tzen xing
Brick workers
For millions of brick workers in Bangladesh, life is incredibly hard. In the 8,000 brick fields, according to the United Nations Development Program, men and women carry loads of bricks on their heads for 8 or more hours a day. Each brick weighs about 2.5 kilos (5.5 lbs), and many workers carry between 10-20 bricks up to 30 kilos per load. For this grueling work, they get paid about US$2-3 a day. The kilns used for baking the bricks burn wood and coal, even plastic and tires, spewing toxic pollutants, smoke and ash. Their day long exposure to so much environmental pollutants, smoke, heat and dust without any protective equipment cause many workers to suffer from lung diseases like asthma, bronchitis, silicosis and cancer, as well as skin diseases and injuries due to falling bricks. Debt bondage forces many workers to labor under such hazardous and punishing conditions. Often, entire families with children old enough to work, labor for years, trapped in a spiraling cycle of poverty to pay off their debts to the bosses /moneylenders. But they are not the only victims. Massive deforestation to supply wood for the kilns has worsened environmental pollution in the country. According to the Bangladeshi Dept. of Environment, about 4,000 kilns burn about 2 million tons each of both wood and coal every year. It was heart-breaking for me to see the exploitation and suffering of the brick workers, and it moved me to tell their story.
Brick workers
For millions of brick workers in Bangladesh, life is incredibly hard. In the 8,000 brick fields, according to the United Nations Development Program, men and women carry loads of bricks on their heads for 8 or more hours a day. Each brick weighs about 2.5 kilos (5.5 lbs), and many workers carry between 10-20 bricks up to 30 kilos per load. For this grueling work, they get paid about US$2-3 a day. The kilns used for baking the bricks burn wood and coal, even plastic and tires, spewing toxic pollutants, smoke and ash. Their day long exposure to so much environmental pollutants, smoke, heat and dust without any protective equipment cause many workers to suffer from lung diseases like asthma, bronchitis, silicosis and cancer, as well as skin diseases and injuries due to falling bricks. Debt bondage forces many workers to labor under such hazardous and punishing conditions. Often, entire families with children old enough to work, labor for years, trapped in a spiraling cycle of poverty to pay off their debts to the bosses /moneylenders. But they are not the only victims. Massive deforestation to supply wood for the kilns has worsened environmental pollution in the country. According to the Bangladeshi Dept. of Environment, about 4,000 kilns burn about 2 million tons each of both wood and coal every year. It was heart-breaking for me to see the exploitation and suffering of the brick workers, and it moved me to tell their story.