quote: Khalida's father says she's 9—or maybe 10. As much as Sayed Shah loves his 10 children, the functionally illiterate Afghan farmer can't keep track of all their birth dates. Khalida huddles at his side, trying to hide beneath her chador and headscarf. They both know the family can't keep her much longer. Khalida's father has spent much of his life raising opium, as men like him have been doing for decades in the stony hillsides of eastern Afghanistan and on the dusty southern plains. It's the only reliable cash crop most of those farmers ever had. Even so, Shah and his family barely got by: traffickers may prosper, but poor farmers like him only subsist. Now he's losing far more than money. "I never imagined I'd have to pay for growing opium by giving up my daughter," says Shah.
posted 30 March 2008 05:48 PM
So as I read the article, the govt run and supported by its western allies opium eradication program is a success. The president/PM says to all - don't give up your daughters - great but we can't help you.
Of course, if the west bought the opium for legitimate medical purposes, it would sure go a long way to solve this problem, along with giving this poor farmer a living family wage, help get his daughter(s) educated, and be more amendable to to be less oppressed.
From: cow country | Registered: Apr 2007
| IP: Logged
Email this thread to someone!
posted 30 March 2008 03:36 PM
