Giving Children Hope for a Better Future
Modern day slavery takes a number of forms, often perpetuated through cultural norms and legal loopholes. For instance, slavery in the 21st century often exists in the form of wage slavery. Wage slaves may well have social and political rights, but lack the economic means to exercise those rights.
Countries with child labor, legal or otherwise, are uniquely positioned to facilitate contemporary slavery. Child labor today often includes trapping entire families in wage slavery, requiring that the children work to pay off familial debts. Considering the low wages of child labor, these kids are unlikely to ever pay off the debts and escape these terrible conditions.
Over 80% of children working in the brickyards are uneducated and illiterate, ensuring that they never move beyond slavery. Without an education, their options for a sustainable life outside of the brickyards are limited. For kids growing up in the brickyards, education is their greatest hope. Unfortunately, schools in the Middle East, Asia, and other regions with child labor, are often expensive or are located far from the brickyards. Therefore, even kids with the means and desire to get an education may be blocked by physical and economic barriers.
We are actively opening new schools as frequently as possible within the brickyards to provide access to education for as many children as possible. Our schools offer a K-5th grade public school education that focuses on reading and writing. With each school we open we have new opportunities to reach more families, educate more kids, and employ new teachers.
Young women in the brickyards are particularly vulnerable to abuse, violence, persecution, and trafficking. With that in mind, we have begun opening all-girls trade schools to provide a safe, practical educational opportunity for young women to find a path out of the brickyards.
Countries with child labor, legal or otherwise, are uniquely positioned to facilitate contemporary slavery. Child labor today often includes trapping entire families in wage slavery, requiring that the children work to pay off familial debts. Considering the low wages of child labor, these kids are unlikely to ever pay off the debts and escape these terrible conditions.
Over 80% of children working in the brickyards are uneducated and illiterate, ensuring that they never move beyond slavery. Without an education, their options for a sustainable life outside of the brickyards are limited. For kids growing up in the brickyards, education is their greatest hope. Unfortunately, schools in the Middle East, Asia, and other regions with child labor, are often expensive or are located far from the brickyards. Therefore, even kids with the means and desire to get an education may be blocked by physical and economic barriers.
We are actively opening new schools as frequently as possible within the brickyards to provide access to education for as many children as possible. Our schools offer a K-5th grade public school education that focuses on reading and writing. With each school we open we have new opportunities to reach more families, educate more kids, and employ new teachers.
Young women in the brickyards are particularly vulnerable to abuse, violence, persecution, and trafficking. With that in mind, we have begun opening all-girls trade schools to provide a safe, practical educational opportunity for young women to find a path out of the brickyards.
Program Components
- Reading
- Writing
- Supporting Families
- Full-Time Teachers
- Quality Supplies
- Safe Facilities
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Arjun's storyMy name is Arjun Bashir. I am ten years old. My parents work at the brick kiln, and I was born into the brick kiln. When I visited our relatives, I used to see my cousins go to school to study and I asked my parents to go to school, but my parents were very helpless because of working in the brick kiln, we sometimes didn’t even have anything to eat. My father used to take me to the brick kiln to work with him and we used to work there all the day in the summer and winter.
Despite the cold at the brick kiln, we had to spend the whole day there. I wanted to study but our whole day was spent in the brick kiln. My father wanted me to go to school, but we are slaves here. Now I am working with my father, it is very hard work. Many times I have wondered if I will spend my whole life working in the brick kiln like my father and mother. But now we have a school and teacher. We have new books, copies and stationery on which we read and write. Our teacher comes regularly and we study with great interest. Since the opening of Arjun's school, Arjun's parents are happy that he will have an education and a way out of the brick kilns. They are happy to know that if schools are opened in this way, many children will be saved from working in the brick kiln. |