HERAT -- Every day about 150 poor children, women and men line up in a long queue for lunch outside the Afghans Fight on Poverty (AFPO) relief organisation in Herat city.
They are poor day labourers, beggars and children forced to work in the streets and who cannot afford to buy a meal to survive.
Supported by Afghans residing in the United States, Canada and Europe, AFPO has been distributing free ready-to-serve meals to the needy in Herat city for over a month.
"Our door is open to poor people, especially working children and those without a caregiver," said Mohammad Dawod Anwari, one of the founders of AFPO. "They come to our office anytime during the day when they feel hungry."
![Children forced to work on the streets by extreme poverty eat a free meal March 1 at the Afghans Fight on Poverty (AFPO) relief organisation in Herat city. [Omar/Salaam Times]](/cnmi_st/images/2023/03/10/41155-c_4-739_416.webp)
Children forced to work on the streets by extreme poverty eat a free meal March 1 at the Afghans Fight on Poverty (AFPO) relief organisation in Herat city. [Omar/Salaam Times]
![In this undated photo, the founders and staff of AFPO pose for a picture outside the organisation's soup kitchen in Herat city. [AFPO]](/cnmi_st/images/2023/03/10/41149-afpo-739_416.webp)
In this undated photo, the founders and staff of AFPO pose for a picture outside the organisation's soup kitchen in Herat city. [AFPO]
"We currently serve lunch to around 150 poor children, men and women ... every day," he said, adding that the organisation will increase the number of beneficiaries as soon as funding is available.
"We will establish soup kitchens in five poor districts of Herat city to feed those in dire need," Anwari said.
"Besides serving meals to children, we organise classes on social etiquette, urban culture and life coaching," he said.
The project aims to save children and other poor Afghans from extreme hunger and malnutrition as well as to provide literacy classes to them.
"Most of these working children are deprived of school, and we are exploring options to start offering classes on school subjects," he said.
"We will teach school subjects for one hour a day to the working children during the first phase of the project," Anwari explained.
"We want to teach them vocational skills and professions so that they can build a professional career in the future and stay away from begging and working on the streets."
Feeding Herat's most vulnerable children
Naweed, 9, has been collecting plastic garbage from the streets of Herat city since he was 7 years old.
He has a 5-year-old brother, Maisam, whom he sometimes takes with him to collect garbage, and a 4-year-old sister.
AFPO has provided free lunch to Naweed every day for the past month.
He used to work the entire day with an empty stomach, but now he eats a nutritious lunch every day that includes rice, meat, potatoes, peas and fresh fruit.
Thanks to the free meals, Naweed said he has gained 3kg over the past month.
"I am very happy that they give me a free meal every day," he said. "I used to spend the entire day hungry because I did not have money to buy food."
"I would love to go to school and study, but my family sends me to work," Naweed said.
"I make 70 to 100 AFN [$0.70–$1.14] a day and give my earnings to my family. My father is sick and cannot work," he added.
Ayesha, 11, has been deprived of going to school and instead polishes shoes on the roadside in Herat in an attempt to make a living.
"I was hungry most days, and few people helped me," she said. "I did not have money to buy food, and I forced myself to tolerate starving."
Ayesha said many children like her have been saved from hunger because they now have a place to feed them.
"I have come here to eat lunch for the past 10 days," she said on March 1. "I am very happy to eat a free meal every day. No doubt, I am eating the best food in my life, because we do not have proper food at home."
Wais Ahmad, 12, also collects garbage from streets across Herat city.
"I used to go to bakeries and shops [to ask for food], but few people helped. I had no choice but to stay hungry the entire day," he said.
Three weeks ago, Wais started eating free lunch at AFPO.
"Whenever I feel hungry, I come here and eat," he said. "As soon as I finish eating, I go back to work and take all my money home at night."
Alleviating poverty and hunger
Support from the diaspora is vital to save the lives of hundreds of working children and Afghan men and women forced to beg on the streets by the ongoing economic crisis, said Abdul Nasir Asoodi, an economist in Herat city and one of the founders of AFPO.
As most Afghans are suffering from acute starvation, providing ready-to-serve meals for hundreds of the poor and needy is a very effective approach to fighting hunger, he said.
"The current situation is very difficult, and many people cannot afford more than one meal a day," Asoodi said. "Most poor people do not have even a loaf of bread to eat and have to endure starvation."
"Providing a healthy meal to children who were suffering from hunger helps reduce malnutrition among the population. This is a great support to the families who cannot feed their children," he added.
Khadeeja, 35, a mother of four, has been begging on the streets of Herat city for four years.
She said she had to go out and beg to feed her children after her husband died from an illness.
It has been over two weeks since she started eating lunch at AFPO in Herat.
"I used to beg in the streets all day and was hungry," she said. "But I can now come here and eat lunch every day. Previously, I could afford only to have a meal at night, but it has been a few days since I can eat twice, including lunch."
"Some people used to help me in the past, but no one has had money to help anymore for a year," Khadeeja said. "I beg all day in the city, but I cannot make more than 50 AFN [$0.60]. [My past benefactors] themselves have become poor and dependent and cannot help others."
I have just read news on Radio Liberty, in which the education situation of girls in different provinces has been discussed. The girls have told stories of their plight and are unfortunate because the Taliban does not allow them to study. Also, the families of these girls are deeply saddened that their beautiful children are not allowed to study like men while they observe the full Afghan and Islamic hijab, but the Taliban do not let them study. When there is no school, course, university, or light, it warns people of a dark future, which has terrible consequences, so people are very worried about this. As soon as schools and universities are opened for girls and women are allowed to work, international organizations will not blame the Taliban every time they say that if girls and women are not allowed to work, they will stop help with the Afghan government so in my opinion, the Taliban should also straighten their path due to this excuse of the international community and let everyone work freely according to Afghan and Islamic tradition. And suppose they don't allow the people. In that case, the foreign organizations are looking for excuses to stop their activities in Afghanistan, to the detriment of the people and the Taliban. Recently, Save the Children, a child protection organization, said that if the Taliban would not immediately remove the ban on girls' education, child marriage and poverty would increase. The obvious goal of poverty is that they will stop their activi
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It is common for people from poor countries to move to rich countries to improve their lives. One of these poor countries is Afghanistan. Like the citizens of other countries, many Afghans have reached Europe, America, and Australia... in different ways, whether legal or illegal. It is not easy to leave your beloved country. Those Afghans who have left their children in their own country and spend days and nights traveling in other countries are making tremendous sacrifices. They spend a hard time on themselves and spend their youthful energy in the development of other countries, but on the contrary, I hear that some people of the host countries treat them with prejudice. This is while rich countries are facing a shortage of human resources. There is only one way left for them to use the people of the poor countries in the progress and development of their countries. Of course, they created the scenario that the poor countries are at war and in poverty because of the wrong policies of the same rich countries. Iran uses Afghans to fight for them in Syria, but how does it deal with the Afghans? Pakistan used Afghans for the Kashmir war; the Russians want to use Afghans to win the war in Ukraine... But on the contrary, these countries have mistreated Afghans and are doing so. Till when will this last? Let's fight together against hunger, let's prevent wars, and let's live.
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If work has been done correctly and with trust and honesty, why would children be fed on the roadsides today? If a proper government existed today, these children would have been busy getting an education. Instead, their father, elder brother, or another family member would work regularly. They would take care of these children, but unfortunately, for two decades or more, power was in the hands of someone who took the money and transferred it abroad when he escaped. At the same time, the children spend the whole day doing useless things. I wish it were done with complete honesty. Thanks a lot to the Afghan diaspora, who still extend their hand of cooperation in one way or another according to their means and donate to these children. Now is the time to get involved and work for the country's development. The future generations should not blame us for the way we blame the past. We hope for a day when no baby will have a sack on his back; instead, we see the children with the book bags and become very happy to see them.
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This is a very noble work. I was very happy to hear this news. I suffer a lot whenever we see these children. Most of the people who are asked for money by these children do not treat them humanely. If a child asks for bread from someone, almost 1% can be found to help these children and give them money, and these children can buy and eat bread for themselves with the same money. These children have no idea what will happen to them in the future. Above all, it is very necessary to create a foundation for educating these children.
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May Allah have mercy on our people. In two decades, different countries of the world helped Afghanistan. Unfortunately, the government officials, most of whom were ex-warlords, stole the money and stored it in foreign banks instead of building dams, factories, and electric power stations. Every word of this report cuts the heart of a conscientious person. Children of a country begging for alms on the streets, young women begging for donations, and its rulers ruling under the name of Islam, this is the height of misery. The truth is that Islam has not remained with us; Islam has gone from us to the West. As I see, the Islamic Republic/Emirate of Afghanistan, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Islamic Republic of Iran... these are lies. According to the true definition and principles of Islam, the American government is Islamic, that is, the Islamic Republic of America, the Islamic Republic of Germany, the Islamic Republic of France, the Islamic Republic of Italy, the Islamic Republic of Norway, the Islamic Republic of Britain... are correct They have correctly applied the rules of Islam. عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ عَمْرٍو أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ: "أَرْبَعٌ مَنْ كُنَّ فِيهِ كَانَ مُنَافِقًا خَالِصًا، وَمَنْ كَانَتْ فِيهِ خَلَّةٌ مِنْهُنَّ كَانَتْ فِيهِ خَلَّةٌ مِنْ نِفَاقٍ حَتَّى يَدَعَهَا: إِذَا حَدَّثَ كَذَبَ، وَإِذَا عَاهَدَ غَدَرَ، وَإِذَا وَعَدَ أَخْلَفَ، وَإِذَا خَاصَمَ فَجَرَ". Abdullah ibne Amr narrates from the Prophet (peace be upon him)
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