MY STORY

I AM ANYOKOT DAPHINE, AND I GOT INTO CHILD LABOR at eight years old.

I was introduced to it by my mother, who was a miner. It was all fine going in to work, however, I would escape from school to work in the mines. I was at risk of men who wanted to give us money to buy ‘necessities’ but in actuality wished to impregnate us. In this way, many of my friends are now teenage mothers with no help at all and they’ve been abandoned by the men who deceived them. I never valued education at all, and I thought I had a good life. However, when the NGO Somero Uganda, came into my community, they taught my mother about the value of an education and the perils of child labor. She had me leave mining and go back to school where I am now waiting to do my final exams. I wish to achieve my dream of being a lawyer to give justice to the vulnerable.

Other things can wait but education cannot. I advocate for children to stay in school, for not using children in any form of labor, and for child labor laws to catch up with the current situation. I was honored and excited to be involved in the United Nations children’s conference this past August 2022 to share my story with whoever is interested in hearing it.

My story is meant to empower - to empower children to stay in school and for their families to be sensitized and aware of the dangers of child labor.

BY RAHSAAN KING