Eleven-year-old Senait travels the streets every day in search for people who want to try their luck buying one of the lottery tickets she sells in Addis Ababa, the bustling Ethiopian metropolis of 3.5 million people. Along with lottery tickets, Senait also sells roasted cereal. None of the people who see Senait selling her wares in the Ethiopian capital are sure what the future holds for her. She, however, is confident that this future will bring her luck. "I am sure that my bad luck will come to an end one day," Senait said, "I work hard to bring this end quickly." Senait is not the only child in this country who struggles to alter her condition. As many as 5.5 million Ethiopian children do the same.The country's Central Statistical Agency says there are over 5.5 million child laborers in Ethiopia between the ages of five and 14 out of a total child population of 22 million. Almost as populous as Egypt, Ethiopia boasts a total population of 90 million. Most child laborers work in Ethiopia's informal sector, according to the agency. These young laborers are forced to be part of household chores, carry water home, collect wood for the fire and be part of farming activities.Everywhere in this country children are seen carrying goods, shining shoes, vending or working as minivan driver's assistants. In Ethiopia's countryside, children work at home, wash clothes and dishes, cook and take care of younger relatives. Senait, a fifth grader, has no time to study her lessons. She says she has to work to support her poor family. "This is a tough life," the little girl said, "I have to stay out in the streets and enter taverns to sell my tickets and cereal." Senait does this from the morning until 9: 00pm every day. Small and wafer-thin as she is, Senait is sometimes harassed by drunk clients. Other times, these clients take her tickets and cereal, but refuse to pay at the end.Fekadu Gebru, an industrial relations director at the Ethiopian Labor and Social Affairs Ministry, believes that poverty is the root cause of child labor in the country. He said the government worked hard to improve the livelihoods of its citizens to prevent the proliferation of such a trend. "We strive to prevent child labor in line with an international convention Ethiopia signed earlier and legislation already put in place," Fekadu told Anadolu Agency. Nevertheless, there are so many working children out there and their stories are quite similar.Ten-year-old Tagel is a shoe shiner. He said his father died some time ago, which made it necessary for him to work to support his poor mother. After he attends school, Tagel takes a wooden box where he keeps the shoe shining materials and equipment and hurries to the street to earn a living. "I earn about $2.5 a day," Tagel said, "This covers the cost of my school uniform and educational materials." He said he buys food to feed the family out of this same income. Aklilu Yohannes and Alemayehu Abera also work selling lottery ticket. The two boys – 12 and 13 respectively – earn around $2 a day each, but a relative who sponsors them gets the majority of this amount every day. Now, both of them are hopeful that one of the lottery tickets in their hands will win.Despite this, Ethiopia's economy has been growing at 10.9 percent, almost the highest economic growth rate in the world. This growth has contributed to reducing poverty across Ethiopia, according to the World Bank. In 2004 and 2005, around 38.7 percent of Ethiopians lived in abject poverty, but dropped to 29.6 percent five years later.Fekadu said Ethiopia had enough legislation to protect children against labor abuses. He said children should not be allowed to work before the age of 14. "Raising family incomes is the best way to prevent child labor," Fekadu said, "The children are, after all, forced to work to support their poor families." Ethiopia has partnered with the international nongovernmental organization World Vision to bring child labor down through a program that began in 2012 and is expected to come to conclude by the end of 2014. The program introduced improved clay pottery wheels and spinning tools to adults to help them earn a living without the involvement of children. Around 20,000 children were saved from labor so far as a result, according to Fekadu.As family incomes improve, children get the opportunity to go to school, he said, adding that over 93 percent of school age children are already enrolled in schools across Ethiopia.