Iqbal Masih was a Pakistani boy, living life in a nightmare. At the age of four, his father sold him to a carpet store for twelve dollars. He was a slave, and worked on looms until the age of ten. He escaped, and was eventually saved by Ehsan Ulla Khan, founder of the Bondage Labor Liberation Front.
Iqbal suffered while working on the loom, and he refused to go back. He was both verbally and physically abused, and not well fed. Every night, he was chained to his carpet loom, on which he worked for over twelve hours a day. Because he had to bend over for so many hours, his back became curved, causing him to stop growing. His lungs were affected as well. Because he inhaled a lot of dust from the factory, he had a hard time breathing. After Iqbal was rescued, he became a member of the Bondage Labor Liberation Front, or BLLF. His speeches raised a lot of interest within Pakistan as to the labor conditions. Iqbal’s began speaking internationally, making him a hero at the age of twelve! He was awarded the Reebok Human Rights Youth Award.

Most people think that children are not mature enough to make a difference, but clearly, Iqbal’s actions prove that kids do matter.

Then, on April 16, 1995, Easter Sunday, Iqbal was murdered. News went flying around about the death of Iqbal Masih. The only thing that we can guess is that the Carpet Mafia murdered him, because Iqbals’ protests had decreased the profits of the carpet mills. They wanted his impact to end, so they shot him with a rifle. He was just a normal twelve-year-old boy with a dream to help others.

Iqbal’s speeches still live on today. Our world is still cruel and filled with hatred, but, because of people like Iqbal, we show that we can change it. Iqbal was truly an amazing person. He is definitely a great hero.

Stephanie and Audrey

The first time he became aware of the various struggles of living in a third world country was when Cyclone Aila caught his attention and he started reading about it in newspapers. His relatives in Bangladesh informed him of the devastating effects the cyclone has had on the nearby villages. Naim learnt that the biggest threat the villagers faced was the lack of pure drinking water. Further research into the matter revealed that arsenic runs beneath the soils of Gopalgonj and contaminates the wells and aquifers. Cyclones like Aila further worsen the situation. He realized that a feasible solution to the problem would be drilling as many tube wells as possible in arsenic free areas before further poison seeps into the ground water. He laid down the ground works of a tube well drilling project and decided to bear part of the cost of the project himself. He used all the money he had earned by working as an intern in a law firm called Denton Wilde Sapte in Kuwait for the construction of one tube well. However one tube well was not enough for bringing about a significant change in the lives of the villagers. Thus Naim decided to raise money to build more tube wells by asking for donations. He drafted brochures to reel in funds from sympathetic organizations. He was extremely surprised at the overwhelming response of many engineering consultant firms. PSC, Khaled Khorafi, GEC Dar (all engineering consultants) contributed to the project with absolutely no insurance of return. They only looked forward to Naim bringing back good news. Immediately after reaching Bangladesh; Naim got to work. Using his father’s contacts he hired contractors and installed five tube wells. Now, the villagers have access to safe drinking water. While working in this project; Naim also served as an intern at BRAC where he learned more deeply about the structural problems of Bangladesh. The entire trip has motivated him to carry out many more such endeavors. He is currently planning to work on the education sector of the village. Naim has a rough sketch of a project whose objective would be to develop the IT sector of the village by increasing the availability of computers and internet.

“Inspiration wasn’t really inspiration at all. What I felt was more like an obligation, and not just because I would be helping a country where my parents happened to be born. It was because I’d be helping people.” – Naim said when I asked him what had inspired him to help out the villagers in Gopalgonj. Naim, despite being just a teenager understands his civil duties towards humanity. Surely his honest efforts will make him successful in helping out many other underprivileged communities.

Writer: Ansha Zaman