Group targets child slavery in carpet industry

The Indian carpet industry is hiding something, and we're not talking about the stains or scratches on your flooring.

While the arabesque rugs produced in the Uttar Pradesh region of India are noted for their beauty, many believe that the manufacturing of these carpets also relies on brutality and ugliness. Taking advantage of cheap labor, rug and carpet producers often employ young children and subject them to a life of poverty.

The children trapped in the Indian carpet industry are in dire straits, but they are not without hope.

On the other side of the world, in a suburb far removed from Uttar Pradesh, Waahid Azizuddin, a freshman at Oak Park High School, is launching a crusade that he hopes will alleviate child slavery in the Indian rug business.

Utilizing his love for basketball, Azizuddin is organizing a hoop-a-thon fundraiser to benefit the Rugmark Rehabilitation and Education Center.

Rugmark is a global nonprofit organization that hopes to eradicate child labor in the carpet industry by offering education opportunities, training and support to former bonded child laborers.

A $100 donation to the Rugmark organization is enough to free and reeducate one child bonded to the carpet industry, Azizuddin said.

"Everybody should have an education," said Azizuddin. "If they had an education, they wouldn't be exploited like this."

At the April 30 hoop-a-thon, Azizuddin is hoping to raise $2,500 by requiring each participant in the basketball skills contest to donate $10 or earn a sponsorship in the same amount. All donations will be tax deductible. Azizuddin is offering participants a chance to shoot 20 free throws. The sharpest shooter will walk away with a gift certificate to a local business.

According to Rugmark, there are about 150,000 children trapped in the Uttar Pradesh labor market. Their wages, education and training are minimal.

The organization dissuades carpet manufactures from using child laborers by offering a seal of approval (the Rugmark logo) on products that are constructed without the use of a child workforce.

The Oak Park High event is sponsored by Our Voices Together, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization founded by several families of 9/11 victims who are dedicated to creating a more compassionate world.

The organization sponsors charitable events across the nation and hopes to battle potential terrorism not with bullets, but with goodwill.

One of the goals of Our Voices Together is to eliminate conditions such as extreme poverty that allow terrorism to grow.

"I was attracted to the compassion shown by the charity group," Azizuddin said.

The April 30 event takes place from 2 to 6 p.m. at the Oak Park High School gym.

Those interested in participating can sign up online at www.ourvoicestogether.org/ hoops.

To find out more information about the Rugmark organization visit www.rugmark.org.