Afghanistan's Little Men

[Robb]

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/04/26/kids_at_work_in_afghanistan">Afghanistan's Little Men

Stopping through Mazar-e-Sharif, our correspondent witnesses one of the most disturbing side effects of the region's poverty: young boys with old faces.



(snip)

....Amin, his broad face discolored in blotches by malnutrition, comes pushing his beat-up wheelbarrow: For 20 cents he will follow you around the market and trundle your purchases to your car. If the car is far away, he will charge 40 cents.

I ask Amin how old he is. He doesn't know.

The boys don't chatter the way other kids do, don't push each other out of the way. They listen to each other talk, then offer their reserved, monosyllabic opinions about street work.

"Porter work pays better than selling plastic bags," one opines.

"You'd better move your wheelbarrow closer to the cheese row: You'd get more customers," another advises Hasan....

[BrklynLiberal]

1. -sigh- Reality sucks

[tekisui]

2. knr.

It is a heart wrenching story to read. It reminds me of the images of child laborers in the US. They were old men at 11 years old.

[Arctic Dave]

3. Unfortunately you can find kids like this in any third world country. n/t

[Left coast liberal]

4. Heartbreaking. My son is about his age. :-(