Young Japanese woman fighting child labour in India

Bangalore, June 18 (UNI) When women of her age were pursuing career goals in multinational companies and looking for prospective partners, Mioi Nakyami from Japan dedicated herself for eradication of child labour in India.

Born in Hiroshima, 24-year-old Mioi Nakyami had always wanted to engage in social work and strive for the welfare of children of a lesser god.

She landed in India three and a half years ago, immediately after completing her graduation, on learning that child labour had become a grave problem in this country and of the 246 million child labourers across the world, India alone accounted for 124 million.

Talking to UNI, Ms Nakyami said ''it was mindboggling to know that over 50 per cent of the total number of child labourers in the world were found in India. I wanted to fight against this menace and bring back the smile on the face of these children.'' In India, she associated herself with the Barn Art School International (BASI), a special institution set up exclusively for rehabilitation of orphaned street children and rescued child labourers.

She said the School, which received grants from the Karnataka government, used these rehabilitated children in the campaign against child labour by making them share their experiences with the affected lot. Besides, it also imparted artistic skills like painting, photography, music, theatre, contemporary dance, film making and videography to groom them into professionals, she added.

Ms Nakyami, an amateur photographer herself, said that to begin with BASI had conceived a one-year course in photography. Once a student started showing interest in the profession, he was sent for higher studies either at BASI or placed in a specialised educational institution.

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