Vidal, the delegate for the child-workers of Peru, started working in a gold mine when he was 12 years old. I was exploited in the mines, but exploitation was not the only thing I found. There were adults who really cared for us. We also had moments of fun, making a sport of racing each other when we were carrying the ore. There was joy in work.
Work is also important because it can give very poor children a valuable role in their world.
I felt responsible and proud that I was contributing by paying for my education and that of my brothers and sisters. Child workers are helping themselves All the child worker delegates spoke in support of the ten proposals for better lives for working children . These proposals had been agreed at the first international conference of working children in India in 1996. All the child workers represented organizations of working children. These organizations are leading the fight to make the lives of working children better.