Building a Future for Brick Kiln Children in India

Bharat is 10 and has been with our project for the last 2 years. Like all of our children, he lives in a hut made on the Brick Kiln site with his parents and siblings. 

His parents come from generations of debt-bonded landless labourers, nomadic and living outide of mainstream society. Like so many of the families we work with, Bharat's father is an alcoholic, addicted to cheap but dangerously low quality home-made alcohol which is so readily avaiable in the brick kilns and other similar labouring sites. 

The whole family 'earns' 5,000 to 7,000 rupees a month ($70-$100). They do not receive this money, which goes towards paying off an advance which they took at the beginning of the working season. Because the family migrates seasonally, Bharat has never been admitted into school. The family themselves being illiterate, also don't know the value of education for their children. In any case, their lives of hard labour leave no time to think about anything other than the basics of making enough bricks and eating. 

Their are no facilities for washing, and the children spend all day playing the in the dirt where the bricks are made. 

Our project team worked with Bharat's parents to help them understand the importance of Bharat going to school and learning to read and write. They took a lot of convincing - they didn't necessarily see the point or trust these people who wanted to take their son away. Nevertheless, because the staff were persistent and the school is on site, the parents decided to let Bharat attend. 

Now Bharat is happily getting some education for the first time. His parents are coming round to the idea that it might be possible for their son to aspire to something more than unskilled manual labour. 

Thank you for supporting this project that gives children like Bharat a chance to learn - something that will change his life, and especially his chances of being exploited like his parents, forever.