Bonded child laborers are children working against debt taken by themselves or their family members, or working against any social obligation without or with the children’s consent, under conditions that restrain their freedom and development, making them vulnerable to physical and other forms of abuse, and depriving them of their basic rights. - CWA Task Force on Bonded Child Labor, October 2001

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His hands are gripping
the bars of discrimination;
Yet, his hopeful eye stares
at the world, pleading
through his serene lips,
an appeal to free him.
It’s been ages
since he has last seen
the visage
of the world outside.
Life is more
like a death there.
He can no longer breathe
just to survive.
The only mode of his recreation,
is hoping against the hope.
Can anyone predict,
the fate of his faith?
Can anyone measure,
the faith of his fate?
But often, he daydreams,
imagining himself in the school
he used to go, now, no more.
When he remember those days,
confusion is all he gets, and
he cries till his tears run dry.
He is the bonded labor
and he couldn’t do anything
but pray that hopefully,
he would again go back
to the school like he used to.


Copyright 2004 Bhuwan Thapaliya