Fellowship #8: Rescue Children from the brick factories in Nepal
Location: Kathmandu, Nepal
2017 Peace Fellow Cynthia Boruchowicz (University of Maryland) raised over $2,000 to place 50 children from the brick factories of Nepal in school.
Watch Cynthia’s video here!
Hundreds of thousands of children in Nepal are forced to work in brick factories, in violation of the law and at great risk to their health. AP’s partner CONCERN has been at the forefront of efforts to prevent this abusive practice and placed hundreds of brick children in school. AP has raised over $15,000 for CONCERN’s innovative campaign since 2014, enabling 50 brick children to attend school. Over $7,000 was raised by Peace Fellows
The 2018 Fellow will work from Kathmandu to help CONCERN support the 50 children for another year, strengthen the campaign by adding extra tuition, and visit all 50 children at school and in their home village in the district of Ramechhap.
Qualifications
- A commitment to, and interest in, child rights and child labor
- Story-telling skills – writing, journalism, photography and video
- Experience of organizing and fundraising and crowdfunding
- Experience of project management and/or evaluation
- Working experience in Nepal or the region.
For More Information
- School Rescues Children from Work in the Brick Kills on Nepal
- The blogs of Cynthia Boruchowicz (2017)
- The blogs of Lauren Purnell (2016)
- The blogs of Joti Sohy (2015)
- The blogs of Katerina Canyon (2014)
- The blogs of Gisele Bolton (2014)
The beneficiaries
Rupesh Shrestha was born in Bhaktapur and began to work in bricks at the age of three. During the brick-making season, Rupesh lives with his parents but this means he has to look after his six-month old brother when his parents go to work in the early hours and before he goes to school. Rupesh says he does not enjoy living in the kilns, as it is “very smoky.” It takes him one hour to walk to school. AP has helped Rupesh to avoid work in the kilns and attend the Dattatraya Lower Secondary School in Bhaktapur.
Meet more beneficiaries in our campaign page.
The partner
Sundar Kumal, a field officer with CONCERN, visits the 50 children in their homes and at school
The Peace Fellow
“I went to Nepal hoping to provide professional services to a local NGO, and in that way contribute to their capacity building. I ended up gaining more professional and personal skills than I’ve could ever imagined. Nepal and CONCERN will always have a special place in my heart. ” – Cynthia Boruchowicz, the 2017 Peace Fellow in Nepal.
Visit the CONCERN website or contact fellowships@advocacynet.org for more information