GoodWeave

Help Us Build a Child Development Center in Iqbal Masih's Honor

It was Iqbal’s dream that no child should suffer the horrors of child labor as he did. You can take that dream one step closer to reality today. Please help us raise $15,000 to open a new Child Development Center in Kabul, a place where one in three children are forced into labor. This safe haven will create a healthy environment for at-risk children while their mothers work. It will put them on the path to education, without the threat of child labor, and transform their lives forever.   Donate Now!

Hear Iqbal's message, before his voice was silenced. Video courtesy of Reebok Human Rights Programs

Iqbal’s Story: A loom, a bullet and a legacy of hope.

Iqbal Masih’s childhood wasn’t just stolen. It was sold for the equivalent of just $12. At the age of four he was sold into bonded labor, forced to work 14 hours a day in Pakistan’s rug industry. While other children were making friends and learning to read, Iqbal worked six days a week. His hands bled, but his spirit never broke.

When he escaped at age 10, Iqbal made it his mission to save other "carpet kids" like him who were trapped slaving in the handmade rug industry. He traveled for two years sharing his story and lending his voice to the fight against child labor.

But on April 16, Easter Sunday 1995, Iqbal was brutally murdered. His voice silenced by the carpet mafia he exposed.

Iqbal is gone, but his voice can live on. Give today and help us raise $15,000 to open a Child Development Center in his honor in Kabul, Afghanistan. For a gift of $250 or more, we will display your name on opening day so that children will know that you, like Iqbal, care enough to transform their lives forever.

Two ways your support of our Child Development Center will help:

1. Protecting children
   
   You’ll help keep children safely from the weaving looms and help give them the chance for an education that can change their lives. You’ll give them opportunity to learn, play and enjoy childhood instead of being trapped in child labor.
2. Advancing women
   
   You’ll help protect the children of women who weave to support their family. You’ll help give them peace of mind that their children are safe, without the risk of being pulled into the looms. You’ll help create better jobs for these mothers so they can better support their families.

Donate to GoodWeave to honor Iqbal Masih’s legacy and help end child labor.