Doris Mensah
Doris Mensah is 14 years old and has been working on a cocoa plantation supplying Cargill for as long as she can remember. She doesn’t know exactly when she started, only that she was very young when she first came to the plantation. She was able to attend school intermittently until she was ten years old, and then had to stop because her family could not afford the fees.
Doris regularly performs hazardous work on the cocoa plantation. She uses a sharp machete to weed the cocoa trees and trim leaves, cut down cocoa pods from the trees, and open the cocoa pods. She also regularly applies pesticides and herbicides without protective equipment. She described to IRAdvocates in detail how she mixes the chemicals with water in the heavy tank that she then puts on her back like a large backpack. She regularly feels sick and dizzy while applying the chemicals and sometimes she vomits.
All of the work she consistently performs on the plantation are clear examples of the Worst Forms of Child Labor in clear violation of the International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention No. 182. Additionally, for a minor child to perform such work is a violation of sections 87 and 91 of Ghana’s Children Act of 1998 and for any child under 18 years of age to apply herbicides or pesticides is illegal under the law of Ghana. Further, it is also illegal for any female, regardless of age, to work with pesticides due to the risk of damage to her reproductive system.
Together with her three siblings and her father, the family made a total earning of $140 dollars last year from selling cocoa to Cargill.
Cynthia Mensah
Cynthia Mensah thinks she is ten years old. Her parents aren’t certain, but they estimated that is correct. She has been working on the cocoa farm that supplies Cargill for at least two years and she regularly performs hazardous work for the benefit of Cargill.
Like the other children, she uses a sharp machete to weed the cocoa trees and trim leaves, cut down cocoa pods from the trees, and open the cocoa pods. Cynthia wears the scars of this work on her body from times she accidently cut herself while using the machete.
She also applies pesticides and herbicides without protective equipment. She reported that she feels sick and dizzy while applying the chemicals like her other young female counterparts working on the plantation. On one occasion, she was so sick that she had to go to the medical clinic. She was administered unknown medication to resolve her symptoms. All of the jobs she regularly performs on the plantation are clear examples of the Worst Forms of Child Labor in clear violation of ILO Convention No. 182. Additionally, for a minor child to perform such work is a violation of sections 87 and 91 of Ghana’s Children Act of 1998 and for any child under 18 years of age to apply herbicides or pesticides is illegal under the law of Ghana. Further it is also illegal for any female, regardless of age, to work with pesticides due to the risk of damage to her reproductive system.Together with her three siblings and her father, the family made a total earning of $140 dollars last year from selling cocoa to Cargill.
Gary Mensah
Gary Mensah is nine years old. He has been working full-time on the plantation supplying Cargill since he was about six. He has only attended school a handful of times and cannot attend regularly because his family cannot afford the fees.
Gary regularly performs hazardous work on the cocoa plantation. He uses a sharp machete to weed the cocoa trees and trim leaves, cut down cocoa pods from the trees, and open the cocoa pods. He also regularly applies pesticides and herbicides without protective equipment. Because he’s only nine, his older sisters have to help him mount the chemical tank on his back because he’s so small. All of the jobs he regularly performs on the plantation are undisputed examples of the Worst Forms of Child Labor in clear violation of ILO Convention No. 182. Additionally, , for a minor child to perform such work is a violation of sections 87 and 91 of Ghana’s Children Act of 1998 and for any child under 18 years of age to apply herbicides or pesticides is illegal under the law of Ghana.
Together with his three siblings and his father, the family made a total earning of $140 dollars last year from selling cocoa to Cargill.
Rebecca Mensah
Rebecca Mensah is just six years old. She has never been to school. She works on the cocoa plantation that supplies Cargill alongside her two sisters and her brother. Even she uses a sharp machete to weed the cocoa trees and she gathers the cocoa pods that her siblings cut down from the trees. Using a machete and carrying heavy loads on the plantation are examples of the Worst Forms of Child Labor in clear violation of ILO Convention No. 182 and for a minor child to perform such work is a violation of sections 87 and 91 of Ghana’s Children Act of 1998.
Together with her three siblings and her father, the family made a total earning of $140 dollars last year from selling cocoa to Cargill.