THIS STORY IS PART OF ILRF'S MOTHERS' STORIES SERIES. EVERY DAY BEFORE MOTHER'S DAY, A WORKING MOTHER AROUND THE WORLD WILL BE HIGHLIGHTED. To read other stories, click here [1].
My name is Mrs. Azra. I am 32 years old and I am married with 6 children. I work at a brick kiln called Khalid Bricks Company; it is situated in village Darwaish Kot, Raiwind Road, Lahore. I have worked here for 10 years now. My job is making raw bricks. However I would like to work in government one day. I get paid around 6000.00 Rupees a month (75 USD) according to how much I produce. However, my monthly expenses come to 10000.00 Rupees (124 USD), therefore, we have taken 15000.00 Rupees (187 USD) as advance.
We are a family of 8 members all working at the kiln. We are each paid 340.00 Rupees (4 USD) for every 1000 bricks made. A day’s work is 12 hours. We work 10 months a year and are off in the rainy season. On an average day’s work we get up at 4:00 am, start work at 4:30 am, and work until 1:00 pm and then go home. Then we go to kiln again at 5:00 pm and mix soil with water and prepare a paste for the brick moulds until 8:00 pm. We then return home back. It is difficult to afford all the expenses of my family. I am not allowed any leave at all.
Our work load is high and the heat in summer causes an unhealthy environment, due to the high temperatures of the sun and the kiln together. If I were to change two things they would be education for my children so that they could get a better job than this and then health facilities for employees at the kiln.
The stories of Mrs. Azra comes to ILRF through the Association of Network for Community Empowerment (ANCE). ANCE has been a partner of ILRF’s for over 10 years. ANCE is a non profit, non governmental organization founded in 1996 and based in Lahore-Pakistan. ANCE aspires to create a just society by working for community empowerment with optimum participation of the local community. ANCE is working for the promotion and protection of human rights, including the rights of children and in this regard conducts research, education, skills development, advocacy, awareness raising and outreach activities. Its projects include the elimination of child labor, education, health, environment and women empowerment.