Way of living for an Afghan

Banafsha and her family lives in Kabul, Afghanistan. She wakes up everyday to a cup of tea, then walks out into the lonely, dangerous world to beg for food for herself and her family. After walking a long distance away from their mud shack, she goes into the richer parts of the Afghan capital in the hope of being able to bring food back to her family. She is not bitter, as she knows that without her begging neither her or the rest of her could survive. Her father is a addict, while her mother must take care of her younger siblings. She dreams of becoming a teacher, so she could help educate her fellow Afghans and bring themselves out of poverty. For three hours a day, she could actually dream. Aschiana, an Afghan non-government organization, provides a place for children like Banafsha to rest, a little recreation, and a glimmer of hope. However, her reprieve may soon disappear. Aschiana was forced to close down four of its eight centers, catering over 7,000 children in Afghanistan, because a promised major source of founding's money did not arrive. Three of the four remaining centers have stopped providing food because they could not afford to. After her rest at one of these centers, Banafsha returns to the streets, begging, pleading, and silently crying. When she walks home, she usually has some bread in her sack and 50 cents. At night, she helps her mother watch the siblings, and her father is focused on getting his next dose of . At last, she can sleep, only to wake up the next morning and repeat it again.

I found this story very moving. Many people in Western civilization do not realize the extreme poverty in Afghanistan and the rest of the world. Much of Asia, the Middle East, and Africa live below the poverty line. People like us don't usually care enough about these children and their families to donate any money at all. Many don't know the hardships that these little children face everyday just to eat a little piece of food, less food than we leave after each meal in the garbage or as leftovers. This only demostrates a "richer" part of the life below the poverty line across the globe. In countries African countries such as Zimbabwe, people aren't able to access water in over 40 degrees weather. In places like northern China, many families can't afford to buy coats in a -40 + degrees weather. People of the world need to wake up and help their fellow humans. We often distinguish ourselves as citizens of a country, such as Canadians or Americans. It is time for us to think of ourselves as citizens of the world, and we need to help our fellow citizens in need.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/11/14/afghanistan.child.beggar/index.html?iref=mpstoryview