Sewing machines in lieu of bricks or how the Church is helping women escape slave-like work
Kasur (AsiaNews) Sewing rather than making bricks is the path to freedom for thousands of women who are forced to work in slave-like conditions in many of Pakistan's brick kilns.
Margaret Piara, director of Milap, a local NGO, recently handed over the first two sewing machines to women working in kilns in Kasur (50 km south of Lahore near the border with India). "If you learn to sew you can build a future for yourselves and find respect", Ms Piara told the women gathered at Bhatta No 1 outside Kasur city. "When your work will be of fine quality, you can sell it in Lahore and earn money," she added.
Working conditions for women and children employed in Pakistan brick kilns is terrible, resembling slavery: 15 hours workdays, extremely low wages (US$ 3 per day for a family of six), bad health and hygiene. In fact, kiln work is responsible for pneumonia, asthma, eye and skin allergies. Furthermore, workers are often kept like real slaves, chained to their workplace.
The Church is committed to changing these conditions by providing alternatives for the most vulnerable strata of the population. For this reason, Milap, an NGO linked to the Catholic Church, recently opened in Kasur its third sewing training centre. The other two are located in Latifpura and Gandansinghwala.
Speaking at the centre's inauguration, Joseph Javed, one of Milap's board members, urged the women who worked at the kilns to be conscious that the " Lord does want you to be slaves. Do not believe that your destiny is to spend every day making bricks. Your fate can change."
Catechist Hanif Nisar spoke of his personal experience. Son of a brick kiln worker, he worked in a kiln himself but was able to go to school. Eventually, he became a catechist. His story of escape to freedom is retold in Miti key musafars (Mud travellers), a recently-published book.
Two women, Zarina and A'Rakhi, will run the centre. They thanked Milap for donating the two sewing machines and said that although "they will continue working at the brick kiln, in the evening they will be learning how to stitch."
Fr Inayat Bernard, parish priest in Kasur, said that the sewing training centre will be useful in making Christians working in local kilns aware that things can improve.
In Pakistan, about nine million people work in brick kilns,
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06/12/2004
