Girl Rising Page #4

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what it was like to be a kamlari.

And as we talked we began to

realize that bonded labor was,

and isn't it - slavery.

The teachers who ran the night class

began to go from house to house.

There is a small girl working here.

- I am here to take her.

- Why?

They wanted to liberate us.

One teacher, Sita Didi, told my

master that he was breaking the law

by keeping me as a kamlari.

She talked about the law

against bonded labor,

and the law about children's rights,

and the law on labor rights,

and the law against domestic

violence and trafficking.

She talked to him about

justice and injustice.

And she demanded

that he set me free.

My master said no.

Once maid a bond

couldn't be broken.

Sita Didi didn't give up.

She kept arguing.

She came back day after day.

And in the end she'd led me

home to my mother and father.

I am my own master now.

I have no mistress.

I was the last bonded

worker in my family.

After me, everyone will be free.

I feel as though I have power.

I feel like I can do anything.

And I have important

things to do.

Inside this house

is a girl like I was.

Away from her parents,

working morning to night.

Wanting so badly to be free.

We have come to this house,

the house of her master

to say - We know you have

a kamlari working for you.

You must set her free.

I've seen where change comes from.

When it comes it's like a song

you can't hold back.

Suddenly there's a breath

moving through you and...

You're singing.

And others pick up the tune

and start singing too.

And the sweet melody

goes out into the world

and touches the

heart of one person.

Then another.

And another.

The practice of kamlari has been

illegal in Nepal since 2000.

Now with the help of girls like Suma

it's finally coming to an end.

For Suma it is not enough

that she herself is free.

She's using her education to make

sure all girls are getting to school.

Because Suma knows that

when parents have to choose

they usually choose

to educate the boys.

So girls have less opportunity.

Less freedom.

And less education than the

boys they grow up with.

This means that girls suffer

more hunger,

more violence

and more disease.

It's a simple fact:

There is nobody more

vulnerable than a girl.

In far too much of the world girls

still suffer uspeakable things.

Girls like Yasmin.

YASMIN,

Egypt

Sit here.

I'm Sergeant Saif.

This is Officer Mansoor.

How old are you?

12.

Do you go to school?

No.

We have no money

to send a girl to school.

She works with me.

What do you do?

We sell tea by the

Sixth of October Bridge.

And your husband?

Jail.

She's just a street kid.

No, I'm not a street kid!

She's probably trying

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