Determined
Africa: Mali, 1998
A girl of Mopti strolls the sandy banks of the Niger River. She sells ground millet parcelled in plastic bags. Her customers are women who have spent the day on the river washing the families clothing. They haven’t had time to grind the millet for their dinner. She will not go home until she has sold all of her millet. Her family depends on her earnings. A girl being responsible for helping to feed her family might seem harsh to us, but it wasn’t very long ago that families in America depended on their children in the same way.
The Weaver of Dreams
Near Cairo Egypt 1998
The carpet ‘factory’ hired young girls to weave. The girls we saw were in their early teens but were weaving complicated patterns on their own. They must have begun learning to weave at a very young age. This girl gives us a sideways glance as she mustn’t take time away from her knotting. She, too,is responsible for contributing to her family’s income.
Our guide, a young man who worked at the factory, insisted that the weavers should be virgins as their girlish romantic dreams inspired their designs. A married woman was not capable of weaving a quality carpet. We thought he was nuts.
Other photos of working children can be seen here:
http://www.rosemarysheel.com/archives/working-children-1