 27 years and English has as a result of this become my habitual language. I have worked with modern foreign languages for many years; firstly as a secondary school teacher of German and French and now as a fully qualified translator with an MA in Translation Studies from the University of Exeter. I am currently studying part-time towards a PhD in Translation Studies at The University of Leicester. My research comprises the German, Danish and English translations of the Swedish children's books Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren. I am supervised by Kirsten Malmkjær and Nicole Fayard. I have recently been granted AITI as a result of my work.
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