I paid a visit to a brick making factory in the outskirts of Gurgaon the other day and boy, was that a visit that left a hole in my heart….I met this 16 year “old” girl who told me her age after a lot of hesitation….you see, dear reader they have got to be 18 to work and get fully paid so I guess she was 18 to everybody else. She told me that they get 500 rupees for a 1000 handmade bricks !! so the family was working together to make as many bricks as possible in a day…

bricks bricks and more bricks drying in the scorching sun

the mould for the bricks

digging out the clay…water and sand….

16 years young and with no other hope than to make a 1000 bricks so they get their 500 rupees

it sure was nice to see that they got a little giggly when I took their pictures since this was a first for them…

the dad on the other hand didn’t want to smile at all because he was nervous that me being there would get them in trouble….

necessity is the mother of all inventions…if you don’t have the money to pay for electricity for your radio there’s always the sun….wish more of us would be innovative !

this visit into reality shook my world…I have never met so many children with eye infections and in bad shape in general, and I have never met a 16 year old that only had handmade hopes, even though thousands of them, that only meant food for the day.