
2020 has been a year of hardships for so many, especially those enslaved in the brickyards. What better time than now to give hope to these communities, the hardest hit among us? This holiday season, we would love for you to join us in giving the gift that makes a difference--the difference of hope and a future in someone else's life. We have a list of amazing gifts that will bring significant change to a woman, child, or family hoping to make their way out of brickyard slavery.
We all know that after a year like this, we don't need another trinket under the tree. Instead of traditional gift-giving (or along with it!), we invite you give a donation in someone else's name as a way to show love this holiday season. Your friends and family will be honored that you chose to make an impact in such a meaningful way on their behalf. Plus, they get to be a part of something much bigger than what is happening in front of them. What a gift!
There are lots of ways to contribute, just pick out something from the list below that brings you joy to give, and in the donation form be sure to make a note of which gift you'd like to give this holiday. We can't wait to see what you choose!
Give the Gift of Education
Over 80% of children working in the brickyards are uneducated and illiterate, ensuring that they never move beyond slavery. Without an education, their options for a sustainable life outside of the brickyards are limited. For kids growing up in the brickyards, education is their biggest hope.
We are actively opening new schools as frequently as possible within the brickyards to provide access to education for as many children as possible. Our schools offer a K-5th grade public school education that focuses on reading and writing. With each school we open we have new opportunities to reach more families, educate more kids, and employ new teachers.
Young women in the brickyards are particularly vulnerable to abuse, violence, persecution, and trafficking. With that in mind, we have begun opening all-girls trade schools to provide a safe, practical educational opportunity for young women to find a path out of the brickyards.
How to Give the Gift of Education:
- Educate a child for a semester for just $25
- Educate a child for a year for $50
- Educate an entire classroom for a month for $250
- Educate an entire classroom for a year for $2500
Give the Gift of Liberation
In our work, we encounter many young women who are facing the worst of the hardships that bonded laborers are subjected to. Many of them are under threat of being trafficked, sold for organ harvesting, being beaten, and being starved. The physical and emotional toll is overwhelming. This is why we have launched Anna’s House, a safe home of restoration for these women and their families.
Our first home is called "Anna's House." Anna means “Grace” - empowerment to change; to move forward. Our goal is to help women at risk find grace and empowerment through emotional and physical support, as well as trade skill training to help them move into the future with everything they need to thrive.
The goal of Anna's House is restoration for the whole family unit. During their stay at Anna’s House, we provide families with shelter, food, clothing, and training so they can become self-supporting. After their stay with us, we help relocate them to their own homes and establish them in a job. We continue to support these families with regular check-ins from our staff after they leave Anna’s House.
How to Give the Gift of Liberation:
- Provide a year of medical insurance to someone in Anna's House for just $25
- Provide legal assistance to a victim of human rights violations for $50
- Sponsor a family's month of stay at Anna's House for $250
- Help liberate a family from the brickyard for $500
Give the Gift of Innovation
The issue of bonded labor is not just an issue of morality, it's a systemic problem built into the system of the brickmaking industry. Freeing families is not enough if the system isn't changed in the process. At All People Free we want to end slavery, which means addressing the parts of the brickmaking system that rely on and encourage slave labor.
We are constantly searching for new and innovative ways to make the brickyards in Pakistan profitable without relying on human slavery for production. We aim to invest in good people and good methods to ensure brickyards are run in a way that is beneficial to the brickyard owners and their employees, without the use of inhumane labor practices. Ultimately, we aim to buy a brickyard to run a prototype system, modeling a more efficient and humane way of making bricks!
In the long term, this means we'll be changing the very heart of how brick making is done, creating desirable jobs with fair wages, and investing in communities from the ground up.
How to Give the Gift of Innovation:
- Sponsor one month of trade school tuition for one student for just $25
- Buy a sewing student a sewing machine for $75
- Sponsor a new food cart business for a trade school student for $300
- Sponsor a new rickshaw business for a trade school student for $1500