Dikpak Dong Age 16 - former child weaver now attending vocational training in carpentry

"When I was working, I lived in a small, dark room, and I had to work from 4 in the morning until 9 at night. Now I am studying carpentry and my days run from 9 to 5."

"RugMark has given me a future, and I want to be a skilled carpenter and earn a lot of money. Now, I can read and write and nobody can dominate me again."

My name is Dipak Dong. I am 16 years old and from Phaparbari village of Makawanpur district – a remote hilly region in the Central Development Region of Nepal, about 350 - 400 km from Kathmandu.

My family is very poor and my father died when I was small. After my father's death, my mother remarried. My new family was very cruel to me, and I was sent to work with a broker in the rug factory when I was 13 years of age. I have lived in the RugMark rehabilitation centre since 2004, and I don’t want to go back home.

When I was working, I lived in a small, dark room, and I had to work from 4 in the morning until 9 at night. Now I am studying carpentry and my day's runs from 9 to 5. I used to be shouted at all the time, and the food I ate was terrible. I was neglected and hated; nobody loved or cared for me, and there was no opportunity for me to study.

RugMark has given me a future, and I want to be a skilled carpenter and earn a lot of money. Now, I can read and write and nobody can dominate me again.