9 year old girl working in Estelí, Nicaragua

EN: We picked up a group of workers at a tobacco farm in Estelí, Nicaragua and gave them a ride. One of the three was a nine year old girl. And the owners of the farm are, to our knowledge, Cuban-Americans residing in Miami, Florida.

The three explained to us that the father of the family was making 7.50 USD/week, and therefore had no choice but to send his daughters to work. The nine year old is working eight hours a day, six days a week, earning 50 US cents an hour. She does not have time to go to school.

ES: Nosotros dimos un ride a un grupo de trabajadores de una granja de tabaco en la ciudad de Estelí, Nicaragua. Una de las tres trabajadoras sólo tenía nueve años. Les preguntamos un poco más, y nos explicaron que los dueños Cubano-Americanos residen en Miami, Florida, EE.UU.

Los tres nos explicaron que el padre de la familia solamente gana 150 cordobas semanal, y por eso tiene que mandar a sus hijas a trabajar tambien. La niña de nueve años trabaja ocho horas diarias, seis días a la semana, por 10 cordobas la hora. Por supuesto, ella no tiene tiempo para ir a la escuela. Este caso particular parece muy normal en Estelí.

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• child
• labor

[montemar99]

cracks me up! sensational reporting! wake up man it's life, either work at early age or die of starvation, you would do it too.... oh sorry, i forgot you'll never know because you can go back to your country and stuff yourself with McDonald's or Sausages and beer, while the little girl has to go back and provide for herself and maybe a sick siblin

[johanneswilm]

Ehm, yes you're right, I'm better off than her. That's why I have a video camera and can report it to the world. A lot of people never leave Europe, and so this is the only way they can get to know about it.

I am not in any way criticizing her for working, given the circumstances. I don't get how anybody could interpret it that way. The very obvious solution is that the grown-ups in the family need to be paid sufficiently so that she can go to school instead. Any problems with that?

[gueguense]

Hey dude have you ever been to the Apallachian Mountains, I dare you to go a put video..

[johanneswilm]

Hey, yes I've been there. I lived in Wagener, SC and Aiken, SC one year during high school. So that was pretty close.

Sure I'd like to go there, like so many other places on the planet. But I'm no superman and so there is no way I can be everywhere simultaneously. Also, given I'm from Europe, I don't get why I should be sent there in particular.

[LCAl88]

hi im from nicaragua...ok i understand your possition as a person how want to make something good for the people.but the biggest companies are from the countries more developed and they dont even care how the people live here,they just want to gain more money even if they cost the live of others people.

[mojoblend]

Shithead; would you prefer she was a prostitute ? Go ahead and provide for her. This chemical you talking about is nothing but sensionalism. American children in Georgia and the Carolinas work at tobacco plantation.

What are you doing in Nicaragua anyway ? You must be with some bullshit church and want people to give you money.

People in Nicaragua are catholics, leave them along. You want to feel good about your self.

[qvolokos]

it sucks man so when you vote in the country you are in remember this and try to see what kind of foreing policies your political party hay , ans most important as a consumer make ifformed decisions no to say don`t buy cigars from this companies because that would just leave them unemployed but to get involved write letters and let them know that you care how bussiness is done it has to be fair

[qvolokos]

the right wing goverment doesn`t care they just get their piece of the pie and thatst it and when the left wing goverment tries to do somethieng about it well they are communist and terrorist therefore anti american,

[qvolokos]

money made out of this industries there is actually one guy in oparticular that has a web page and displays pictures of the girls he`s been with this are young disadvantaged girls from nicaragua and the mansion where he lives and all this is made possible because af the way they operate in nicaragua,

[qvolokos]

good video dude , just let me tell you a little bit of info on this more to your viewers than anything, been originally from esteli the city in nicaragua where tobacco is mostly cultivated , all of this companies are owned by americans just look it up on the net they may have companies names in spanish but all are american owned, there is videos of them here on you tube ejoying life with their money

[miguelpalma]

Thank you very much for your reporting , I wish some of the Nicaraguans that are lucky to live abroad would take more conscious of the very issues that affect our folks. I specially appreciate your reporting on Chichigalpa, I lived there for the first 11 years of my life until 1979. Keep up the goodwork.