Who do we help?Helping the neediest child labourers
As a small charity we want to focus upon helping the neediest children we can find. We want our support to reach children who need it the most so that we know we bringing the greatest change to their lives. Over time we have produced a selection process that draws on answers collected from questionnaires, field interviews, literacy exercises and observation.
We consider a number of factors before selecting child labourers:
Helping low caste girls because:
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Girls are less likely to go to school than boys and more likely to drop out of school than boys.
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As well as working in stone quarries and brick factories, girls also collect firewood, cook dinner, look after siblings and carry out other domestic chores from a very young age.
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Girls are more vulnerable to exploitation because of their apparent submissive and obedient status in Nepal, leaving them with few opportunities in life.
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Low caste / untouchable children are less likely to go to school than any other group in Nepal due to their low social status and the disproportionate number engaged in dangerous and unhealthy working conditions.
Helping children who work in dangerous working conditions:
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At present, we are focused upon helping children working in stone quarries and brick kilns because of the dangerous nature of the work.
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In stone quarries, children collect heavy loads of rock in the morning for crushing. This normally involves wading through a river to collect the stone which in itself is a dangerous activity for a 9 year old child. In the afternoon, children crush the rock all day long.
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In brick kilns, children dig and collect the materials for producing bricks. They mould the bricks into shape ready for the ovens and help load the Lorries when the bricks are taken away to the market.
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Long working hours in both results in injury, cuts, and bruises which are left untreated because the children work in remote locations where there are no medical facilities and because of a lack of awareness of how to treat injuries.
