News from the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA)
RAWA News
News from the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA)
RAWA News


 

 

 





 


 


Help RAWA: Order from our wish list on Amazon.com

RAWA Channel on Youtube

Follow RAWA on Twitter

Join RAWA on Facebook



Xinhua, November 9, 2011

War-shattered Afghan women live on alms

Fatima is not alone that the endemic war has swallowed her family, forcing her to bear the burden of daily life to survive

By Abdul Haleem

An Afghan woman begs along a busy Kabul street in February 2009
An Afghan woman begs along a busy Kabul street in February 2009. As Barack Obama escalates American involvement in Afghanistan, human rights and civil rights there collapse, begging the question: what are western soldiers dying for? (Photo: Paula Bronstein / Getty Images)

In many countries, including Afghanistan, begging has been regarded as a taboo, but in this war- ravaged and poverty-stricken country, many people including women has adopted begging as a profession to support their families.

"Continued conflicts have destroyed my life, claimed the life of my husband and forcing me to beg for alms in order to survive," 56-year-old Bibi Fatima told Xinhua on Tuesday.

Collecting money and meat from affluent families on Eidul Adha holidays -- the Muslims' largest annual religious festival, falling on Nov. 6-8, the dejected Fatima said she could collect some 10kg mutton and beef on the first day of Eidul Adha.

During Eidul Adha holidays, Muslims across the world sacrifice animals and distribute meat to needy people.

Walking with the help of a stick and carrying a sack on her back, the aged and feeble woman said she has "no option but to beg. "

Revealing her ordeal, Fatima said, "The cruel war left all members of the family including my husband dead in Mazar-e-Sharif city 13 years ago."

Wiping out the tears of her eyes, Fatima said, the tale of her pain is too tragic to speak, adding "pain is felt by those who burn in flame" and walked away without speaking more.

In the male-dominated Afghan society, the protracted war has often claimed the lives of men who are the bread earners of their families.

The legacy of war is tangible almost in each corner of the war- ravaged Afghanistan. Even in the capital city Kabul, dozens of street children and women with grim faces and grimy clothes are seen begging to support their families.

Fatima is not alone that the endemic war has swallowed her family, forcing her to bear the burden of daily life to survive.

Another woman Muzhgan, 31, was seen wandering around wealthy communities on Eidul Ahda holidays to collect donations.

"I have no choice but to beg and support my children to live and let them go to school," Mughgan, who lost her husband in a suicide bombing in Kabul three years ago said in a brief chat.

"This is not the life to live on begging. I really hate it, it is a taboo act. To support my children and to survive, unfortunately I have no option but to beg," Muzhgan went on to say in an unhappy mode.

Category: Women, HR Violations, Poverty - Views: 12568



Related

09.08.2011: AFGHANISTAN: Nearly nine million face food shortages
30.07.2011: Kabul’s economy leaves poor in the dark
06.06.2011: Afghan Taxes Squeezing Poorest
15.04.2011: U.N.: 7 million Afghans will go hungry without aid
07.04.2011: Poverty keeps women, girls from school in Bamyan
07.02.2011: What Would You Spend One Dollar On? Afghanistan’s Children Respond
21.01.2011: No jobs, only war, for Afghans
19.01.2011: 7.3 million Afghans are “food insecure”
25.12.2010: Afghanistan Battles Insecurity, Joblessness
19.12.2010: Child labor helps war-torn Afghan families survive
04.12.2010: UN: 7.4 million Afghans are living with hunger and fear of starvation
01.12.2010: AFGHANISTAN: Marriage, ill health make you poorer
15.11.2010: AFGHANISTAN: Winter misery as food prices rise
14.11.2010: War on error: that’s what friends are for
08.11.2010: Afghanistan Among 23 Least Developed Countries
31.10.2010: AFGHANISTAN: Food Security Outlook, October 2010 to March 2011
19.10.2010: 80pc Balkh residents live in extreme poverty
05.09.2010: A quiet Eid for Bamyan cave residents
19.08.2010: Afghanistan tops index of food insecurity
27.05.2010: Amnesty International Report 2010 Draws Bleak Picture of Human Rights in Afghanistan
10.05.2010: AFGHANISTAN: Running on drugs, corruption and aid
30.03.2010: UN report: Afghans plagued by poverty, corruption
19.03.2010: Afghan children face world’s worst conditions - U.N.
10.03.2010: In Kabul, hopelessness weighs on job hunters
26.01.2010: Suffering of Afghans ‘unbearable’: Red Cross

Latest

Most Viewed