About the Coffee Children of Kenya

Children work in the coffee plantations in Kenya without any protective gear whatsoever. White dust from pesticides covers their faces and arms, while the sharp spines of the coffee trees cause injuries that can easily get infected. While the film crew was in Kenya, we met a child, Silvia Ngendo, whose leg was badly infected from an untreated injury. Fortunately, Robin Romano travels with a well-stocked first aid kit, and the crew were able to tend to Silvia's wound and save her leg. The parents in the village, who had been hesitant to cooperate with the filming before, now helped us in any way they could. No parents choose to send their children to work. It is a choice born of absolute necessity - and political corruption.

Out of School

©2002 ROMANO/Stolen Childhoods

Misarara Estate Coffee Plantation
A young boy picks coffee.

Precious Commodity

©ROMANO/Stolen Childhoods

Misarara Estate Coffee Plantation
A young boy puts spilled beans back into a sack to take back to the sorting house.

Back-breaking Labor

©ROMANO/Stolen Childhoods

Misarara Estate Coffee Plantation
A young girl stoops to pick coffee beans.

Toxic Work

© ROMANO/Stolen Childhoods

Misarara Estate Coffee Plantation
A young girl plantation worker picks coffee beans while carrying her younger sister on her back. Both are exposed to deadly pesticides.

Cheap Labor

©2002 ROMANO/Stolen Childhoods

Misarara Estate Coffee Plantation
At the end of a long day, a young girl plantation worker sorts through coffee beans.

Sorting the Berries

©ROMANO/Stolen Childhoods

Misarara Estate Coffee Plantation
Young girl plantation worker sorts through coffee beans at the end of a long day.

At Day's End

©ROMANO/Stolen Childhoods

Misarara Estate Coffee Plantation
Children cleaning out the debris from their berry pickings

Family Work

©ROMANO/Stolen Childhoods

Misarara Estate Coffee Plantation
A family pours coffee into a sack to take back to the sorting house.

Starting Young

©2002 ROMANO/Stolen Childhoods

Misarara Estate Coffee Plantation
A young boy picks coffee. The smaller children crawl inside the branches to pick the berries.