Two young boys look up as they gather molasses from the hold of a ship at the Mandalay Tourist Jetty in Mandalay, Myanmar. The golden-colored sugar is transported in drums from the sugar cane fields in the north along the Irrawaddy River to Mandalay, where it is sold to factories to produce brown sugar and rum. (Barbara L. Salisbury / The Washington Times)

By 8 AM, the Mandalay Tourist Jetty is already bustling with activity. Boats docked offshore bring all kinds of supplies, including peanuts, charcoal and molasses, which local people unload. Children use plastic bowls and old paint cans to collect molasses that spins while the drums are being transported. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)

A small plastic bowl is nearly full with molasses collected from the dirty, muck-filled sand along the Irrawaddy River. The small children who collect the molasses can earn about $1 to $2 a day for their families. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)

A small child reaches his hand up to collect molasses as it drips down the side of a metal container in a stack that is taller than he is. This is an endless cycle at the Mandalay Tourist Jetty, where the young children diligently collect small puddles, splashes and drips of molasses to fill their buckets and bowls in order to earn money for their families. (Barbara L. Salisbury / The Washington Times)

A young girl places her hand underneath the tail pipe of a truck to catch a few small drops of molasses. Burmese children spend all day, from dawn until dusk, collecting small drips and puddles wherever they may fall. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)

While her mother sleeps in their home behind her, a young girl empties a full paint can of molasses into the larger family bucket. At the end of the day, her mother will take this bucket and sell it to a local businessman, who will turn it into brown sugar. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)

A mother from the village along the Mandalay Tourist Jetty carries a full container of molasses on her head to a small warehouse a few blocks away. Because the large containers, once full, are too heavy for the children to wield, it is the mothers who carry them to market to be sold. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)

The activity on the molasses boats is nonstop. While two men carry a drum of molasses down the wooden planks to the shore, a third plank is used as a return for men who have dropped off other containers. This process starts at daybreak and only ends when the sun goes down. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)

Outside her house, a mother uses a small plastic bowl to strain the molasses her children have collected, removing any bugs or debris that may have fallen into it during transport on the boat or when the children collected it from the beach. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)

One brave and defiant young boy sneaks a quick handful of molasses from an open container while the foreman turns his back. (Barbara L. Salisbury / The Washington Times)

A young mother collects 2,200 kyat (just over two U.S. dollars) for the molasses that her children have spent all day on the beach collecting. This money can make a big difference for the families who live along the Mandalay Tourist Jetty in Mandalay, Myanmar. (Barbara L. Salisbury / The Washington Times)

Children crawl underneath a truck to collect molasses as it spills down through the truck bed. A small boy places his metal paint can underneath a steady drip to catch as much as possible. Once full, his can will be sold to a local businessman, who will turn it into brown sugar. (Barbara L. Salisbury / The Washington Times)

A young boy holds up his nearly full bowl of molasses. The children at the Mandalay Tourist Jetty in Mandalay, Myanmar spend all day long collecting molasses in small bowls, buckets and old paint cans. (Barbara L. Salisbury / The Washington Times)