GoodWeave's Hamro Ghar ('Our Home')

One of the very powerful projects Traid funds is delivered by GoodWeave which works to end child labour in textile supply chains, particularly weaving and rug making.

A life changing part of this work is focused on supporting rescued former child labourers in Nepal in the transit home ‘Hamro Ghar’ – which means ‘Our Home’. It’s a successful centre-based programme run by the Nepal Goodweave Foundation providing temporary shelter and support for children while their families are found.

Students engage with their lessons at Hamro Ghar. Photo credit: GoodWeave International

Here, children recover from being exploited in often brutal conditions as child labourers and the home aims to reintegrate every child back into school and society. In the first six-months of the project currently funded by Traid, there are 13 former child labourers rescued by Goodweave officers at Hamro Ghar, while 46 former child labourers, have now been reintegrated with their families. It’s hugely important work.

Children at Hamro Ghar have been removed from exploitative labour, and arrive with deep trauma, and physical, emotional, and psychological challenges. The home offers rescued children an inclusive safe environment and their first contact is with a female counsellor to introduce them to the home. Staff and teachers at the transit home are all centred on supporting the well-being of every child to build trust and a sense of community through play, recreational activities like sport, and education.

Karate Upgrading program of children at Transit Home. Photo credit: GoodWeave International

It can be challenging work. Some children have worked for several years in abusive harsh environments being treated as mini adults. They don’t know how to play and are often initially uninterested in learning. Engagement with these children can be hard as they are used to disappearing into their phones to escape.

Education based on Montessori learning – a child centred hands-on approach – is one of the school’s most important pathways, and a key goal is to reintegrate children into formal education. Vocational education is also part of the programme. The transit home collaborates with both an elite boarding school in Kathmandu, and the Nepal Vocational Academy creating pathways for children into secondary education, or sustainable employment such as plumbing or chef training.

The home employs some staff members who were former child labourers, and vitally, these survivors have and continue to shape the programme. Ensuring that lived experience informs the work demonstrates to trafficked children that there can be an alternative brighter future and provides children with contact with people who have empathy and understanding of their situation and difficulties they face.

One of the staff members in Nepal working on this project is Hem Moktan, a former child labourer, rescued by a Goodweave inspector in 2016 after working for three years in a rug factory. Hem experienced severe abuse and was brought to live at the Hamro Ghar transit home where he received counselling, schooling and support. He excelled at school, and when he left the home Goodweave paid for him to continue his education.

*Hem Moktan, at Hamro Ghar, GoodWeave’s transit home for rescued child laborers in Kathmandu*.

Today, Hem works as a Child Development Officer for GoodWeave, rescuing children, supporting them at the transit home and speaking about his story around the world which you can find out more about here. Hem embodies hope and inspiration for former child labourers, including the 13 rescued children who right now are being provided with care and support at the Hamro Ghar transit home.