Storm- News » ve to work and I can ask for

by Mahmoud Fouly


CAIRO Lamar Jackson Jersey , June 12 (Xinhua) -- "I work with my father in the gas station during the summer holiday, but when I grow up I want to be a police officer," said 13-year-old Egyptian boy Mostafa, after pumping gas into a car at a gas station in Maadi district in Cairo.


Mostafa is one of about 1.6 million working children whose ages range from 5 to 17, representing 9.3 percent of the children of Egypt's 94-million population, according to an official report from the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics ( CAPMAS).


"I study hard and want to be a police officer in the future to have power and authority and to fight against thugs and thieves," the gas station little boy told Xinhua on June 12, as the globe is marking the World Day against Child Labor every year.


The little boy said that one day a woman in a nice car came to the gas station, smiled when she saw him working and said, "You are so cute honey! I will always come to this gas station for your sake." "She also gave me five pounds as tips (less than one U.S. dollar)," Mostafa narrated.


He said he sees very nice cars coming in and out all day. "My dream is to buy a nice car or even a bike," Mostafa said, noting he is saving hard and one day he will do it.


Mostafa's 43-year-old father, Tarek, said that he brought his son to work with him at his own request, and that his wife did not disagree as she knows his father would have an eye on him.


"I am proud of my son because he learns how to be responsible since childhood," Tarek told Xinhua, stressing that he never uses the money Mostafa makes. "I just direct him to save or buy what he needs for school. But I still buy his school uniform for him."


Tarek said that he wanted his son to be highly educated regardless of the job he would find. "High education is important for his future and it will provide him with a suitable good job some day," he said.


Egypt's law does not prohibit child labor, but it regulates it. "An infant or juvenile shall not be made to work for more than six hours a day, during which one or more break periods totaling no less than one hour shall be granted for meals and rest," says Article 101 of Child Labor Chapter of the Egyptian Labor Law.


However, Mohamed, a 15-year-old boy who has just finished preparatory school, said that he works at the wholesale store for 11 hours every day without weekend.


"I come to work at 11:00 a.m. and I leave at 12:00 midnight," said Mohamed, but he was not complaining.


"I love to work and I can ask for a day off when I have something urgent to do," said Mohamed, who was helping organizing some packs of biscuits and crisps on shelves at the store in Giza' s Boulak al-Dakrour neighborhood.


More than half the population of the most populous Arab country is under poverty line according to the CAPMAS, which is one of the reasons why most children, particularly those living in slums and impoverished neighborhoods, have to work and help