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Is this what childhood looks like?

Child labor takes away dreams - education gives future

Thousands of girls and women work until they drop in India's textile factories. They are exploited, disenfranchised, and isolated. With your help, we can free them from the factories and provide them with an education. With just a school kit for 25 euros, you can help a girl!

Give the gift of education!

Twelve hours a day, seven days a week, at noisy machines. The air is filled with dust; there's no hearing protection, no respirators. Anyone who's sick is given a pill and forced to continue. The guards insult, beat, and harass the girls. There have even been documented cases of rape. In the barracks, 20 workers sleep in alternating shifts in ten square meters, on the floor, closely guarded and isolated from the outside world. It's like life in prison: behind high walls lined with barbed wire.

End exploitation - give education

Kanishka was 14 years old when her childhood abruptly ended. She put her schoolbooks on the shelf and followed her father's instructions to work in a textile factory. Her parents were faced with abject poverty and enormous pressure to raise money for their daughter's dowry. The factory owners exploited the girls' difficult living conditions to keep them in inhumane working conditions with multi-year contracts. The girls were taken out of school and forced to perform hard physical labor. This work also left deep scars on their souls.

Exploitation in textile factories is modern slavery and must end.

Out of the factory - into a self-determined life

Terre des Hommes brings hope to families. We go to the villages, talk to parents, educate them about the deplorable conditions in the factories, and show them alternatives: Their daughters can finish school and begin training at educational centers. For female factory workers, we negotiate with factory owners to secure better working conditions and insist on respect for labor rights.

Today, Kanishka is back in school. She wants to get an education and only get married when she's earned enough money. The future now belongs to her again.

"I'm never going back to the factory again. I want to finish school and then find a good job—only then will I get married!"

Your donation ends exploitation!

Your donation is a gift that will have an impact far beyond Christmas: You protect girls like Kanishka from exploitation and ensure they receive an education and a life of dignity. Please help!

Terre des Hommes guarantees: Your donation makes a difference and reaches its destination

Our name, " Terre des Hommes ," stands for an "Earth of Humanity." As a children's rights organization, we are committed to 416 projects worldwide for children in need: We protect them from violence and exploitation and provide humanitarian aid.

Several institutions monitor the correct use of your donation: Audit firms and the Osnabrück tax office regularly conduct audits, including at our regional offices worldwide. Furthermore, we undergo an annual assessment by the German Central Institute for Social Issues (DZI). The DZI awards a donation seal to non-profit organizations that operate reliably and are trustworthy. Terre des Hommes Germany has held this seal continuously since 1992.

questions and answers

In our FAQ we answer the most common questions that are asked about donations. Our colleagues in the donation service will also be happy to help you by phone.

To the FAQ

Your contact persons

Marie-Luise Steinkamp

Speaker donation service

Doris Wächter

Speaker donation service