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Home > Campaign to End Child Labor > Calendar of Events > Young Heroes: Voices of RugMark Children

Young Heroes: Voices of RugMark Children

The Most Beautiful Rug Campaign Comes to Life!

April 10-17, 2007

As part of The Most Beautiful Rug awareness campaign, RugMark proudly hosted a speaking tour, Young Heroes: Voices of RugMark Children.

Sanita Lama and Jaya Bhandari, two former child weavers from Nepal, traveled throughout the East Coast to tell their stories firsthand. Sanita and Jaya were found working in carpet factories in Kathmandu and rescued by RugMark inspectors at ages 10 and 11 respectively. With RugMark's ongoing support, they are now in school at 19 years old.

Sanita and Jaya represent more than 3,000 children that RugMark has rescued from carpet looms. But, nearly 300,000 children are still exploited by the carpet industry.

In sharing Sanita and Jaya's stories, RugMark's Young Heroes tour sought to educate American consumers about child servitude and the human impact of individual purchasing power.

RugMark is deeply grateful to our Young Heroes tour event hosts: Domini Social Investments, Odegard Miami, Odegard New York, Maureen Orth, Tisch College at Tufts University, The University of Miami and Walden Asset Management.

The Young Heroes tour was made possible by the generous sponsorship of Humanity United, Ramsay Merriam Fund and Donna E. Shalala via Kaiser Family Foundation.

How can you get involved?

1. Buy a certified rug.

2. Tell a friend.

3. Become a sponsor.

4. Make a donation.

"Education shows us the real beauty of the world. I hope that all the children of the world can have freedom and the golden chance for education." -Jaya Bhandari

"I feel as if I've been given a new birth in this life."
- Sanita Lama

**Tour News**
Children Carpet Makers April 26, 2007 Listen to Broadcast Voice of America News (in Hindi) April 28, 2007 Voice of America Listen to Broadcast Fabric of Life by Michelle Weinberg April 25, 2007 MiamiSunPost.com Former Child Slaves Share Their Stories by Joanna Suarez April 20, 2007 themiamihurricane.com View Article	Newsvision April 17, 2007 University of Miami Listen to Broadcast Former Child Laborers Speak Out About Their Experiences by Kat Schmidt April 11, 2007 tuftsdaily.com View Article RugMark Young Heroes Tour by Massa Cressall April 10-18, 2007 View Blog Who Weaves Your Rugs? by Michael Cannell April 9-12, 2007 View Blog	Art Auction to Benefit Rugmark April 5, 2007 Furniture Today View Article Tufts Alumna Battles Child Labor in South Asia April 2007 Tisch College The Active Citizen View Article Odegard Charity Gala and Art Auction to Benefit the Rugmark Foundation March 31, 2007 RugNews.com View Article On U.S. Tour, Former Child Carpet Slaves Tell All by Meaghan O'Neill March 30, 2007 View Article

**Tour Events**
Tufts University Event Tuesday, April 10th, Medford, Massachusetts	Odegard Benefit Concert with Marvin Hamlisch Wednesday, April 11th, New York, New York
	©Romano www.StolenChildhoods.org www.RomanoPhotography.com ©Romano www.StolenChildhoods.org www.RomanoPhotography.com

University of Miami Reception & Program Monday, April 16th, Coral Gables, Florida	Odegard Benefit - Miami Tuesday, April 17th, Miami, Florida
	Photo courtesy of David Heischrek Photo courtesy of David Heischrek