This project works with 500 out-of-school migrant children aged 3 - 14 years from brick kiln worker families in Thane, Maharastra to access mainstream education to support them to break free from the generation-to-generation cycle of poverty and illiteracy due to indentured caste-based brick kiln labour
Children of indentured brick-kiln workers remain trapped in the cycle of poverty and illiteracy as they are unable to gain an education whilst their parents have migrated to brick kilns for work. The families remain in a cycle of debt-bonded labour, with loans taken for basic essentials from brick kiln owners passed between generations. The pressure to pay back the loan quickly leads to a high prevalence of child labour as more hands mean more bricks made and each brick slowly reduces the debt
The project works to uplift and develop the whole community, as without this the lives of children cannot be improved. Activities include: Non-formal early years childhood education classes to support children aged 0-6 in language development and socialisation; Non-formal education classes for primary school-aged children in key subjects to enable them to keep up with the school curriculum; older students are supported to stay in high quality residential hostels
Without support, the children of brick kiln workers remain trapped in the poverty cycle of illiteracy, child-labour, child-marriage, abuse and ill-health, into which they have been born. With this project, each child can access education, proper healthcare and recreation to enable them to have a childhood free from child-labour and the opportunity to complete their education, breaking the cycle of suffering and exploitation that traps their families.
