India: Education instead of child labor
Like moon crater, the quarries stretch across the landscape. Explosions can be heard again and again. Dust hangs in the air and covers paths and fields. The twelve -year -old Guddu lives with his family in this unreal environment.
Guddus Heimatdorf Madachak is one of many in the district of Mirzapur in the east of India, in which sandstone is broken down on a large area. For this purpose, large stone blocks are blown out of the rock, crushed with pointed chopes and loaded onto trucks. The people who often work here without protective equipment are dependent on the low wages of the mine operators. If the money is not enough, the whole family has to help. The result: children do not go to school at all or rarely.
But Guddu has made it: At the Terre des Hommes children's center, he can catch up on the lessons he has missed so far. And here, together with other children, he is learning that a school diploma opens the door to a professional future outside of the mine. Together with its local partner organizations and the German aid organization Misereor Terre des Hommes aims to sustainably improve the situation of families in a total of six mining regions in India. To reduce people's economic dependence on the mines in the long term, the project focuses primarily on education and awareness-raising. The children and their families are encouraged to stand up for their rights. The children's center offers workshops, for example, in which the children learn about these rights.
The girls and boys also become active themselves: "We visit the parents at home and want to convince them to send their children to school," reports Guddu. He himself is the best example of other families. The adults also become courageous and interfere: they address grievances at the local government and join together with the mine operators to demand helmets and protective masks against the dust in the mines.
Through the project, many families also learn that they are entitled to government support and how they can apply for them. There are special support programs to support the workers of the mines and their families. With the money provided, parents can send their children to school without getting into existence. With the help of the funding programs, Guddu's oldest sister was able to train as a tailor. Her mother proudly tells: "She deserves enough for herself now and can even support the family financially." Guddu also continues to work hard to realize his dream of a life without dust: "I'm now fully focusing on school!"