"You see, for Iqbal I was not invisible. I existed, and he made me
free."
For Fatima and the other unseen children of Hussain Khan's carpet
factory, Iqbal Masih's arrival is the end of hope and its beginning. It
is Iqbal who tells them that their family's debt will never be
cancelled, no matter how many inches of progress they make in their
rugs, no matter how neat the knots or perfect the pattern. But it is
also Iqbal who is brave enough to talk about the future. "Fatima," he
promises, "next spring you and I are going to go and fly a kite.
Remember that, whatever happens."
This is the story of the real Iqbal: a courageous thirteen-year-old
boy who knew that his life was worth more than a rug, that chaining
children to looms to work hours without rest was not right, and that
there was a way to stop the abuse.