The slight boy squatted down next to the carpet loom. Over and over, he tied the intricate knots needed to make a beautiful rug. His back had grown crooked from bending over the loom. His hands were scarred and covered with thick calluses. He had trouble breathing because of the dust he inhaled. Although he was only 10 years old, he was forced to work 14 hours a day. And he had been doing this since he was 4 years old!
Iqbal Masih was born in Pakistan out in the country. His parents were so poor that they could not take care of him. So when he was 4 years old, they sold him to a carpet maker for two hundred dollars. He had been working for six years almost like a slave.
One day in the village where he worked, Iqbal saw a poster of the Bonded Labour Liberation Front. (BLLF) The poster said that bonded and child labor was against the law in Pakistan. Iqbal secretly got in touch with the people working for this group. Though it was very dangerous, Iqbal led members of the BLLF to the carpet looms to rescue hundreds of children.
Once he was freed, Iqbal enrolled in a school for children who had been freed from the carpet factories. He began to speak out against child labor. He urged people to boycott Pakistani carpets. He even traveled to the United States to receive a special freedom award, and he dreamed of becoming a lawyer someday. Sadly, in 1995 Iqbal was shot and killed while riding his bicycle with a friend. His killer has never been found.
Some children in the United States and Canada have learned about the problems of children in the carpet industry. In 1995, a 12-year-old Canadian named Craig Keilburger read about Iqbar’s death. He started an organization called Kids Can Free the Children to help children who make carpets. Other children in a middle school in Massachusetts met Iqbar when he came to the United States to receive his award. These kids continue to work for the rights of child carpet makers.
Pray for children who must do dangerous work instead of going to school.
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