Stories from the field
Why Would a Family Put a Child to Work?
Asad’s father is a daily wage laborer without any skills. Every morning he goes to the city center after dropping his seven-year old son off at the machine shop where Asad works. The city center is the spot from where people hire unskilled and semi-skilled laborers. The skilled and semiskilled […]
Thursday October 7, 2021 | 2 min read
BRIGHT LIGHTS AT WORK CAUSE PAIN. BUT KHALID DREAMS OF A SAFER TOMORROW
Last year, the closure of schools and the economic crisis caused by COVID forced 9-year-old Khalid’s family to hand him over to the local welder. At the shop where he works from dawn to dusk, he gets lunch and 300 Pakistani rupees a week – which amounts to less than […]
Thursday September 30, 2021 | 2 min read
YOUNG HANDS ON OLD TOOLS
Asad, age 7, has been working for the past year at a machine shop where he assists the master craftsman and owner of the shop. He refers to his boss as the Ustad, meaning teacher. His job starts early in the morning and lasts till sunset. His job includes handing […]
Thursday September 30, 2021 | 2 min read
“WE ARE NOT CHILDREN SINCE WE DO NOT GO TO SCHOOL, NOR DO WE PLAY GAMES”
Jameel and Shafiq aged 8 and 9 are brothers who have been working in the local bread making shop for more than a year. They have learned to make the dough balls, each of them earning 110 rupees a day (almost $0.66). They consider themselves fortunate as they are not […]
Thursday September 30, 2021 | 2 min read
