"I think I'll go back to selling ice cream"
Shabuz, age 7

“My name’s Shabuz. I am 7 years old. I have been working here for the last three months. I work on different tempos at different times. We tempo boys often get a cough and lose our voices. For instance the boy who is supposed to work here today is ill with a cough and fever, so I am working in his place. The same thing will happen to me at least once a week. I need to take a rest to recover for two to three days, I don’t go to the doctor for treatment – I don’t have the money. Instead I take strong tea with ginger as medicine.

I earn 20 to 25 taka (40 to 50 pence) a day, depending on my Ustad’s generosity. I also get 5 taka in the morning for my breakfast and 10 taka in the afternoon for lunch. I work here from 6 am to 10 pm or later. Every day after work I give my wages to my mother to buy food for us.

I used to live in Barishal with my parents and five children. About six months ago our home was destroyed by the river. We became landless. We came to Dhaka to look for work and housing. On the way we had to spend two days without food in Tejgaon.

Now we are living in a Basti near Green Road. Now my dad works pulling telagari (handcarts). He insisted that we went to work too. My mum works as a domestic servant. My elder brother is about 10. He has also worked as a tempo boy for the last four months. My elder sister married about two years ago.

When I first starting working I used to sell ice cream in the front of different schools in Green Road and Kalabagan for about three months. I used to get 5 to 10 taka a day in this trade. I have left that job now because now it is winter – off-season for the ice cream. Anyway the money I earned was not enough. My father pressured me to work on a tempo, so I could earn more money like my brother. He said he was unable to maintain the family. But I think I’ll go back to selling ice cream in the summer. It’s tough work on a tempo, but it’s the best paid work around.

I’ve never been to school. I’d like to go but my parents couldn’t afford it. We need money to support our family. I know I could be a big officer and could buy a big house if I could go to school. I used to go to Masjid (mosque) to learn Arabic but I left when I started working on the tempo. My younger brother and sisters still go to Masjid.”