BOLIVIA - Juanita's story

Juanita has been harvesting Brazil nuts with her parents and three younger siblings since she was 12 years old.

Juanita lives in Riberalta, in Bolivia’s Beni region. Juanita has been harvesting Brazil nuts with her parents and three younger siblings since she was 12 years old.

Collecting Brazil nuts is a dangerous job even for adults, pods falling from trees of about 50 meters high can cause serious injury.

She recalls that "the working day began very early in the morning and the work was exhausting." In the camp her job was to help her parents with various tasks as well as cooking for the other workers.

The working day began very early in the morning and the work was exhausting."
For six years, she combined school studies with work, particularly towards the end of the year, when thousands of families move to camps to collect Brazil nuts in remote areas of Riberalta and Pando.

In December 2013, she managed to finish school, despite the difficulties caused by her irregular attendance as well as her workload. It was not easy for her to study or catch up on school work, when she arriving late or missing weeks of school at a time to work with her family.

In 2013, through the ILO-IPEC project: “Tackling child labour through education” (TACKLE), implemented in coordination with the Amazon Subcommittee on the progressive elimination of hazardous child labour, Juanita participated in a sportswear tailoring training programme.

As she explains, "Compared to what I did before, it’s much better now that they have helped us. I have a better job, where I run no risk." "I have the support of my parents and at school the teachers are aware of our situation and give us extra time to do our homework."
Now I want to keep improving to have my own business."

Once she had completed the professional training course, she got a job at a Textile Company in Riberalta, a job which opened up a new profession and helped her to improve her living conditions. "The truth is that, at first, I did not like the training because I did not know what it was about... Now I want to keep improving to have my own business. In less than a month I have earned Bs.700. Before I had no income."

Juanita now works during the day and studies in the evenings. She has learned that she must strive to succeed and that there are other job opportunities out there, aside from harvesting brazil nuts.