Stories about children’s days
Ramina, 17 year old girl
About Ramina’s life
Ramina lives in Gojomhol, Dhaka with her father, younger brothers and older sister. Her mother resides in their village. Her father is a builder. Her brothers all work in different shoe and leather factories. Her elder sister does some sewing work and maintains the household.
On 9 March 2023 Ramina recorded her journey and experiences going from home to her workplace at a local shoe factory (which is a few minutes away from her home).
Ramina feels that she is unsafe on the roads in her neighbourhood at night. She needs others to accompany her when she has to travel at night. Hearing a rumour about a boy being kidnapped from the street intensifies her sense of insecurity.
I stay at the factory from almost dawn until midnight. So in a sense, this is my actual home, isn’t it?
Chatting and working in the factory
Usually, Ramina does not go anywhere apart from home and work, due to her intensive work hours.
She doesn’t even go shopping (her sister buys her clothes). From home to work is the most typical journey of her life. When she gets a rare break she goes to have Bangladeshi street food with her friend.
“It is risky and heavy work; I always find this the most difficult task of them all. It is tough work. I do not like to do it at all.”
Heavy base to beat leather on
Cutting leather
Ramina at her workplace
Ramina’s official working hours are 9 a.m. until 6 pm but she must do overtime every single day. Most days Ramina works until 12 am or 2am at night. She has to work every Friday until 1:00pm. Ramina usually works on the upper part of shoes, which includes cutting leather, sewing and various other processes. – all of which are done by hand.
Ramina considers her work place to be a safe place, because her male co-workers seem like they are her brothers. She feels that what her own brothers should teach her at home, her co-workers teach her in her workplace. They also make her laugh by doing funny things. When she leaves work at midnight, they escort her to her home. At home she gets told off by her brothers for silly reasons, but in the factory none of the boys harass girls or propose romantic affairs. It is only when the factory owner shouts at them that she feels like leaving the job and going back home.
At home, Ramina has no freedom to do the things she wants to such as making tik tok videos or watching things on her phone, so, she does not take her full lunch time break at home, rather she goes back to the factory early.
Relaxing at home in the morning
I was fortunate that none of my fingers went under the machine, they would have been cut off. The machine is like a blade. I am a bit scared of it, but I have to work on it
Ramina’s day
Ramina’s experience
My shift starts at 9 a.m. I wake up around 8:20. Today I have to wake up extra early so I am feeling a bit dizzy right now. My shift ends at midnight usually. I get home after 12:30 a.m. most of the time. If the work pressure has been really hectic, I have trouble sleeping soundly. I come home so late that most of the time my appetite is gone, but still I try to eat rice and curry or whatever was made for dinner and I take a shower otherwise there is a particular smell from the factory which does not leave my body. The bathroom is always smelly and dirty. I only use it when it is absolutely necessary.
Morning is my only uninterrupted time, when I can sit, relax and check videos (mostly TikTok’s) on my phone. I keep my phone with me when I am at work and sometimes I watch videos when I get a little bit of free time.
I usually don’t have my breakfast at home. I prefer to buy some parata (fried flat bread), singara (deep fried snacks with potato filling) , or a bun for breakfast. My helper (at the factory) and I usually have breakfast together.
Researcher’s experience
Ramina had to wake early in the morning and is feeling irritated as she did not sleep as long as normal. I felt bad for her as she mentioned a few times how much she would have loved to sleep for 20 more minutes. Her home is not well ventilated so sleeping can be difficult, with lots of family members the room feels quite suffocated.
I spend almost an hour in Ramina’s house, and she and her elder sister busy themselves making me feel comfortable. Ramina tells me that they are famous in their neighbourhood for their hospitality. Nobody leaves their house without eating or having some tea.
A cup of tea
Ramina’s experience
I like to have tea from this stall. We do not make tea at home. If a guest like you comes, me or my brother comes to this stall to get tea. I drink at least seven or eight cups of tea a day. Everyone gathers around at the tea stall to watch TV so it is crowded all the time. Still, it is not uncomfortable to wait for tea in the daylight.
Researcher’s experience
The tea stall is a familiar place in the neighbourhood for Ramina. She talks to the owner casually, suggesting that they have a neighbourly, intimate relationship. She does not waste any time gossiping with the other customers however as she is in a rush.
Working with a skiving machine
Ramina’s experience
The temperature is already rising, and we are understaffed today. So, the workload is pretty hectic. I do not like days like this. Working here is fun but only when the workload is less. I have to rush today and also to finish the work of other people. This is what makes me sad. I work on a particular counter the whole day like a machine.
If I work continuously cutting leather with a heavy pair of scissors, it is natural to ache. My hands ache all the time. I am already a bit tired as cutting leather requires a lot of energy. Almost all the time my hand aches. But still, I like to work here. Being surrounded by people makes me happy. Here I can talk to whomever I want.
During my lunch hour I go home for lunch, then after having lunch I comb my hair and come back to the factory, all within 25 minutes. Then I watch TikTok’s with my friend on my phone for the remaining 30 minutes.
Later I am working on a skiving machine (skiving is a process to reduce the thickness of leather, especially in areas that are to be bent or folded and which must be pliable). It is an easy job for me. You just have to sit behind the machine, switch it on and start flattening out the edges of the pieces. But I do have to be very careful because there is this wheel which runs at full speed and if I am unmindful for any reason, I could cut off my fingers. Once my palm was cut in this machine when I was using it to flatten out the edges of a piece. But I was fortunate that none of my fingers went under the machine, they would have been cut and separated from my hand. The machine is like a blade. I am a bit scared of it, but I have to work on it. And I really enjoy it too because the work becomes more productive when using a machine.
Later, I make folds in leather by pounding on it with a heavy hammer. I do this for more than an hour. Continuous pounding makes my hand numb. It hurts a lot. But I cannot stop. I have to finish the work no matter how much my hand aches. The hammer, as you can see, is very heavy. It requires all of your body stamina to flatten out the pieces by the edge. Sometimes I get hurt. At any time, my fingers can get smashed.
Researcher’s experience
Ramina saw that some of her colleagues were absent, and this instantly made her sad. Some colleagues were asking her for help with various bits of work, but rather than getting irritated she helped them. Ramina finds the summer heat unbearable in the factory despite ceiling fans and table fans. The room is messy and strong smells make Ramina and her colleagues cough all the time.
Ramina told me that she cuts her fingers when she is not careful. But she is not concerned about the fact that she is a child using heavy scissors for cutting leather. When I offered, she lent me the scissors and I tried to cut some pieces. It is a tough job. My hand is still aching, and it took me several minutes to cut a piece that she can cut it in seconds
Later, Ramina works at the skiving machine. This machine itself is a dangerous thing. Fire sparks come from the friction made by the wheel and the wheel runs at a great speed. It is clear to me that a child should not be using a machine like this.
When Ramina is making folds in leather by pounding the fold with a hammer, I can clearly see how much pain she is in. It takes all her energy and stamina. She works like a machine but she does not stop until she is finished. Continuing this kind of work for much longer might lead to sickness or permanent pain.
Of all the work that Ramina does in the factory, making folds is the most difficult and risky process. The hammer is not very long but it is heavy. When she started hammering, she almost smashed her finger. She seemed a bit careless, but no accident occurred. It seems to me that an accident could happen anytime though.
Ramina’s experience
On the road I take between work and home every day, I feel very unsafe. People say that this road is not safe for women and bad boys stand around. I have never seen anything bad happen here but I do feel scared. I try not to walk on this road alone after dark.
Sometimes one of my brothers will come and get me after my shift ends, or one of my male colleagues will accompany me so that I can get home safely.
I feel very scared at night. I never walk home alone at night. Only once I had to. My brothers did not pick up my calls and my colleagues were still on their shift. So, I had no choice. I was so scared, even though my home is only two to three minutes away. There were streetlights, but it was completely dark, and I did not see a single human being. I cried. I thought something bad would happen to me. I am afraid of ghosts and my heart was pounding.
Researcher’s experience
Ramina usually comes home around midnight when everybody else is asleep. She cannot talk to anyone when she gets home, and this makes her feel lonely. She does overtime and travels home late in the night.
Ramina worked till 2am on this particular day. She reached home just after, ate her dinner and went to sleep.
Explore Ramina’s journey
Rama, 17, supports her family by working as a beautician in the daytime and as a dancer in a dance bar at night.
Supriya, 16, works in a party palace (party venue) from 5pm until midnight.
Pema, 15, works in events catering in the afternoons and evenings, after going to college in the morning.
Khem, 17, has worked for a relative in a khaja ghar (small eatery) since he was ten years old.