Nisar Ahmed, 17, gets up early in the morning and makes rounds in the streets of the federal capital to search and collect waste material. Collecting garbage is not Nisar’s hobby but sheer poverty has compelled him to do so. Regrettably, Nisar is not the only youngster who ekes out a living by collecting garbage and waste material as one can see hundreds of children roaming in the streets of the capital city, picking recyclable waste. They collect wrappers, discarded shopping bags, tins, bottles and other similar things from garbage dumping points. The phenomenon raises questions about the government and non-government organisations that are supposed to be taking care of these youngsters.
Nisar told Pakistan Today that he had been picking garbage for the last two years but no one offered him any assistance. “My daily income is Rs 100 with which I have to support my entire family”, he said. Most of these garbage pickers in Islamabad are Afghan refugees and it is their third generation that is doing this with little or no access to civic facilities such as health, education and justice. Nisar said he had studied at a school in Golra but he failed to recall its name.
Pakistan Today’s survey revealed that a number of garbage pickers want to get education but complained they had to do what they did because of poverty.
It was also learnt that poor girls too have to scavenge for a living. They can be seen in the streets wearing scarfs and long kurtas and picking reusable items from garbage dumps. Their ordeal is not limited to their daylong work as, at the end of the day, these scavenger children also beg in various neighbourhoods of the city including Sector F/8, Peshawar Morr, Karachi Company, G/11 Markaz and F/10 Markaz. When asked about their “nigh-shift”, they cited sheer poverty as the reason for it.
They said at times when they are hungry they even have to eat rotten fruit right off the garbage dumps. Sometimes these children are picked up by police only to be released later. Ismail Khan, one of the garbage pickers, said he had to quit his work after his repeated arrests. He said his family was suffering since he was not earning even a single penny. A UNHCR representative said the organisation was providing primary and secondary education to all the Afghan children including a large number those who scavenged for a living. She said they did not know the exact number of Afghan children who were associated with the garbage collection or recycling industry. Health experts are of the view that these children are vulnerable to every kind of disease because of the work. They say that by picking used syringes and needles, these children can contract diseases such as HIV, Aids and Hepatitis etc.
Its ironical how people feel bad when they see a beggar on the streets begging for their living, they sympathize with them and some times share their earnings, but very rarely does the sight of an afghani garbage picker trigger their soft side maybe because they have chosen a halal but non-hygienic way of earning. perhaps begging is at least more cleaner way where one does not have to make his hands dirty or burns his nose by the smell of things worst than we could even imagine.
Comments are closed.