What is the work that the children do in the industry?
The children who work in the cocoa farms have a tough day ahead every morning.
Their workday begins at sunrise and ends in the evening. The children will climb
the cocoa trees and cut the bean pods using a machete. They are large, heavy, dangerous
knives and are the standard tools for children on the cocoa farms. Once the
bean pods have been cut from the trees, the children pack the pods into large
sacks and carry or drag them through the forest. Some of the bags can be taller
than the children and if they slack behind they will most likely be beatenHolding
a single large pod in one hand, the children strike the pod with the machete
and pry it open with the tip of the blade, exposing the cocoa beans. Each
strike of the machete has the potential to severely cut a child’s fingers or
hand. Virtually every child has scars on the hands, arms, legs or shoulders
from accidents with the machete.