Success Story

MAILA GOLE

Maila was born in a poor family in a village in Sindhupalchowk district and has a sad story. His mother is mentally ill and his father is dumb. He has an elder brother who does not care about his family. Poverty, combined with the family’s circumstances, prevented his younger sister from attending school.

In desperation, Maila left his home at a young age and he came to Kathmandu to try to help support his family. He ended up in a cheap café in a small alley where he worked as a dishwasher for NRS500 a month. He worked there for six months and sent money home. He left his job at the café to start working in a carpet factory as a weaver for which he was paid only NRS200 a month. He sent this money home to try to help alleviate his family’s financial crisis.

On 16 December 2004, a GoodWeave inspector from the Nepal RugMark Foundation made his regular inspection of the factory. He found Maila working there and immediately removed him from the factory and brought him to Hamro Ghar, the Foundation’s rehabilitation centre for carpet child labourers. The children are provided with residential rehabilitation and the use of all the hostel’s facilities, as well as an informal education. At the time Maila was brought to the Centre, he was illiterate.

After completing the information education offered by the Hamro Ghar Centre, Maila opted for vocational carpentry training at the Kumbeshwar Technical School (KTS) and, at the same time, he enrolled at night school to pursue his formal education, which he continued until Class 7. After successfully completing the two-year carpentry course at KTS, the Nepal RugMark Foundation found a job for him at a carpentry factory.

Today, Maila is a skilled carpenter and earns more than NRS6,000 per month. The factory owner is full of praise for Maila and states that he is a committed, honest and hardworking employee. He also adds that Maila has a keen interest in learning new skills and grasps things very quickly. He says that he has great potential to develop and earn more in the future.

Maila often expresses thanks and gratitude to the Nepal RugMark Foundation for all its efforts and for providing him with the opportunity to create his career.