Stories about Children’s Lives
In 2021 CLARISSA collected 804 life stories from children involved in the worst forms of child labour in urban contexts in Bangladesh and Nepal.
They provide a detailed picture of a child’s entry into hazardous or exploitative work and their experience since. Twenty examples are provided here. Other reports on the main CLARISSA website detail what we learned from 114 children analysing the stories over 51 days of workshops and meetings. This analysis informed the actions of 170 children, some as young as 13, in collaboration with business owners, homeowners, school committees, teachers, local councillors, community leaders and local community-based organisations to shift the everyday functioning of systems which reproduce spaces for child labour in its worst forms
Nepal
Ravi is 14 and lives in Kathmandu. “After my father died, no one was there to pay my fees and other necessities.
Sunil is 14 years old and lives in Kathmandu. “I don’t want to go on the street again, I want to work and live. I want to train to be a cook.”
Romani is 11 and was born in Western district of Nepal.
Sarita is 21 years old and lives in Kathmandu.
Jyoti is 24 years old and lives in Kathmandu.
Kalpana is 20 years old and lives in Kathmandu.
Kapil is 13 years old and lives in Kathmandu.
Maya is 15 years old and lives in Kathmandu.
Ramala is 19 years old and lives in Kathmandu.
Simran is 14 years old and lives in Kathmandu.
My name is Anita and I am from Eastern Nepal. I am 18 years old. We are a family of five, and my elder brother is disabled.
My name is Rita and I live with my father, mother, and brother. My sister is married. My mother drinks a lot of alcohol. My father was working abroad.
Bangladesh
Shuvashish is 17 years old and lives with his parents.
My name is Wasim and I am 14 years old. I work in the leather sector, in the machine operated gloves section. We make gloves and then give them to people who sell them.
My name is Saif and I am 16 years old. These days things are going really badly.
My name is Nusrat and I am 17 years old. I don’t have my father. My family is my mother, my younger brother, and I.
My name is Mili and I am 16 years old. I have three brothers and I’m the only girl. When we were little, my parents separated.
My name is Faria and I am 14 years old. In my village, there are my uncles (but we don’t have any contact with them) and my grandmother and maternal aunt who we visit.
My name is Alif, and I am 17 years old. I live with my family in Hazaribagh. There are only three of us at home – my mother, father and me.
My name is Aleya. I am 14 years old. Our home village is in southern Bangladesh, but I have lived in Hazaribagh since I was born.
Pavel is 15 years old and lives in Hazaribagh with his parents. “We live in one room, where I sleep on a bed and my parents sleep on the floor.”
Bangladesh
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