South Asia

One By One’s safe house in South Asia, provides a refuge for children who have spent most of their lives working in brutal conditions amongst brick factories. Our social workers, carers and house parents are fully trained to provide holistic and restorative care to bring hope and life to these precious boys and girls, as well as full-time education with our partner school.

The safe house opened with almost 40 children in May 2019 after funds for the project were donated within twelve months. Many of the children joining the home have physical injuries due to the tough conditions they have worked in for most of their lives. We have so far rescued 85 children from brick factory bonded labour in South Asia.

There are approximately 152,700 brick kilns in South Asia, where adults and children are often duped into bonded labour by factory owners who give them loans. Families agree to work to pay off the debt but bosses add high interest and living expenses – making the debts impossible to pay off. Salaries for adults – who are forced to work at least 14 hours per day in brutal conditions – can be as low as $5 per day.

One By One recently launched an outreach project in South Asia and is now reaching more than 1,500 children every week across 65 brick factories, spreading hope and good news.

In 2021, three-year-old Mercy was brutally raped and killed at a brick factory near our safe house. Her body was left dumped in an office and when our team arrived, it was sadly too late. In September 2021 we launched Operation Mercy, where we extended our safe house and welcomed another 30 girls.

The brick kiln industry in South Asia is vast with an estimated 21% of the worlds bricks made there. Over 16 million people are employed in more than 150,000 active kilns across the region. It is an incredibly challenging and exploitative work environment for people and especially children.

One By One is working in partnership with individuals across the world to help raise these precious children in a loving, caring environment.

We’re asking you to consider stepping in today and helping those who are bricked in by slavery. It is not currently safe for us to take team trips to South Asia, but there are ways you can get involved:

Give – A small amount of money can make a huge difference. Would you consider either a one-off gift towards our South Asia project. Or could you become a freedom builder, and make a monthly pledge to help us in the fight?