AP-LA Times: In impoverished Pakistan, millions of children forgo classrooms for hard labor

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-as-fea-pakistan-child-labor-photo-pkg,0,1692465.story



In this photo made Feb. 28, 2010, Bilal Sufdar Ali, 12, is seen welding a door, part of his daily work at a steel workshop on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan. At least 10 million children are believed to be working in Pakistan, though the actual number is unknown. They toil at a variety of jobs, including some of the hardest and most poorly paid. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen) (Muhammed Muheisen, AP / February 28, 2010)

By Associated Press

March 20, 2010 | 9:03 p.m.

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Abbas Sajeet is 11 years old, but he doesn't go to school. Instead, he earns 2,500 rupees ($30) a month as an auto mechanic in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.

The money goes straight into the meager coffers of his seven-member family.

"Every day from the car garage, I see children walking to their schools," he says. "I wish I could go to school with them, finish high school and study engineering. After that, I would have a good job with a lot of money, and give it to my mother."

At least 10 million children are believed to be working in Pakistan at a variety of jobs, including some of the hardest and most poorly-paid.

Some clean upper-class homes and help baby-sit. Others craft bricks, weave carpets or work in mines. In some cases, families give their children as employees to landlords to pay off debts. That system, known as bonded labor, is likened by human rights activists to slavery.

FULL story at link.