Daily Lessons from Life 25 October 2009

"Sun, Oct 25, 2009 AFP - Afghanistan rebuilds, concerns remain for children

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - Conical chimneys rise from the plain to the east of Kabul, a light wind sending their thick, black smoke at right angles into a deep blue sky, like fat fingers smudging ink across paper. The thousands of neatly-stacked sandy bricks baked in coal-fired ovens below the chimneys are in high demand in the capital and throughout Afghanistan, as the country tries to rebuild after three decades of destructive conflict.

But the people who work in these factories -- down rutted tracks and largely unseen from the main road -- show that it is not just bricks and mortar that are needed to get impoverished Afghanistan on its feet. Employment for returning refugees who fled the Soviets, the mujahedeen or the Taliban, improving access to education, particularly for girls, are among the challenges facing the government as much as bringing much-needed stability.

"We came here to earn money," said Chaman Gul, leaning on the handle of a shovel in a pile of wet sand at the Gahiz brick factory, which makes some 42,000 bricks every day for building sites from Kabul to Bamiyan.

"My five sons are here and I have four daughters at home in the village."

Chaman is 36 but looks two decades older. Four of his sons -- Omar, 15, Amin, 13, Taza, 12, and 10-year-old Anam -- squat nearby, looking up occasionally as they fill cast-iron brick moulds. His fifth, Stana, 18, is busy elsewhere on the site.

They are working and Chaman's youngest son -- four years below the minimum working age in Afghanistan -- is by no means an exception.


Elsewhere in Kabul, other school-age children can be seen in grimy workshops, pushing wheelbarrows, struggling with heavy sacks or, unseen behind the walls of housing compounds, weaving carpets by hand on large metal looms.

UNICEF said in 2007 that a quarter of Afghan children aged between seven and 14 worked, despite legal and constitutional protection and Afghanistan being a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.


The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission estimates that 60,000 children are currently working in Kabul alone. "The situation of child labour remains one of the highest concerns for us in the country," commissioner Nader Nadery told AFP.

"It has been a big challenge and it remains a challenge. There are some positive changes, like more schools. "But the fact that the government has not been able or doesn't have enough resources to provide some social welfare means they're still suffering. It's a big, big problem now and for the future."


At the brick factories, children spend their days in the choking air of dust and acrid charcoal smoke from the kilns, stacking and sorting rectangles of wet bricks laid out to dry in long rows.
Poverty, inflation and the human cost of war -- death or disability among parents -- mean they must work to feed their families, said Nadery."

A very different situation in Singapore. Or China. Or any other countries where there is no civil war or war. Yet. In many of these countries, child labor is not uncommon!

Lessons for me are:

1. war does no good for anyone except those who harvest power and the riches that come with power! Of course, the weapon merchants or commonly referred to as 'the Merchant of Death';

2. 60k child labor in Kabul is not a big number if you compared to the many millions of poor children around the world. Some of them are in relatively developed countries like Indonesia, the Philippines, and even China and India, two of the fastest growing economies in the world. Development needs to be evenly distributed so that the fruits of progress can be shared more evenly. This means those who made it have to think about how to bring the rest of the society up with them. Not an easy thing to do as 'capitalism' is not about bringing others along but letting others chase and bring themselves along!;

3. Singapore is very fortunate not to have such war or civil unrest. What Singaporeans need to develop is the awareness that there are such situations outside Singapore. That it is our duties and jobs to make sure that such situations do not happened here. The best bet is to ensure that development is even and the fruits of labor spread equally. With the influx of millions of migrant workers and new citizens, that balance will be tested. If we do not manage the balance between the new migrants & new citizens with the existing citizens, we may have internal unrest that will rock this tiny city to its core. Unlikely to happen anytime soon but the planners need to keep that scenario in mind!

May the children in Afghanistan find a future they deserved. Just like any other children around the Mother Earth. Peace, happiness and opportunity to learn and grow...