A school for the modern day child slaves in Pakistan

Brick layers’ colony

Eassa Naghar is one of the colonies* for brick layers that has mushroomed at the outskirts of Lahore, the second largest city in Pakistan.

As in many other places in the region, Eassa Naghar’s economy is mainly, if not only, based on the production of bricks, and therefore the colony has founded itself near the brick-factory.

Every single family in Eassa Naghar works in the brick kilns. Brick layers are traditionally some of the most marginalized communities in Paki-stan, a fortiori because most of them belong to the lowest social class and are Christians, although also poverty-ridden Muslim brick-layers live in the same colony. They live together in harmony, in their poverty. Their living conditions are harsh and unhealthy, a.o. due to the air pollution generated by the brick kilns.

(* = settlement, on the way of becoming a vil-lage)

Eassa Naghar colony

Many bricklayers have become virtual slaves because of the so called Peshgi system, a form of bonded labor, which allows em-ployers to keep workers if a cash advance has not been repaid. They asked a loan from the kiln owners for medical or family expenses, or simply to bridge the monsoon sea-son when brick making comes to a halt, but then they spend the rest of the year paying back the loan at exorbitant interest rates. This sys-tem of servitude continues from generation to generation within the same family.

Since payment is by number of bricks made, entire families, even young children, are employed in this hazardous and exploitative work. An entire family works 14 hours a day, six (or seven) days a week shaping mud into bricks in the searing heat to earn around 6.000 PKR (± €50) per month. Of this, a third or even half is deduc-ted by the kiln owners towards re-payment of the debt, and workers often have little understanding of the rate at which their repayment is assessed. Most workers are il-literate and they do not know how much money is being repaid.

Although the Peshgi system was formally abolished many years ago by the Pakistani Supreme Court, practically not much has been done to eradicate this mo-dern form of slavery. Families of many brick kiln workers continue to suffer at the hands of brick kiln owners and their appeals mostly go unheard.

Peshgi: bonded labour According to UNICEF estimates, around 250.000 children in

Pakistan work in brick kilns. A survey indicated

that only 3 % of the children at the brick sites are enrolled in primary

school.

Young brick layers

Lahore, Pakistan (CNN) -- Every

morning Naser wakes up to make

bricks, toiling for 14 hours a day,

seven days a week. This is what

this boy has done almost all his

life. He’s never been in school

and he’s never had the chance of

a proper childhood.

Naser -- not his real name -- is

among hundreds of thousands of

so-called bonded child laborers

at Pakistan’s brick kilns. These

workers are trapped by family

debts that are often impossible to

pay off.If he refuses to obey his boss,

Naser says he pays a price: “He

beats me up if the work doesn’t

get done.”

Despite being illegal in most

countries where it is found, rights

groups say bonded labor is one

of the most widespread methods

of forcing people to work against

their will. The U.N. say bonded

laborers form account for many

of the 12 million people the U.N.

identifies as modern day “sla-

ves.”In Pakistan, human rights groups

say kiln owners often dupe the

poor into bonded labor by giving

them loans. Families agree to

work off the debt but their bosses

add on high interest and living

expenses, making it impossible

to repay the debt, as their salaries

are often less than $5 a day.

“Forced labour -- you can say

it’s the worst form of slavery,”

says Ghulam Fatima of the Bon-

ded Labour Liberation Front, a

human rights advocacy group

which fights to free families from

Pakistan’s brick kilns.

If any laborer refuses to work,

Fatima says they face brutal re-

criminations.

“He will be killed, his daughter

will be abducted. His daughter

will be sexually harassed.

“Even a lady who has gi-

ven birth to a child, she has

to work there. If she will not,

she will be treated harshly.”

Some bonded laborers, like Mu-

hammad Mansha, another Pakis-

tani kiln worker, have resorted

to desperate measures to liberate

their families from the relentless

life of drudgery. Mansha says he

had to sell his kidney in a bid to

buy his children out of the fami-

ly’s debt.

“He had to sell his

kidney in a bid to buy

his children out of the

family’s debt.”

“I had to,” he says. “We couldn’t

pay off the debt.”

Eventually it fell to Fatima to

help free Mansha and his child-

ren. But countless families

remain trapped and, she says,

the government has done little to

help.Bonded labor has been outlawed

in Pakistan in line with U.N. con-

ventions on human rights.

But, according to a 2009 report

by Gulnara Shahinian, the Uni-

ted Nations Special Rapporteur

on contemporary forms of sla-

very, it remains a global problem

affecting millions.

Bricked in by debt, Pakistan’s child ‘slaves’

From Reza Sayah, CNN

Watch CNN report (3 min):http://youtu.be/-fz9_cgQoEA

Watch Al Jazeera report (25 min.): http://youtu.be/K8tmpgMykcs

Learning the youth of the brick kiln wor-kers to read, write and calculate avoids that they will sign loan or labor contracts that they do not understand and gives some of them the opportunity to conti-nue with secondary or vocational edu-cation and escape the vicious circle of poverty, stand up for themselves, start their own business, etc.

That’s why the Brothers of Charity, toge-ther with the local NGO “Friends of Cha-rity”, have encouraged and supported the brick kiln workers in Eassa Naghar to create their own self-help school. The school opened In March 2011 and was officially registered as the Umeed-e-Nau (“New Hope”) Primary School. The school consists of a nursery (age 3-4), a preparatory class (age 4-5) and classes 1 to 5 (age 5-10) of primary education. It has four teachers. It is the local child-ren’s gateway to escape poverty and virtual slavery.

For the parents sending their children to school is a sacrifice of less-income per month. But the school is “their school” and they want it to grow. They want their children to get out of slavery. Therefore this project, because so crucial for this whole village, is about freedom!No need to say that the brick factory ow-ner is not happy with the project, but the educational authorities give their sup-port.

A self-help school supported by the Brothers of Charity

Education as a gateway to freedom...

The Brothers of Charity in Pakistan are convinced that quality education ...

is the most efficient way to fight against bonded labor and all kinds of discrimination 1. and oppression (e.g. gender, religion, class, etc)is a contribution to the promotion of interreligious dialogue and respect, promotes 2. moderation and prevents religious and political prejudice and polarizations is the foundation for a sustainable social and economical development of Pakistan3.

Rented school building

The school is housed in a rented building with no more than three tiny rooms for more than 100 children. As a consequence, some classes have to sit outside on the ground, in the infernal heat (40°C or more) in summer or the free-zing cold (7°C or even less) and smog in winter. And the number of children will continue to grow, es-pecially when parents see that this school is not just the umpteenth un-kept promise, but a reality, and community-based. The num-ber of pupils has tripled in the last six months, and the management expects the school population to grow to 400 pupils or more in the next few years. In other words, a proper school building is urgently needed!

The parents, the school manage-ment, the NGO Friends of Charity and the Brothers of Charity made plans for a new school building. It consists of three phases:

Phase 1

As there is no possibility to find another building in the colony, it was decided to buy a plot of ap-proximately 1.000 m2 in Eassa Naghar. On that plot, a building with 6 classrooms would be built to accommodate the preparatory class and classes 1-5 of the junior section of the primary school. Ha-ving their own property, the school will increase its self-sustainability by not having to pay any rent.

Phase 2

After the 5th class of junior school, there are still three classes (6-8) before students can start seconda-ry education. Without these three grades, called Middle School, the school career of the children of Ea-ssa Naghar would stop at the age of 10 (the minimum school leaving age in Pakistan), without having obtained a degree of primary education (only junior school). Without a higher degree, these

children will face the same fate as their parents: virtual slavery. Leaving school at the age of ten reduces their chances of escaping the poverty circle. That’s why the Brothers of Charity made plans to extend the Umed-e-No Primary School with a Middle School that can offer quality education. There-fore, 6 more rooms will be added on top of the existing rooms, ma-king it a two-storey building.

Phase 3

The wish of the parents of Eassa Naghar is to see this school grow not only to a full middle school (1-8), but to a high school (matric =1-10) at long term. As co-educati-on is not allowed in Pakistan at le-vel of middle and high-school, the-re should be separate classrooms for boys and girls. Therefore, a second two storey building would be constructed with classrooms for the high school students, a li-brary and a teachers’ room and an administration office.

More space needed

-

Investment costs

The construction costs are drasticallly reduced as the children’s parents will provide all bricks for the buildings. It’s their contribution to the new school. Other costs: see ta-ble

PKR EUR*

Phase 1 31.231Plot - 2.000.000 16.667

Land register - 100.000 834

Sanitation - 500.000 4.167

Building with 6 rooms (downstairs) - 1.147.500 9.563

Phase 2 8.334+6 rooms upstairs - 1.000.000 8.334

Phase 3: 17.892Building with 12 rooms - 2.147.000 17 892

Other investments: 6.250Transport (rickshaw) - 150.000 1.250

Equipment - 600.000 5.000

TOTAL 60.491 * exchange rate on 01/07/2012: 1 EUR = 120 PKR

Parents are ready to contribute for their children’s education. There-fore, the NGO Friends of Charity has launched a “poultry-project” so that parents can pay school fees with “eggs”. The eggs can be sold and can produce some in-come to partly cover the running costs, including the salaries of the teachers.

This extra income is needed as the teaching staff will have to be extended. The actual number of 4 teachers needs to increase as well as the educational level of the teachers. Actually only one teacher has finished matric (grade 10) and she is the only person in the village who ever reached that level of education.

Once the construction works are finished, the school can apply for future government support from the ministry of education.

Additional funds needed to cover all running costs: see table below.

Annual costs PKR EUR*6 teachers 504.000 4.200

watchman 84.000 700

electricity 36.000 300

TOTAL 624.000 5.200 * exchange rate on 01/07/2012: 1 EUR = 120 PKR

Mr. Ashraf, school master

Running costs

Brick kiln worker

BELGIUMCaraes NGOJozef Guislainstraat 439000 GhentBELGIUM

www.caraes.org + 32 9 216 35 05 caraes@fracarita.org

OTHER COUNTRIES

Fracarita InternationalJozef Guislainstraat 439000 GhentBELGIUM

www.fracarita-international.org + 32 9 216 35 05 fracarita-international@fracarita.org

DONATIONS:

Caraes NGO

IBAN-number: BE51 4459 6281 2162BIC: KREDBEBB

Donations of € 40 or more are tax deductible.

DONATIONS:

Fracarita International

IBAN-number: BE59 7370 2766 2726BIC: KREDBEBB

If you wish to support the running costs or construction works of the new school, please contact us or use our bank details below.

12 ju

li 20

12, 1

4:01

- A

S-PA

K-0

03-0

01-0

1-D

C -N

L

UNITED STATESBrothers of Charity Inc.10 Rockefeller Plaza, suite 100110020 New YorkUSA www.fracarita-international.org + 32 9 216 35 05 rené.stockman.fc@fracarita.org

DONATIONS:

Brothers of Charity Inc.

Account number: 26675501-USD

The Brothers of Charity are a 501 C 3 organization, so your donations are tax exempt.

More information on how to support.