Lost Childhood - Bhaktapur, Nepal - April 2008
Luca Catalano Gonzaga
The 2009 CARE Grand Prix for Humanitarian Reportage sponsored by sanofi-aventis
In many countries, bricks are made by hand, and often by children in Asia, Latin America and Africa. Armed with tools, they dig out the clay and mix it with water to get the right consistency, then shape the bricks in moulds. Once they are dry, young barefoot laborers transport them, piled dangerously on their backs or heads, working sometimes for 12 hours a day.
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A brick can weigh up to 4 kilos (9 lbs), and one child can carry between one and two thousand a day. The pay depends on the number of bricks and may be as little as one dollar per thousand bricks. According to estimates by the International Labor Organization, in 2007, more than 40% of the children in Nepal aged between 5 and 14 were working, i.e. a total of 2.6 million. The population of Nepal (29 million) is very young; the average age is twenty, and child labor is found in most sectors of the economy, including brick-making.
