Building a Future for Brick Kiln Children in India

Nita is 6 years old and lives with her family on a brick kiln. Like all the children this project supports, Nita's family migrates every year from her village to work in the brick kilns.  Working for very little, her parents engage in the backbreaking work of creating bricks by hand. Her father is an alcoholic and the family really struggle to make ends meet, as he spends his low wages on drink. Due to the physical demands of the job he, like many men and women working in the brick kilns, use alcohol as a way of alleviating pain.

Nita has a younger brother and sister who she is expected to take care of whilst her parents work. She was interested in education but not able to attend school. Like many brick kiln labourers, Nita's parents did not believe in the value of education. Generations in their family had worked in brick kilns and they did not see any way out of the cycle of bonded labour. Our project worker spent time with the family and met them regularly to persuade them to send Nita to one of our non-formal education centres. These are based on the brick kiln sites, which means that it is very easy for children to participate in education. Our project worker explained how education would enable Nita to access skilled work one day, breaking the cycle of poverty for herself and her family.

Now, Nita is regularly attending the education centre. She can read from 1 to 100 in words, knows her alphabet, enjoys reciting poems in Marathi with actions and can tell small stories. The project is helping her to catch up so that she will be able to attend a local village school. Nita particularly enjoys playing indoor and outdoor games. She brings her younger siblings to the centre where they are accessing our pre-school activities.