Children in Our Midst: Voices of Farmworkers' Children

Abstract

Children, Youth and Environments Vol. 14 No. 2 (2004) ISSN: 1546-2250 Children in Our Midst: Voices of Farmworkers' Children McCartney, Irene (2000). Harare: Save The Children (UK)/Weaver Press; 160 pages. $14.95. ISBN 0797420754. In our efforts to understand the contested world of child labor, it is refreshing to be able to take a close look at the lives of working children in particular contexts, and to hear what the children have to say about their work. In these two new books from Zimbabwe, Earning a Life: Working Children in Zimbabwe and Children in Our Midst: Voices of Farmworkers’ Children, Weaver Press (in association with Save The Children UK and Redd Barna) has done an admirable job of bringing together child-centered research and even-handed analysis of the issues. Children in Our Midst is a rich ethnographic resource, beautifully organized and designed. Over 850 children from several farm working community schools in rural Zimbabwe participated in there search project to speak on a range of issues that affect them. Statements from the children are edited and arranged under thematic headings, with editor’s notes in the margins drawing the reader’s attention to key points in the children’s comments. The chapters, composed entirely of the children’s written or recorded statements, cover many aspects of the children’s lives, including their sense of self (“I am a child”), families, homes, work experience, school, customs and play (“Sometimes we have fun”). While the text is balanced with the voices of several optimistic and resilient kids, many of the testimonies describe a very harsh life, with difficult labor, unwanted pregnancies, the death of loved ones from AIDS, hunger and beatings for common transgressions such as stealing food. The words of the orphans are heartbreaking, such as this comment from Vengai Madya, age 189 14: “I sometimes think that if my mother was alive, I would be happy and I would have clothes” (McCartney, 32). The reflective introductory essay by SCF Zimbabwe Director Chris McIvor offers candid criticism of development practice that pays insufficient attention to children’s agency. He makes a strong case for children’s participation, describing the ways that charitable project soften proceed without sufficiently consulting with the beneficiaries of aid, resulting in negative impacts on communities. He raises yet again questions asked by advocates of participatory research for several years now, which bear repeating: “How did we interact with the people in these villages? How many of our project staff understood the language of the communities in which we were located? Did we take time to listen to their perceptions and views?” (McCartney, xiii). If working children were more visible and respected as workers, then forestry officers might speak to groups of children who have the job of collecting firewood, and water engineers might consult with the young people who collect the household water to ask where they should site a well or what type of equipment would be best. Agricultural advisors would focus agro-ecological education efforts on children and adolescents as well as their parents. Unfortunately that is rarely the case in East Africa, although it is more common is other contexts such as in Latin America. This is not simply a book that publishes the opinions of working children. It is a book that challenges our Western assumptions about healthy childhood. It paints vivid pictures of what it is like to grow up on commercial farms in Zimbabwe, with work responsibilities from a very young age integrated into education and upbringing, as a legitimate aspect of the local traditions. “The concept of childhood, “suggests McIvor, “is not only a luxury that few other cultures can afford, but is also something that local tradition implicitly rejects”(McCartney, xvi). In Earning a Life, Michael Bourdillon also takes up this theme. Speaking to those who would promote the Western concept of 190 work-free childhood as universal, he suggests that “perhaps it is time to turn the argument on its head and say openly that a ban on child labour [sic] inhibits the proper socialization of children”(Bourdillon, 7). In this useful collection of research papers, editor Bourdillon establishes a balanced, child-centered perspective, demonstrating...