Before we judge the plight of this child we must recognise the basic necessity of survival. High in the often barren mountain areas of Nepal children must work for the family to survive. There may be no school within a 5 mile radius, the only way to attend by walking that distance. Many girls often never go to school becoming responsible for household chores, caring for siblings, growing crops, tending livestock or ………. gathering wood tor the cooking fire as in this photo I took several years ago. The basket full of wood has a wide cloth strap which goes on top of the child’s head instead of straps around shoulders.
I was inspired to post this photo following a post by my blogging friend Cady who wrote Just One Person originally. Do take a peek at her blog, we have a good “challenge community” going.
Categories: Photography
Challenge Your Camera #12 Elemental 
Sobering considerations. Another tough one.
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You’re right, we can’t judge the lives of these people through the lens of our own much more comfortable situations. We couldn’t say to these families, your children should be in school, not working, when they rely on their work and there is no school for miles.
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Are there any Child Labor Laws in Nepal?
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Wrong question. The reality is that there is no law in the mountains Some children are “sold” to be servants to rich families where the child’s parents get paid monthly for the service.
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She looks very exerted too! Cady!
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An excellent photograph. When I taught Tibetan girls English, in Canada, they described a similar life. One of their jobs was to collect yak dung to burn for fuel.
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I’ve sat many a time at quite high altitudes shivering in front of a fire (if you can call it that) fed with yak dung. Two common sights in Nepal at altitude, yak dung slapped onto the side of a wall to dry, and someone threshing/beating with a rope a mound of dry yak dung to get it into tiny lumps.
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