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“I sold my daughter to feed the rest of my family†|
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(originally posted at MWC News)
[Editor's Note: Stories like this underscore the need for aid to countries we have military operations in. War disproportionately affects the poor. -- Jason Rosenbaum]
Sayed Ali (not his real name) said he sold his 11-year-old daughter, Rabia, for US$2,000 to a man in Sheberghan city, Jawzjan Province in northern Afghanistan to feed his wife and three younger children.
With food prices in Afghanistan having soared over the past few months and the 40-year-old father unable to find work, he said had no other choice but to sell his daughter to save his family from starvation.
“Even animals don’t sell their children, because they love them and want to die for them, not to mention human beings. For too many days I stood next to roads and asked people for work, but always ended up disappointed. I couldn’t go home empty-handed and disappoint my starving children, so I used to scavenge in garbage and collect leftover food.
“I would lie to my family and say I bought them food from the market. But now it’s even hard to find anything edible in the garbage because of [increasing] food prices. People now eat all their food because it’s very expensive and also the numbers of those who scavenge in garbage has increased.
“Because I am illiterate, no one will give me a job. I am illiterate because of war and poverty. I didn’t go to school because my parents wanted me to work. My children also don’t go to school and they’ll also be brought up illiterate like me.
“How can someone sell his own child? It’s like selling your eyes or selling your heart!
“As no one would give me work I had no other option but to sell my lovely daughter. I sold her only to save the rest of my family. I sold her only to buy food for my younger children who otherwise would have died from hunger.
“I know people will say I am a cruel and merciless father who sold his own child, but those who say so don’t know my hardship and have never felt the hunger that my family suffers.
“I know other poor people who don’t have children and say, if necessary, they will blow themselves up [in a suicide attack] and kill other people in order to feed their families.
“I hope the government will hear my voice and help people like me to find jobs and feed our families.â€
Copyright © IRIN 2008. All rights reserved.
This is NOT uncommon. I have a brother who recently returned from active duty in Afghanistan and his stories mirrored this one. He told me of an 11 year old girl who sold fruit in a village in southern Afghanistan. She was crosseyed and was earning money for her family instead of going to school. One day my brother came by to buy fruit from her and she was gone. The men standing around the village told him not to think about it. This, according to culture, ment that she had been killed because her mouth was too expendive to feed and she wasn’t earning enought to justify her existance in the family.
Also, many women in Afghanistan are considered disposable property. If two many daughters are born, one will die to provide enough food for the son. War always effects women and children the hardest.
**for a glimpse into the terrors of women and children living in Germany in WWII, watch “Germany, Pale mother” (Deutschland, bleiche mutter)**