They leave behind family, classmates and friends, venturing thousands of kilometres to save enough money for a bicycle. A radio. School fees. Maybe a wedding. Hundreds of children have left Zakari Kamilou’s village in central Togo in search of work in the cities or outside the country. Kamilou, 17, told IRIN he decided to join other migrants in 2004.
“My father could not afford a bicycle for me. It costs up to US$140. I lived two kilometres from school. But a family friend told me if I followed him, he would help me find job in agriculture in Nigeria where I could earn enough for a bicycle.
“I told him that I did not know anything about agriculture, but he said I would not have to farm but would be responsible for carrying water to the other workers in the field. So I left in 2004 for Nigeria.
“It is not good to have your parents see you leave because they will try to stop you.
“We were 25 people in a nine-seater. When we got to the border, we avoided the control post. The driver dropped us off and we hiked for three days through the bush to cross into Nigeria. I was scared to be in the bush.
“When we arrived at the farm, I worked with my older brother [not blood relation, man who had led him to farm] Idriss Ouro-Akpo Aliou. Idriss supervised the kids. I told him, ‘This work is too difficult for me. I am too small’.
“We had to work, even through the night. They would turn on the car lights to shine on the fields so we could see. We planted manioc and yams. I stayed there for three weeks and then left for another farm, hoping it might be easier.
“When I got to Assaï [second farm], I saw that it was not any better there. When someone got sick, they had to keep on working. We worked from 5:30am to 9:30pm. We drank dirty water. There was never enough food.
“There were 11 people who worked with me in the field. After working for 25 days, one day I told the other workers I was stepping away to urinate. But I kept walking. I arrived at another farm where I knew one of the workers. He let me sleep there. I arrived at a bus station after three days of travel. I slept at the station and started collecting tips from people for carrying their packages.
“I saved $14 to return to Yelivo. My parents took me to the village chief for his intervention because of what Idriss had done to me, but the chief said that this was a family issue and that we should drop it.”
For more on children’s migration from Togo, click here.
pt/np
“My father could not afford a bicycle for me. It costs up to US$140. I lived two kilometres from school. But a family friend told me if I followed him, he would help me find job in agriculture in Nigeria where I could earn enough for a bicycle.
“I told him that I did not know anything about agriculture, but he said I would not have to farm but would be responsible for carrying water to the other workers in the field. So I left in 2004 for Nigeria.
“It is not good to have your parents see you leave because they will try to stop you.
“We were 25 people in a nine-seater. When we got to the border, we avoided the control post. The driver dropped us off and we hiked for three days through the bush to cross into Nigeria. I was scared to be in the bush.
“When we arrived at the farm, I worked with my older brother [not blood relation, man who had led him to farm] Idriss Ouro-Akpo Aliou. Idriss supervised the kids. I told him, ‘This work is too difficult for me. I am too small’.
“We had to work, even through the night. They would turn on the car lights to shine on the fields so we could see. We planted manioc and yams. I stayed there for three weeks and then left for another farm, hoping it might be easier.
“When I got to Assaï [second farm], I saw that it was not any better there. When someone got sick, they had to keep on working. We worked from 5:30am to 9:30pm. We drank dirty water. There was never enough food.
“There were 11 people who worked with me in the field. After working for 25 days, one day I told the other workers I was stepping away to urinate. But I kept walking. I arrived at another farm where I knew one of the workers. He let me sleep there. I arrived at a bus station after three days of travel. I slept at the station and started collecting tips from people for carrying their packages.
“I saved $14 to return to Yelivo. My parents took me to the village chief for his intervention because of what Idriss had done to me, but the chief said that this was a family issue and that we should drop it.”
For more on children’s migration from Togo, click here.
pt/np
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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