Afghan children repair roads destroyed by bombs

By Bilal Guler and Sayed Khodaiberdi Sadat

KABUL, Afghanistan (AA) - Asphalt roads in Afghanistan destroyed by explosions due to decades of conflict are being repaired by children.

Aged between 7-15, Afghan boys and girls fill pits created by mines and bombings with soil and gravel they collect from the roadside.

As their peers enjoy their childhood in other parts of the world, these children have to work from sunup to sundown in difficult conditions to contribute to the livelihood of their families.

Hundreds of Afghan children that work on the main road that stretches from the capital Kabul to Ghazni, Zabul, Kandahar, Helmand, Nimruz, Farah and Herat provinces request help from drivers whom they facilitate passage through their work.

While some drivers give money to the children, others share their food with them.

The children generally live in villages close to where they work. Some are orphans, while others have a disabled father or parents who are unemployed.

As almost none of them went to school at any point in their lives and some had to leave school to work, the children sometimes return home with no earnings or with earnings of up to 200 Afghanis (around $2).

According to London-based Save The Children, there are approximately 1 million child workers across Afghanistan.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, 15-year-old Muhammad Han said his father, who was once a shepherd, became disabled after stepping on a mine.

Han said he has been doing this job for three months.

"The drivers of the vehicles passing by the road give money. I earn 150 to 200 Afghanis a day. My father is sick. I have to work.”

"I am trying to provide for my family. If I don’t work, my family will go hungry," he added.

He usually sets off without breakfast and eats the meals given by the drivers. Han said he started this business after shopkeepers did not give money in the places where he worked as an apprentice before.

Noting that he has never gone to school, Han said: "My only dream is to go to school and take lessons. I want to finish school and become an engineer or doctor, but our current situation shows that my dream will not come true."

He added that his other dream is to serve his people and country.

Nakibullah, another child trying to repair roads destroyed by bombs, is only nine years old.

The shovel he holds is beyond his height, and he can only lift it if he fills it with soil halfway.

He said his father, who was a heavy-duty vehicle driver, is currently unemployed.

"They sent me to work on the road. I earn 20 to 50 Afghanis a day. I enrolled in school twice, but I had to quit because our economic situation was bad,” added Nakibullah, who began working a month ago.

Eight-year-old Izzet and 12-year-old Hanekey, who are siblings, like other children, set off in the morning and work until evening.

Both said they have never gone to school.

Hanekey said his father, who was a shepherd before, is now unemployed.

He said with the money he earned, he returned home every night with food.

"I'm just here to make money. If I had money, I wouldn't have come. I would do something for my future.

"If there is an opportunity for education, I want to study and become a doctor. I want to get married and have children in the future. But in this case, none of my dreams will come true," he added.

A driver named Muhammad, who was passing by, said he tries to help the children doing this job as much as he could.

"I also have children their age. I remember my children looking at them. I don't earn much either, but I try to help as I see them," he said.