Farzana and Babar were a young Christian couple with two children, Sharon and Fariha, who worked in a brick kiln. RAM came to meet Farzana when she attended a vocational training workship hosted by RAM.
Farzana told us that about their situation in the brick kiln. She had come alone to the event because the brick kiln owner did not allow the whole family to go out at a time. They all had to work day and night at the brick kiln, but despite this the loan kept increasing.
When Farzana requested her pay, the brick kiln owner threatened to kill her children. She was also three months pregnant and would only eat once a day if at all. She asked for help to rescue her family and also said that she had a great desire to become a beautician. We promised Farzana that we would try our best to help her.
Later on, RAM was very occupied with the construction of the Sablone House and Shelter. But a little while later we received a call from Farzana that their situation had worsened. She had not eaten in 40 hours and the brick kiln owner was demanding that before he paid them he needed double their original debt.
I decided to help Farzana and filed a petition in the Lahore High Court to recover Farzana. The court ordered police to recover her, but instead they connived with the brick kiln owner to transfer Farzana and her family to a different brick kiln and reported to the court that they had not found her at the brick kiln.
Now the only hope RAM had was to negotiate the matter with the brick kiln because Farzana’s family life was in danger. We negotiated the matter through a political figure in the area and we agreed to pay off the debt which was around $300.
Now Farzana and her family are living and working at the Sablone House and Farzana’s health is much better.
NORRA’S STORY | FOOD KIT CAMPAIGN FOR BRICK KILN WORKERS
This holiday season, would you partner with us to support starving brick kiln workers in dire need? One brick kiln worker, Norra, has three girls and recently gave birth to a young boy. Due to severe smog, the government shut down work at the brick kiln where they...
SHAUKAT’S STORY | DENGUE FEVER
Shaukat, who works as a laborer, recently came to our medical Life Center with severe body pains and a high-grade fever. Due to his fever, he was unable to work for two days. There was nothing left in his house to eat because he had not earned anything in the past...
WELL PUMP REPLACED IN JARANWALA
Last August, during extremist attacks on the Christian community in Jaranwala, one woman's water pump was stolen. As there is no public water system in her community, she needed a water pump, or well. Without her own well access, she had to use a neighbor's water...
