





A little sparkle in your cosmetics sure makes your skin pop. But your eye shadow and moisturizing lotion probably have that gorgeous, shimmering effect thanks to child slavery.

One of the most common ingredients in makeup is mica, a glittery silicate mineral that’s included in everything from eye shadow and blush to lipstick and moisturizing lotion. About 60 percent of mica comes from the Jharkhand region of India and is mined by kids. To help protect those children, Made in a Free World India, a nonprofit antislavery organization, has started a project it’s calling Safe Villages.

The initiative will enable kids, as the Made in a Free World India website states, to “spend their days inside schools instead of inside mines.” According to the site, children who have been forced into the dangerous mines will be identified and protected from having to collect mica.

Because of the crushing poverty around the mines, parents are compelled to send their sons and daughters into the mines. However, according to the project, a mere $50, less than what you might spend on to-go cups of coffee in a month, can replace what kids would earn gathering mica in a year, thus allowing them to attend school.

Made in a Free World India plans to start by creating five safe villages. Along with ensuring the kids go to school, the project will also give them bicycles so they can get there safely. Because changing the community’s mind-set is also critical to shutting down child slavery, Made in a Free World India is also educating parents about the problem.

Given the thousands of tons of mica demanded by the cosmetics industry, tackling the illegal enslavement of children is an enormous challenge, and Made in a Free World India says it can’t do it alone. If individuals take the initiative and launch fund-raising efforts to sponsor more safe villages, the organization says it can further expand its efforts. That means freedom for the kids who’ve been forced to make us shine.