SHE’S in charge of factory workers sewing clothes for 12 hours a day. She’s paid less than $35 dollars a month. And she’s a nine-year-old girl.
Meem works in a sweatshop on Dhaka Bangaldesh.
According to thestar.com , her working days run from 9am until 9pm. She gets an hour off for lunch but spends the rest of the time sitting on a concrete floor in stifling heat.
Although she works as a “sewing helper”, she sometimes has to take charge and train and supervise new staff.
She dreams of one day becoming a sewing machine operator.
“When I become a sewing operator, I will make very good shirts,” Meem told thestar.com .
“No one will yell at me.”
Meem uses the money to help her family. She also collects hair clips.
Her favourite saying is ‘Sab bhalo’ – Bengali for ‘it is all okay’.
It’s an extraordinary outlook on life for a young girl whose future looks to be in this factory, or one just like it.
“I want to work in a bigger factory one day … there is more money,” she told thestar.com .
“Maybe I should stay here always. This is so close to home.”
Photo: The Star