Looking for street kids!

Dear Friends,

Many of you wrote about child labor issue, thank you! The verdict is unanimous - it is child abuse! I accept your chiding humbly, be it implicit or explicit. The matter does not end there though. The question is what can we do as individuals to change the situation, and do the poor bear any responsibility for their condition?

My grandmother was unlettered and a poor person but she knew the value of education and took pains to educate my father and his two younger brothers. Most of their children now are educated. If we are not rich, it is not due to a lack of education.

Looking for street kids.

Tarbela colony, about hundred kilometers west of Islamabad , was established by Italians when they built the Tarbela Dam on the Indus River during 60s and 70s. After completion of the dam the Italian left and the colony came under the control of Pakistani WAPDA – Water And Power Development Authority.

Now populated by the employees of WAPDA, the colony is a very quiet place with wide roads and secluded generally single family one story houses. Because my sister, Khalida, teaches in a WAPDA high school, she inherited the house when my father retired from his WAPDA job. The point I am trying to make here is that only employees of WAPDA live here and there are no slums inside the colony where you could find street kids. To find children who don’t go to school, you have to go to the neighboring areas outside the colony.

A few months prior to my coming to Tarbela Khalida had accompanied a friend to a nearby slum in search of a baby. Because she couldn’t have her own, she thought she could just walk in a poor house and buy a baby. Needless to say, no mother or father parted with their baby because they were poor.

During their visit Khalida spotted some kids who weren’t in school. One boy name Salah wanted to learn to read and write and was keen on going to school but one girl did not want to go to school, the rest were too young to know. Before returning Khalida had managed to get cell # of someone from Salah.

Khalida and her friend did not know where they were going. They had gotten on a bus and got off when they saw some tents near the road, they don’t even know the name of the place. Khalida did get in touch with cell owner and gave him some money from the childless friend for the children.

When I was in Tarbela we got in touch with the cell owner again. He had moved away but promised to find out if the children are still there and if there is some one we could talk with. Since it is a far away place that involves going to Ghazi - a town outside Tarbela, getting on the bus and going for half hour ride, we need some one local who could take charge of day to day activity. We are still working on it.

Meanwhile, Seemab, Noshi – khalida’s daughter in law and I came to Lahore to see my brother who was on a very short leave from his navy job. Khalida joined us later for summer holidays

June 13.

There was quite an excitement this morning. An eight year old boy came to our house and asked for some food, Khalida asked him to come in and do some chores and earn his keep. After hesitating a bit he not only came in but brought three other boys ranging in age from 5 – 7. They said they were related but the exact relationship was not clear. I was called to talk to boys in order to find out where they lived and if they go to school.

It turned out that they were professional beggars, lived by the ganda nala (dirty creek a kinda big open sewer) and none went to school, except the oldest boy went to mosque to learn to read the Qur’an. We wanted to go to their homes and speak with parents and explore the possibility of starting some kind of education program. But they were hesitant, probably because it would interfere with their full days earning which comes to 400 – 500 rupees and they divide it among themselves. One boy’s mother also begged and another’s worked as a cleaner in people’s houses.

After conferring with each other the boys promised to comeback in the evening and show us where they live. We are still waiting for them.

In the evening Khalida along with Seemab went to Walton to see her in-laws. Asma, my youngest sister and her daughter, Nayab, and I decided to go to ganda nala and look for huts or tents where we might find those or other poor kids.

Asma took us through inside streets that I had never seen before except one area called kakkay zayi, looked familiar. I remembered that area from my previous visit to Lahore . While walking through the Awan Town bazaar I stepped into a side street and after a block or so away ended up in a place that seemed to belong to another era. There was a big empty lot where children were playing in and around garbage with fly infested stagnant water in the middle of the lot. Walking a little further I ended up what seemed like a quant little town with mud huts and multiple houses in a compound.

I remembered I was quite disturbed to see all that filth just a block away from the bustling and rather affluent Awan Town . I tried to enquire from a seemingly educated adult who that land belonged to and what if any thing can be done about cleaning it. He was sympathetic and promised to look into it. I don’t know what became of it.

On one side there was a tent, I don’t recall how I ended up inside it. The family man was sick but he did put up a snake charming show for me which I have some where reorded on my camcorder. Any way, we walked for at least 45 minute to get to ganda nala; we found no huts, tents or kids.

The quest to find the street kids continues....

p.s. i'd have like to respond to each of your comments individually but the internet and power supply is such that it is not possible. even now i am afraid whether this message will go thru before the power goes off