low wage [ and ] with low safety and high vulnerability to different types of exploitation and abuse ,” Hussain Nussrat wrote in an Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission ’ s 2011 report .
Furthermore , for the child , it usually means an education foregone or compromised , which creates a vicious circle .
“ It is noticeable that the wages earned by the child laborers do not improve the family ’ s economy ,” Nussrat wrote . Instead child labor
“ intensifies poverty in the family as their children lose their education opportunities ” and grow up to be manual laborers whose families are “ poor forever .”
On every trip to CAI projects , “ it is heartbreaking and painful to see thousands of children , as young as 6 , working long hours in intense manual labor ,” said CAI Co-Founder Greg Mortenson . “ Most parents , especially women , prefer to have their children go to school . But the prohibitive factors are often complex . There is grinding poverty , marginalization of girls , overpopulation and religious , societal and cultural pressures to factor in .
“ Most tragically , the global community is failing in its commitment to educate children . According to the UN , progress towards universal education slackened around 2006-2007 and there were 121 million children still out of school in 2012 ,” he said .
The perceived need for children to work plays a role in that .
FA L L 2 0 1 4 Journey of Hope | 11