We are pleased to inform you that the first school in Pakistan sponsored by our Association has opened. Today, its classrooms are filled with children from the poorest families living in nearby rug weaving villages. A special 'From HQ' on page 44 of this issue provides more details about this exciting development.
This pilot school is but the first to be sponsored by our Association. Plans are underway to expand support through member firms to many additional such facilities in Pakistan. I'm also very pleased to write that there are pending plans by our Association and its members to establish similar schools in India during this calendar year.
When the Association first began focusing on the child labor issue, the problem seemed insurmountable. Our industry, too, was under vigorous attack from Congress which was considering legislation that could have devastated our industry, both here and abroad. The press gave tremendous coverage to any report of abuse, often without serious scrutiny as to its veracity and validity. On the other hand, those of us who had seen first hand the conditions under which child labor existed and the incredible poverty of the rug weaving regions, knew that the problem was much more complex. Difficult socio-economic conditions, without the 'safety nets' that the West take for granted, often result in families being forced to send their children to work literally in order to survive. Although the day may come when families will not have to depend on the meager wages of their children, the situation cannot be 'legislated' away. Indeed, many of the most well meaning programs that were being proposed had the potential to do more harm than good. Despite pressure from press, government and non-government organizations, we knew that outright prohibition of child labor-even if it were possible to enforce-could cause starvation. Under these difficult conditions, it was nearly impossible to accurately measure the extent of the problem, much less identify viable ways to solve it.
Yet dedicated members of our Association and other colleagues in the industry refused to give up. Gradually it became clear that the establishment of educational programs, attacking the root of the problem, was the only long-lasting, effective and honorable way to eliminate child labor from our industry.
It is with a deep sense of pride that I congratulate and give my deepest thanks to those of you who have supported these efforts over the years. I also wish to give special thanks to those individual member companies who are unilaterally supporting similar school programs in Pakistan and other rug weaving countries.
We have turned the corner on what once was considered an intractable and potentially dangerous problem. We hope and trust that other industries will follow our initiative and take similar steps to ease the child labor situation by setting up educational and healthcare facilities.