By Rebecca Shaloff | Director of Development and Partnerships
Dear GlobalGivers,
Every year around this time, we pause to remember one young boy whose story is so captivating that it launched the organization behind this project.
Iqbal’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. Rare footage of him during this time is shared in the link in this report.
On April 16, Easter Sunday 1995, Iqbal was brutally murdered. His voice silenced by the carpet mafia he exposed.
Iqbal is gone, but his legacy lives on. It lives on in this project that you so generously support.
Thank you,
Rebecca
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