From 'role models' to sex workers: Kenya's child labor rises

Kevin Mutinda, 7, center, his sister Irene Wanzila, 10, 2nd right, and their mother Florence Mumbua, right, work to break rocks with a hammer, after Mumbua say she was left without a choice after she lost her cleaning job at a private school when coronavirus pandemic restrictions were imposed, at Kayole quarry in Nairobi, Kenya Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2020. The United Nations says the COVID-19 pandemic risks significantly reducing gains made in the fight against child labor, putting millions of children at risk of being forced into exploitative and hazardous jobs, and school closures could exacerbate the problem. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

A teenage girl who became a sex worker after schools in Kenya were closed in March due to coronavirus restrictions, sits in the rented room where she and others work, in Nairobi, Kenya Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020. The girls saw their mothers' sources of income vanish when Kenya's government restricted movement to prevent the spread of the virus, and now engage in the sex work to help with household bills. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

Peter Kihika, 16, who wants to become a teacher, weighs scavenged materials to be sold for recycling, at Kenya's largest landfill Dandora where Peter now works after his mother lost her job and his school was closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, in Nairobi, Kenya Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020. The United Nations says the COVID-19 pandemic risks significantly reducing gains made in the fight against child labor, putting millions of children at risk of being forced into exploitative and hazardous jobs, and school closures could exacerbate the problem. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

Miriam Nyambura coaches her son Peter Kihika, 16, who wants to become a teacher but now works during the day scavenging materials to be sold for recycling at Kenya's largest landfill Dandora, after his mother lost her job and his school was closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, in Nairobi, Kenya Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020. The United Nations says the COVID-19 pandemic risks significantly reducing gains made in the fight against child labor, putting millions of children at risk of being forced into exploitative and hazardous jobs, and school closures could exacerbate the problem. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

Mohamed Nassur, 17, left, Peter Kihika, 16, center, and Dominic Munyoki, 15, right, scavenge for scrap metal to sell at Kenya's largest landfill Dandora where Mohamed now works after his mother lost her job and his school was closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, in Nairobi, Kenya Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020. The United Nations says the COVID-19 pandemic risks significantly reducing gains made in the fight against child labor, putting millions of children at risk of being forced into exploitative and hazardous jobs, and school closures could exacerbate the problem. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

Kevin Mutinda, 7, works breaking rocks with a hammer along with his older sisters and mother, who says she was left without a choice after she lost her cleaning job at a private school when coronavirus pandemic restrictions were imposed, at Kayole quarry in Nairobi, Kenya Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2020. The United Nations says the COVID-19 pandemic risks significantly reducing gains made in the fight against child labor, putting millions of children at risk of being forced into exploitative and hazardous jobs, and school closures could exacerbate the problem. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

Mohamed Nassur, 17, scavenges for scrap metal to sell at Kenya's largest landfill Dandora where he now works after his mother lost her job and his school was closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, in Nairobi, Kenya Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020. The United Nations says the COVID-19 pandemic risks significantly reducing gains made in the fight against child labor, putting millions of children at risk of being forced into exploitative and hazardous jobs, and school closures could exacerbate the problem. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

Irene Wanzila, 10, works breaking rocks with a hammer along with her younger brother, older sister and mother, who says she was left without a choice after she lost her cleaning job at a private school when coronavirus pandemic restrictions were imposed, at Kayole quarry in Nairobi, Kenya Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2020. The United Nations says the COVID-19 pandemic risks significantly reducing gains made in the fight against child labor, putting millions of children at risk of being forced into exploitative and hazardous jobs, and school closures could exacerbate the problem. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

Teenage girls who became sex workers after schools in Kenya were closed in March due to coronavirus restrictions, sit in the rented room where they work in Nairobi, Kenya Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020. The girls saw their mothers' sources of income vanish when Kenya's government restricted movement to prevent the spread of the virus, and now engage in the sex work to help with household bills. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

A teenage girl who became a sex worker after schools in Kenya were closed in March due to coronavirus restrictions, casts a shadow on the wall of the rented room where she and others work in Nairobi, Kenya Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020. The girls saw their mothers' sources of income vanish when Kenya's government restricted movement to prevent the spread of the virus, and now engage in the sex work to help with household bills. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

Irene Wanzila, 10, carries a bucket of broken rocks after breaking them with a hammer along with her younger brother, older sister and mother, who says she was left without a choice after she lost her cleaning job at a private school when coronavirus pandemic restrictions were imposed, at Kayole quarry in Nairobi, Kenya Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2020. The United Nations says the COVID-19 pandemic risks significantly reducing gains made in the fight against child labor, putting millions of children at risk of being forced into exploitative and hazardous jobs, and school closures could exacerbate the problem. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)