Children of South Sudan need better education, but not petty businesses

Children of South Sudan need better education, but not petty businesses

By: Abraham Daljang Maker

JUBA:  child labour in South Sudan is reaching its highest peak in the capital Juba for instance, you see children of all age doing any businesses for their survival.

When you pay a close attention in the morning during rush hour, you see young boys riding commercial motorcycles carrying people who are going to do their businesses. These boys are too young to be doing that kind of business, but no one seems to notice this or maybe people see it but shrug it off as none of their business. One day as I was on hurry to the city centre, I saw a boy riding a motorcycle, he stopped to ask me if I needed a lift; I asked him how old he was and he told me he is sixteen. He refused to answer many questions about why he chose to be a motorcyclist at that tender age instead of going to school. These children are at risk in many ways:

Firstly, they are too young to control the motorcycle and any slight mistake from vehicles or pedestrians, they can easily panic and lose control which I am afraid may lead to a tragic accident. Secondly, when these children get used to having money, they might not think of going back to school, thus they will become national burdens. Besides these children who ride commercial motorcycles, there are also other groups of young boys who are working as taxi conductors; some of these boys are as young as 10 years judging from their facial look and body size. When you hear them calling passengers to board a taxi to a certain location, you cannot help thinking how little these boys are because of their baby voices. These tiny bodies sit helpless or stand by the door of a taxi as the driver races through the highway, they click their little fingers asking money from passengers and you can hear without doubt that these are susceptible little beings that deserve to in schools than indulging themselves in such activities.

Other cliques are those who work as currency exchange groups, they are also too young to be introduced to such dangerous mission of money exchange. The painful fact about this particular group is that, they come from a specific community in one of the states of this country. And to make matters worse, these boys are doing cheating business and a lot of complains have been registered, I was one time became their victim. After having cheated me with 150 South Sudanese pounds, I first felt pity for them because I knew that they are heading to a wrong direction. Then I pitied myself for having lost the money and I finally pitted the whole nation for seeing the future generations getting used to stealing money from people. I also pitted the parents who think that their children are doing the right things. From Juba to Nimule and Kaya borders of Uganda and South Sudan, you find these little boys with other mature people doing the same business. If this group is not quickly saved from this kind of cheating business, it will not be a surprise that most of them will become potential thugs in the near future.

Despite leaving these vulnerable people, the circulations of currency on the streets of Juba and other towns at the border have totally compromised the economy of the whole nation. I have never studies economic at the University but I took economic as a principal subject in high school, I learnt that the quality of good money is that it should be scarce but this is not the scenario in the republic of South Sudan. Where on this this planet does money lie in heaps on tables along the roadside under little protection apart from umbrellas that only protect sun and rain? Without any doubt, it is only in South Sudan where money litters on the streets like leaves of trees without government control. What is the government doing in this case? Are there no rules that regulate money circulations in this country? Are there no well established foreign exchange bureaus that can do this business?

Money aside: What is the government doing about these children who are working as commercial motorcyclists, taxi conductors, and money exchange groups on the streets? It is true that some of them lost their parents in the long civil war in the country but I presume that not all of them are orphans. Some of these boys are not really doing their own business but they are being lured and hired by other people carry out business for them; this is a typical child labour. These children can be saved by giving them universal primary education and even universal secondary education which can enhance their capacity to be better citizens in the near future; but I see nothing is being done for our beloved future generation, what a pity!

May the good Lord open the eyes of our leaders to also put more efforts in creating an environment where children of the poor can also have access better education? May the good Lord remind our leaders that educating their own children is nothing but just a selfish ambition? Oh God bless South Sudan!!