Brickmakers speak out

Due to the sensitivity of this issue, faces are blurred to protect identities of local workers

Brickmaker factory owners in South Asia are notorious for their mistreatment of workers. Despite official legal protection, many families are trapped through oppressive bonded labour arrangements. Amplifying Voices Pakistan and their new local partner, Community Media Power, visited brickmaking communities near Nowshera, Pakistan this month. They were speaking to local brick workers when an ’overseer’ from one of the plants came by and tried to intimidate the team to stop them recording interviews. The workers were being very careful about the level of detail they gave, but they were willing to speak and talk about their situations, so the team continued with the interviews.

Interviewing Bacha Khan

However, one of the brickmaking plant owners, known locally as Bacha Khan (or respected elder), has a different approach. He listened as the workers shared their situations. Rather than deny the issues, he acknowledged that brick workers and their families are poor and with poverty combined with the physical isolation of the brick plants, brick workers and their families often can’t access health or education services. He is keen to see this changed. He sees the potential in brickmaker voices being heard over the radio programmes. Potential to highlight the issues brickmakers face, to build local confidence to address some of these issues themselves, and also to encourage more services to come into these isolated communities.

Having grown up as a child in a poor family, Bacha Khan knows the brickmakers’ experience first hand. But now he is a “Jirga” leader and an important figure, he welcomed the media team into his “Hujra” and even offered them his protection has they travel in the area (both important and binding ways of showing hospitality in the Pakhtun culture).

It is currently Dengue season in the Nowshera region, and when brickmakers or their family members get sick, they cannot meet their quotas and lose income. Community Media Power decided to make a programme about preventing Dengue Fever. In preparation, they went to the nearest government hospital (which is still quite a distance for people to reach on foot). They interviewed the medical superintendent who had already heard rumours about the new media project. He said he was delighted to hear that Community Media Power was working in the brickmaking areas and amplifying community voices. He hoped this would also give him support to advocate for better medical and education service provision for the brickmaker communities.

Interviewing a dengue patient, Nowshera

It is really encouraging to hear powerful stakeholders like Bacha Khan and the Medical Superintendent going against the norm raising their own voices in support of these communities and by encouraging community voices to speak out and make a difference.

Amplifying Voices Pakistan is working with Community Media Power in two communities near Nowshera. They have trained teams in each village to make short community-centred radio programmes to be aired on a local FM station. Currently the programmes are distributed as podcasts via WhatsApp to build community interest and involvement, and to help the production teams build their new production skills.