A grim daily grind

They stare as I walk past, their mournful eyes fixed on my bag and shoes.

They wonder what I'll be doing each day, what I'll learn, who I'll talk to. They wonder if my future is less hell-bound than theirs.

But their day-dreaming is always cut short, along with their happiness, as the stomp of the man's heavy boots sends them back to work. The shrill cry of another child confronting a slow, inevitable death sentence.

I try to remember the reason I am doing this; to keep my sister from having to become one of them. I'm trying to save my sister from her own death sentence.

Each morning I follow the dirt path that runs along the edge of the quarry. I see them working, some as young as 6 and 7. Their tiny arms pounding at rocks with tools almost as big as they are. Their arms and legs as thin as twigs on the verge of breaking. Dust settling on the ground as quickly as the flies landing on their filthy hair.

But they don't flick them away; they don't have the energy. And the only thing keeping me from breaking down in front of them is my sister. She can't be the one working to keep herself alive. She can't be the one in that hell hole ...

But every now and again, I'd rather work here than go to school. A school that can be just as agonising as watching those children each morning. A school where they force us to read stories of teenage girls in wealthy foreign countries, worrying if their hair looks okay, if their clothes fit the criteria, or if they've put their make-up on in the right way.

Those are their worries. Not necessarily because they're shallow, but because that's all they have left to worry about.

They don't have to worry about what they call the "basics" as I do. I worry about having enough food for the week.

I worry if my grandmother will be strong enough to carry on working. I worry if my sister is getting too skinny.

I shouldn't worry about books and pencils. I shouldn't worry if we have enough money for my education. Because I know we never will ...

Eden Marcroft, Year 9, Katikati College