Sympathy Pain

I was driving in, listening to the radio, when I heard this story. It got to me, so I wanted to share alittle world view today…

In Kabul’s trendy Shahre-Naw neighborhood, Jamal, a waif of a salesman in faded pink boots, is hawking gum for about 20 cents. Determined to score a sale, no matter what, he chases after pedestrians and darts in and out of snarled traffic.

“I’m a little scared of the cars,” he says. “One hit me coming the wrong way down the street. But I wasn’t hurt too bad.”

Jamal says he has worked on this corner for four years.

Kabul is the capital and largest city in Afghanistan. It has a population of about 3 million. So street salesman shouldn’t be surprising, right? Now consider that Jamal is 10 years old. He’s been selling on this street corner since he was 6. My son, at 6, was only concerned about his spelling homework, baseball, and getting ready for a new brother.

“Majority of them, they are not going to the school because they are working full time,” says Mohammad Yousef, who heads Aschiana, a nonprofit group that helps street kids. “Early in the morning, they are starting, they are working. Until evening they are working to have a piece of bread or something for their families.”

There are estimated to be over 600,000 kids hawking anything from gum to plastic bags or simply begging for alms. Some of them are the only means of income for there families who have been the victim of almost a quarter century of war. They have no education, and probably will only continue the cycle when they are adults.

Groups like Aschiana are trying to break the cycle by providing a few hours of education a day. Street kids can come in and learn to read, different skills, and musical instruments. The group hopes to get some sense of a better future into these children’s’ head. But none of them can give up there “day jobs”

Ahmad Zia, 14, learned to play the accordion-like Armonia and wants to become a famous musician. But he has no plans to give up his day job.

“Why should I be upset about having to work the streets?” he says. “I have no choice. My father is old, my mother is weak and only I can make the household run. So I need to sell plastic bags.”

NPR Morning Edition