John's story : a journey against child labour
“I found out about my rights as a child, to stay away from bad influences and vices, and how these will help me in the future,” says John. As part of our work in Western Visayas, Philippines, we identified John to be engaged in child labour. He has now realised that he shouldn't be working at his age.
Finding Fish
John was a young 8-year-old boy at the time. His “nanay” (mother), Olivia, was in tears and
under a lot of stress as she and her husband struggled to find food to feed their family of five
that day. It has been an extremely tough period for the household. She sees John from a far
coming from the shorelines— this infuriates her even more as she shouts, “Why aren’t you in
school right now?!” Before she could follow up with another angry remark, John happily runs
closer to her with a small bucket in hand, “Nanay, I caught some fish! We have food to eat
today!”
On the day we visited, October 21, 2023, John turned 17. It has been almost a decade since that
vivid day for his mother, and he seems to have continued to “find fish” to help their brood.
When a job became his priority
As it was for many, the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 halted lives— careers, relationships, income, among many others. For John and his peers, school was put on pause and even as they transitioned to virtual classrooms, they had a lot of time on their hands. Many teenagers turned to harmful and addictive activities and influence to fill in the void of empty days. But for John who knew it was a difficult time for his family, finding a job was his priority.
At the age of 15, he was hired by a construction company where he was paid 400 PHP or 7 USD per day. He worked there for 3 months and stopped after he had to go back to school in person and full-time. About a year after that, he found a new job where he was still able to go to school and work during weekends. He has been working at this barbecue shop as a part-time cook for over a year now, earning 650 PHP or 11 USD per weekend shift.
He has been exposed to the dangers of the job like multiple deep cuts from knives, heat exhaustion and a co-worker getting ill from the excessive inhalation of smoke. Despite these, he proudly shared that it has helped him grow new hobbies like biking, where he would spend most of his earnings as his parents will not have the means to provide such a gift.
“I was never forced by my parents to work. I liked the feeling of earning my own money, helping my family and having savings in my pocket,” says John. He even says he has had many arguments with his mother, as she would repeatedly ask him to stop working and stay home instead.
His mother's guardian angel
Because of his experience, he was invited to participate in Terre des Hommes Netherlands' and Bidlisiw Foundation’s joint initiative, the “Strengthening the Community-based Protection Systems to eliminate Worst Forms of Child Labour (WFCL) in Visayas Region” Project, funded by the European Union in the Philippines.
“Although I’m still working, I’ve learned a lot about WFCL. I found out about my rights as a child, to stay away from bad influences and vices, and how these will help me in the future,” says John. He goes on to explain that he understands that he shouldn’t be working at this age, but he feels like they are left with no choice as a family, and assures his mother that he’s happy to help them.
In tears, his mother shares that one of her lowest times was giving birth to John and having no money to buy him milk. She fed him excess milk from her pregnancy that she received from the government, leaving herself none. She feels John has become her guardian angel. Even without asking, he has always had the passion to serve the family. Particularly special for her was at the time she had a stroke, John never left her side, did all the household chores and supported their income too.
Although filled with guilt seeing her son work instead of fully enjoying his childhood, she is also proud to see him become the selfless and loving man that he is today and she is entirely grateful for him, “I always dream of just taking care of John and not seeing my children suffer in poverty”, says Olivia.
Towards technical education and skill development
As John awaits his graduation within the next year and he officially becomes an adult, he is looking forward to quitting his job in the next few months, earning a certificate* in driving, welding or cooking, and eventually becoming the businessman that he’s been dreaming to be.
“TdH NL and Bidlisiw have taught John that the priority right now is for him to finish school and not have a job. I am so grateful to them for continuously guiding John. If we have not met them, I cannot imagine where we would be right now. Thank you for helping us understand what our children’s rights are. I am happy to know that John is out of the worst possible case of child labour. ", says Olivia.
"I hope this time in our lives will mark the end of the generational chain of poverty in our family. What we will pass on is the support and love we have for each other,’ she adds.
*A certificate that can be acquired through formal education or skills training provided by relevant government institutions in the Philippines.
Current situation (June 2024): John has graduated from senior high school with educational assistance from our project. Upon turning 18, he plans to enrol in a vocational course under the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA). TESDA is a government agency in the Philippines tasked to manage and supervise technical education and skills development of individuals who choose to enrol in a vocational course. John who left his weekend work in late 2023 resumed the same in early 2024. The project team continues to monitor John's situation and will support John in his enrolment under TESDA.