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GIRL RISING - IN PRODUCTION:
Stories From The Field
During the production of Girl Rising
we interviewed remarkable girls across nine countries
In Nepal, we met dozens of
girls, including Suma
who had been liberated from indentured servitude.
Here are some of their stories.
I knew they were
coming to take me.
I cried the whole day,
hoping the car would
never come, but it came.
I didn't even know where I was
going or who the people were.
My parents simply said
I had to go and work.
We were so poor.
My mother tried to make
me feel better by saying
that if I became a Kamlari,
at least my brothers
and sisters would
have food to eat.
They are known as Kamlari girls
I was a Kamlari for six years.
I was sold when I
was 6 years old.
I became a Kamlari
when I was 13.
I was sent to work as
a Kamlari at age 10,
like my mother before me.
My day started at
4 in the morning
when the landlord's
wife woke me up.
I worked all day
and into the night.
The house I was sent to
was barricaded with a fence
and I wasn't allowed
to go outside.
Even though I wanted to
run away, I couldn't.
Though the practice
was outlawed in 2006,
more than 20,000 Nepali girls
still work as Kamlaris.
When girls like me become
Kamlaris, we have to deal
with a lot of violence, physical
violence and sexual violence.
I thought I would spend my
whole life as a Kamlari.
With the support of local and
international organizations,
Kamlari girls are getting
a second chance.
When they told me they would
help me go back to school,
that was the happiest
moment of my life.
If I'm given the chance,
I'll continue to study
for the rest of my life.
I want to be a teacher.
I want to free all the
Kamlaris and make sure
that they are sent
back to school.
Asha, Sita and Suma are
back in school and active in
the movement to end the Kamlari tradition.
My parents only paid
attention to their sons.
They only educated their sons
- but I have changed this.
I said to my parents,
"Treat us all the same.
"Treat me the way you
would treat your son."
And gradually, my mother and
father have started to change.
ONE GIRL WITH COURAGE
IS A REVOLUTION
TO SCREEN THE FULL FILM
go to www.GIRLRISING.COM