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Health Perceptions of Child Waste Pickers In El Salvador

Health Perceptions of Child Waste Pickers In El Salvador. Tania Gavidia. What is a Waste Picker?. “ Those who collect, classify and sell recyclable materials from mixed waste”.

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Health Perceptions of Child Waste Pickers In El Salvador

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  1. Health Perceptions of Child Waste PickersIn El Salvador Tania Gavidia

  2. What is a Waste Picker? “ Those who collect, classify and sell recyclable materials from mixed waste” Furedy, C. 1990. Social Aspects of Waste Recovery in Asian Cities. Environmental Sanitation Reviews series Vol: 30: 2-52

  3. General Characteristics • Poor • Low education • No skill to be employed in other sectors • Women and children • Often settle around the Open Waste Site (OWS) Eerd, M. V. 1997. The Occupational Health Aspects of Waste Collection and Recycling: An inventory study in India. UWEP Working Documents, UWEP Working Document 4, Part II. http://www.waste.nl/page/157/offset/30 (accessed 20 August 2007)

  4. Child Waste Picking • One of the worst forms of child labour • Children working alongside their families • Work for little or no pay • Most likely to be poor and come from families with low education Reasons for working as a child waste picker: • Poverty • Unable to enrol in school • Help parents to support the family Flores, D., and M. Sagot. 2006. Guidelines to promote decent work for young ex-child labourers in marginalised urban zones. Report for (ILO/IPEC)

  5. Field Work Central America

  6. Province of San Miguel, El Salvador

  7. Agua Salada Las Casitas Las Penitas

  8. The Plan … • Dec 2007-February 2008 • Study: Selection criteria: • Parent/Guardian must have worked at the site > 2 months • Parent/Guardian must have waste picker child • Child must be under the age of 18 (ILO and El Salvador’s Codigo de Trabajo) • Observational Study • 2 days • ~30-40 minutes • 5 wks (2 wks) • 25 children (18) • 25 parents (14) • Questionnaire • Semi-structured interview

  9. Objectives • To assess the child’s level of awareness of health risks • To determine the child’s attitudes towards waste picking • To determine if waste picking affects the child’s perception about him/herself • To determine dependency/reliance on the Uluazapa Open Waste Site (OWS) for survival

  10. Qualitative Data Observational Study • Initial ethics approval for observational study only • 40-50 Waste picker families • Adults: 6-7hrs/day (mostly women) • Men have alternative jobs • Most children work after school, but they also work before school or both (4-5hrs/day) • Mostly male children

  11. Pictures… Waste pickers in action…

  12. Child working amongst smoke from burning rubbish

  13. Resting Place

  14. Consent • Ethics approval in Feb 2008 to carry out interviews with children and parents • Consent obtained from parents consent • Participation was voluntary • Right to withdraw anytime

  15. ResultsDemographics PARENTS • N = 14 • Age: 38 • Education: 1st Grade • 5/14 = single parent households • 7/14 = worked >12y • 14/18 = women CHILDREN • N = 18 • Age: 11 • M:F : 11:7 • Worked ~ 4hrs/day • 6/18 missed school

  16. Qualitative Data: semi-structured interview Reason for taking children to work at the OWS: • Economic hardship • Male • Eldest sibling Parents knew working at OWS exposed children to health hazards Although most adults had alternative job options, waste picking provided flexibility and a good income

  17. Health Effects Reported by Children

  18. Qualitative Data: semi-structured interview • 12/18 of children thought waste picking was hazardous to their health • 11/18 children said they liked working at the OWS • 5/18 reported discrimination • 11/18 children had a negative self perception

  19. People to Thank • Ministerio de Trabajo • International Labour Organisation - El Salvador National Office • PADECOMSM (Lic. Mario, Lic. Nelson Nolasco y Lic. Mariza Luna) • Dr BK Tan (Curtin) Thank You

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