Sandy Tolan
My story on a child laborer in Bangladesh was broadcast on public radio's Marketplace June 18. If you want to see the accompanying reporter's notebook or photos, go to:
http://marketplace. publicradio.org/segments/ working/
It is the story of Ismael "Babu" Hussein, a 13-year-old worker in the shipyards of Bangladesh, told without narration, just in his own voice and in the sounds that make up his world. Here's a description.
Babu Hussein works as an assistant in one of Bangladesh's shipbreaking yards, where armies of laborers dismantle huge old vessels with little more than hammers and blowtorches. The work is perilous, the bosses abusive, the hours exhausting. Babu's reward? Just over two dollars a day, and nightmares about being crushed by giant sheets of steel. Pretty heavy stuff for a 13-year-old kid.