story of avanti

8/2/2019 Story of Avanti

1/3

Avanti in the Kilns of Bondage

Avanti is an 11 years old girl and liveswith her parents in one of the countless

Brick Kilns of Pasor, Jajjar district of

Haryna, hardly 20 kms away from the

country capital. Her family migrated

from Nalanda District of Bihar. Due to

financial crisis Munnukumar and

Damsila did not think twice when their

neighbour told them of the opportunity

to work in the brick kiln of Haryana. He

took the family (including the 6

siblings) and migrated to this city insearch of livelihood. After coming here the entire family works in this company as daily

wage earner in the form of labourers making bricks from dawn to dusk. Most labourers

working in these Kilns are from different parts of Bihar. Each factory employs about 200

families (it is the entire family working, even the 3 year old sibling sister of Avanti has to

contribute so that at the end of the day they can make about 1000 bricks which will fetch

them a sum of `250. The work is extremely brutal, hazardous, abusive and sometimes lethal

conditions. Working all day in the hot sun where temperatures regularly climb above 100 F,

they make and carry well over one ton of clay each day. At the kiln, they crouch as they

fabricate thousands of bricks in old-fashioned moulds.

Avanti and the 5 siblings of thisfamily have never attended school as

they cannot afford the luxury of

spending those precious hours learning

or playing. They only know that the

family can survive only if everyone

shoulders the responsibility of

contributing to the labour their parents

are involved.

We met Avanti and her little

brother Anju aged 3 in the class roomrun by Don Bosco hardly 200 metres away from the factory. She was enjoying every bit of

her learning even when the little Anju drew all her attention. We followed her to the site

where her parents and elder siblings are working. We come to the work at 8.00 am and

remain up to 6.00 p.m. We take our food along and do not return to our camps until it is dark.

Sometimes the day stretches late into dusk as we have to complete our target. Every brickthey make has a story to tell of dismal working conditions, back-breaking toil for several hours aday, meagre wages and generations of bonded labour.

Our attention was drawn to the corner of the raw pile of bricks and a little one hardly

5 was eating her lunch. We just drew a bit closer to have a view of what she is eating. To our

surprise there was little boiled rice and a little pickle! This is the full meal of everyone in the

family for a day. We talked to the parents of V as they hurried along with their routine of

taking clay, put them into a box shaped wooden block, press hard, sprinkle a little of dry


2/3

mud, tilt it down and here comes a finished raw brick, ready to be dried and taken to the oven

for baking...

Avanti later took us to her home...., the place where they spent their night, all 7

members of the family in this harsh winter. Did we call it a home? We could hardly see any

houses but little makeshift tents or rather mud holes hardly 3 square metres, with little

sackcloth and little belongings... a tin door, that keeps the entrance shut from animals andother unwanted guests....One would really wonder how 200 families disappear into these

holes at the end of the day ...200 families in 3 square metres no water, no electricity, and no

sanitation facilities... Its all a wonder for the onlooker but a grim reality to which they all

have adjusted or are forced to on their road to destiny... in the vast stretches of dusty brick

kilns with no trees but only the chimneys silhouetting the shy in the moon light. One cannot

see life but dead silence amid thick dust, except for the occasional noise of the trucks

transporting baked bricks to build great cities and homes and the pony or donkey drawn carts

that shift the raw bricks to the big ovens..

Avanti rushed out telling us to follow her as it

was recreation time for the children at the bridgeschool. Three classrooms of nearly 200 children

run about and enjoy playing seemingly trying to

forget or not mindful of the grim reality to which

they are forced to belong.

The meagre pay and hard work are just the

beginning. These children tend to be chronically

tired from the long hours and irregular rest,

increasing the probability of accidents and injuries. Disease, malnutrition and permanent

skeletal injury are the common lot. Medical treatment is primitive or non-existent. None of

these children go to school.

Don Bosco, currently support about 250

children working in the brick kiln with non

formal education, health care, recreation,

nightstay for youth and food and clothing.

Many children who migrate with their

families to the kilns are earlier going to

school, the idea is to provide them a

chance to continue their education,explains Fr. Jose, of Don Bosco.

To make learning interesting and fun,

innovative education methods are used in

the centres. The curriculum makes use of tools like learning with pictures, learning by doing,

role-play, drawing, etc. The study centres also function as crches as many students are

caretakers of younger siblings. The services are to go beyond the immediate needs of the

children. Their holistic development is the goal. There is a need to empower and sensitise

them about their rights. As child labour is linked to income generation, it is very difficult to

convince the families and show immediate results. But through sustained efforts it should be

possible to free the brick kilns of child labour in the years to come.


3/3

NOW IS YOUR TIME

When all is said and done,

Have you said or done enough?

Have you just gone alone for the ride?

Or have you steered destinys HOT ROAD?When you leave this world,

Did you make it any BETER?

Than it was when you arrived?

All you need is all youve got;

That concern you have in your heart,

For those unfortunate children of ours

Your epitaph is yours to earn;

Your legacy is yours to Make.

Go Forth

Support Don Bosco

Visit:www.bosconetindia.org
http://www.bosconetindia.org/http://www.bosconetindia.org/http://www.bosconetindia.org/http://www.bosconetindia.org/

story of avanti

Documents