Iqbal Masih

By: Harley Sirovyak Age: 11 Grade: 5 October 30, 2012

What were you doing when you were four? Playing with your parents? Well, Iqbal wasnt. He was working at a horrendous carpet factory. Iqbal Masih was born in Pakistan in 1982. At the age of four, he was sold to the horrible carpet factory. He was sold for the equivalent of 12 U.S. dollars. His working conditions were beyond harsh. If he, or any other child in the factory, made a small mistake, they were whipped. They were barley fed to keep their fingers small. Smaller fingers meant better carpet weaving. Iqbal escaped the horrid carpet factory at the age of ten. That was six years of working at the carpet factory! He completed six years of school in two years. He traveled to America afterword. He went from school to school asking for whatever they could give. Later, he went back to Pakistan to continue his cause. He was shot and killed in front of his grandmothers house. Iqbal left a great legacy. He opened up minds to the horrible conditions of that one carpet factory and had kids help him by giving whatever they could. Why did he go back to Pakistan, although he knew what was coming? I have to finish what I started. This great quote struck a chord with a school that later, after Iqbals death, raised enough money to build eight schools for Iqbal around the world. You can help stop child slavery, just like Iqbal.