Battlefield Tourist

As I tried to fall asleep the other night, I realized that an important part of the next day's story was down the street. I've been working on a story about an increasing problem of child trafficking from Afghanistan. Most of it is slave labor, but here is physical and sexual abuse patterns emerging as well as the sale of the children's organs.
Since I couldn't sleep, I decided to head up the street and look for Waid. He's the 10 year old shoeshine I met a few nights before. He speaks decent English and claims Russian. At 10 that's pretty good.
He also claims to go to school on a regular basis before shinning shoe until 11:00 at night. All for extra bread for his brothers.
It's around 9:30 and he hangs out just a few blocks down. Once down there I ask his buddies for him and they call him out of a nap on the side of the road. He's sleeping next to a pile of gravel on a cardboard box.
So fresh out of a sleep, I ask him if he'd be interested in doing an interview for my kidnapping story. No problem. So we sit on the side of the road and just talk. Really it's the best way to get an interview anyway. Pretty bright kid.
I also tell him I'm thinking about a documentary where he would take me around Kabul and we do interviews with kids. Who knows, maybe he'll get direction.
Later I pay him some money for his time and tell him I have another job lined up for him. He needs to meet me at 5 o'clock with 3 friends (he's the boss). There job is to clean the yard, which will be no minor task. He gets $10 for the job and its his responsibility to pay the guys and take my orders. he's a good kid and you can tell he's excited.
The next day I wake up and get ready to me with the UNICEF people to finish my story. We open the gate too the house and Waid and like six kids are standing there. I start to get the feeling I screwed up, but decided to get stern and set it straight. I told Waid to get to school and be back at five with three friends. Off to my story.

STORY: CONNECTION BETWEEN CHILD TRAFFICKING IN AFGHANISTAN AND SAUDI ARABIA
TEXT & VIDEO: DAVID TATE - IHA /KABUL
23.06.04

VIDEO VERSION

Evidence is mounting that there is a growing industry in Afghanistan that involves child kidnapping and trafficking. In particular a link between the Afghan industry and Saudi Arabia.
Last year UNICEF was made aware of 120 cases of children being trafficked. Already this year the number stands at around 260 in and around the provinces surrounding Kabul alone. The number nationwide is unknown.

SOT - " We have had reports of children who have been kidnapped from Badaxsan Province and then they were intercepted by police in Province. Like a group of children: 30, 20 children at different times. So that made us have a quick look at the situation there. "

Fawzia Koofi is the Project Officer for Commission of Sexual Exploitation of Children and is in charge of overseeing the programs UNICEF is pursuing in relation to combatting child trafficking. She says families are often promised work that never materializes when they get there. Others are literally made into slaves.

SOT - Fawzia Koofi/Project Officer for Commission of Sexual Exploitation of Children
" Basically what they do is they... children go to Pakistan or Iran and neighboring country's by the consent of their parents to work there. We may know that in the case of child trafficking, consent of the parents isn't an issue because sometimes parents traffic their children given the situation of Afghanistan where the economy is very weak. "

Children working is an important form of income for an Afghan family. Waid, a Kabul 10-year old, goes to school until 4:30 and then makes his way downtown to shoeshine until 11:00 at night. The money he makes buys bread for his little brothers.
He says he isn't afraid of being kidnapped because he picks his work space carefully.

SOT - Waid/Street Worker " I stay over here by the soldier, ya know? Soldier. I have my box over here." "

Evidence shows that not only are the children being exploited for child labor, but are also being used as sex slaves, primarily in Arab countries, as well as being killed so their organs can be harvested.
This past week, Afghan officials arrested 4 men, one a medical doctor, in Kabul. The men are allegedly part of a trafficking ring that includes three other men arrested in early June in neighboring Logar Province.
UNICEF says that the problem is worst in the northeast of Afghanistan, particularly in Badaxsan Province where the population is particularly impoverished. Dozens of children from this province have been deported from Saudi Arabia, which have UNICEF looking into the reasons for the connection.

SOT - "We are planning to have a study there to find out the main causes for that. A majority of them, almost 95% of them deported from Saudi Arabia are from Badaxsan Province, particularly from three districts. So that is a question for everyone. Why from three districts? Why from one province? If we say the main cause is for families to send their children is poverty... poverty is everywhere in Afghanistan. It's like just in Parwan or Badaxsan it's everywhere. So we're planning to have some research to find out the exact cause of why people are sending their children and what is the scenario behind this story."

So programs like this one, Tuluy-Sharq, which is sponsored by the Ministry of Women's Affairs are in partnership with UNICEF. This workshop in western Kabul benefits more than 220 women. They work a 9:00 to 4:00 shift making handbags that are later sold at the market. The regular work allows these single mothers to put their children in school rather than to work on the streets.

Silwa lost her husband five years ago during the fighting in Kabul. She worries most about her 12-year old son. A worry that has gone down considerably since she began working here.

SOT - Silwa / War Widow - *******IN FARSI*******

The government is also working to derail the industry by creating a multi-Ministry task force as well as creating a birth-registration program.


Afterward I made my way back to the office. To my surprise, I didn't get lost and actually am getting quite used to the center city. It felt good getting around like that. Just gotta keep an eye out for assassins.
Back at the house I had to write the story you just read and then file it. Of course, just as I finish and am about to leave, the Turks decide to go. So I have to taxi it. Not only that, but the kids are supposed to be here soon.
Fortunately I find them and tell them to come back in 30 minutes so I can get some work done. No problem, off to file my story.
It really is unfortunate you cannot help everyone, you just can't. Thee walk to the internet is terrible. The begging is incredible. Everywhere. Not just that, but kids selling things, legless people sitting in the middle of the road, widowed women in Bhurkas as soiled as you can imagine. I call these women, "The Ghosts of Kabul" because that's what they look like. These dingy, hooded shapes waddling at you is just like a 1940's-era ghost. When I come back, they will make a great subject for a true film camera like my AE-1.
So I get back and as expected, the kids are on time. There's a couple of tag-alongs described by Waid to be as being "bad guys". At ten there is no real threat. The problem is, they now look over the wall, they wait outside the gate, etc... all those things you don't want to be responsible for. I told Waid to take care of or lose his job. We'll see what happens.
We need our grass cut, which they're doing using scythes. There's a stack of wood and 2-tons of litter. I want this yard looking good. They usually work until 11:00, so I'll feed them leftovers and break out the lights when it gets dark.
The boys worked until close to dark. Abdullah was out there doing some directing and things didn't get done right, so I called it quits for the night. When I did, I broke out a blanket and got the boys some food and water. Abdullah brought out some tea. I have to believe they will remember this for some time.
As we were getting ready to wrap it up, I was going to give the kids taxi money when some of them started complaining. The problem is that they spent a few hours working instead of shoeshining, now they need money for bread and taxis. They also want me to pay them because they don't think Waid will be fair. Unfortunately for them, I hired Waid, and with Waid, they will deal.
I give them some money and send them on their way. As they leave, I tell Waid he needs to pick his crew better and he needs to straighten out the pay situation before he comes to work.