Through the CIRCLE project, DWAY launched its pilot project Reducing Child Labor through Awareness and Indigenous Mobilization (RECLAIM). One of the first activities initiated was a child labor survey of the target area. During the child labor survey in the Sabzi Mandi (Fruit Market), one of the most extensive child labor areas in Bannu, some of the child laborers showed strong interest in education and even requested that DWAY open a school in Sabzi Mandi. The children stated they could not afford to go to formal school or any other non-formal school outside of the market area. The project team discussed their findings and evaluated various alternatives for educating the children in the market. Finally, the decision was made to open a school in the market area, but with the majority of the financial contributions coming from shopkeepers and shop owners in Sabzi Mandi.

The school inauguration was unique to the community. On inauguration day, the project team showed a video documentary of the “Child Labor Survey of Child Laborers in the Sabzi Mandi” with the aim of sensitizing residents on the situation and boosting the self-esteem of the children. After viewing the film, a walk was initiated to the book market situated in the main market two kilometers away from Sabzi Mandi. There the children received books for school. Following this, the participants went through the main Bazaar to the site of the school in Sabzi Mandi. This walk resulted in heightened awareness about child labor in the main area of the city. The first day of school was held and approximately 40 children attended from the market.

The venue of the school is also interesting to note. It is under an old Banyan tree in the sheep and goat market. It was rewarding to see these children in dirty clothes and with dirty faces and in their work places attending school. These children were formerly seen and perceived only as shopping bag sellers, “urbana” drivers, tomato and onion sellers, Mirch and Pudina sellers, shoe polishers, and water fetchers. Today, the children are students and enjoying being children again. Most of the people who visited the school acknowledge this as an eye-opening experience. On the fourth day of classes, Haji Arifullah, the owner of several shops in the Sabzi Mandi donated a safer place for the school to hold classes. The project has begun to touch the lives of the children of the market and open the eyes of those working and visiting the market as well.

Funding provided by the United States Department of Labor under cooperative agreements E-9-K-2-0048 and E-9-K-4-0005.
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