Hello, I’m Steven Walley, managing director of London Stone.  I recently returned from a trip to Budhpura where I met some of the driving forces behind the project we are supporting to create child labour free zones in Budhpura.

The project to create child labour free zones in Budhpura enjoys wide ranging support from a range of different stakeholders.  Western corporate companies like Stoneasy and London Stone, Western NGO’s, Stop Child Labour and ICN, and local NGO’s in India like Manjari and ARAVALI.  Without these multi stakeholder groups it would simply not be possible to deliver lasting change in Budhpura.  These organisation provide expertise, leverage, funds and motivation that are not always available locally.  These external groups though only tell one side of the story.  What about all the people who live within the project area, who are a part of the local community and whom this project is having a positive effect on?  To these people, Child Labour Free Zones (CLFZ)  is far more than just an ethical project, it’s their lives.

Hello, My name is Steven Walley, I’m the Managing Director of London Stone, a UK based natural stone importer and supplier.

No Child Left Behind is a 6 part blog series, written to educate and inform the industry about the root causes of child labour in the Indian Sandstone industry.  The blog also aims to raise awareness of the amazing community led initiatives that are slowly succeeding in eradicating child labour in Budhpura and the surrounding villages and hamlets, where the majority of Sandstone Setts, destined for UK and European markets, are produced.

Last month you heard from Bram Callewier, Director of Belgium based stone importer, Stoneasy.  Bram’s informative blog talked about the historical context of how western companies got involved in the Indian Sandstone industry and how little our understanding was of ethical issues in those “early days”.  You’re now reading part 2 of the 6 part series.  I’m going to be talking about Manjari.  Manjari are the Budhpura based NGO playing a pivotal role in establishing child labour free zones in Budhpura and the surrounding villages & hamlets.  But first, before we go any further we need to understand the complexity of the root causes of child labour.