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‘I dey give my pikin dem sleeping medicine dan to see dem cry for hunger’, traumatic tori of Afghans

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Dem dey feed dia hungry pikin sleeping medicine

Afghans dey give dia hungry pikin medicine so dem go fit sleep, while odas don sell dia daughters and organs to survive.

Millions of pipo dey one step from famine, as dem don enta di second winter since di Taliban take over and foreign funds no dey come.

Abdul Wahab say, “our pikin dem go dey cry and dem no dey sleep, we no get food.

“So we go go pharmacy, and get melecine to give di pikin so dem go fit sleep”.

E dey live outside Herat di kontri third largest city, for place wia thousands of small-small mud houses don gada for many many years, and dey filled wit pipo wey war and natural disasters don make homeless.

Abdul dey among group of almost one dozen men wey gada around us. We ask how many dey give dia pikin drug to make dem sleep?

Dem say, “a lot of us, all of us”.

Ghulan Hazrat comot di strip of tablets wet be alprazolam, sleeping medicine wey dem dey use treat anxiety disorders.

Ghulam get six pikin dem, di youngest na just one year old. E say, “I dey even give am”.

Odas show us  escitalopram and sertraline tablets wey dem dey use treat depression and anxiety to dia pikin.

Doctor say wen pikin wey no dey chop well take dat kain medicine, e fit cause liver damage, chronic fatigue, sleep and behaviour disorders.

For local pharmacy, we find out say you fit buy five tablets of di medicine for like 10 Afghanis (about 10 US cents) wey be di price of piece of bread.

Most families wey we see dey share some pieces of bread with each oda. One woman tell me say dem dey chop dry bread for morning and for night dem go soak am for water make e dey moist.

Di UN don say ogbonge humanitarian kasala don start for Afghanistan.

Most of di men for di area outside Herat dey work as daily wage labourers. Dia lives don dey hard for years.

But wen Taliban take ova last August, foreign funds to Afghanistan bin dey frozen wey ginger economic collapse wey no allow dis men get work most days.

On di rare occasion wey dem see work dem no dey make pass 100 Afghanis, or just over $1 (£0.83).

Everi wia we enta we see pipo wey dey go extreme to save dia families from hunger.

Ammar (wey no be im real name) say e do surgery to comot im kidney three months ago an show us im nine inch scar wey stil dey pink, from im belle to im back.

E dey im twenties for wetin suppose be di prime of im life, we hide im real face to protect am.

E say, “no way out. I bin hear say you fit sell kidney for local hospital. I go dia tell dem say, I wan sell. Some weeks later dem call me say make I come di hospital.

“Dem do some tests, before dem give me injection wey make me sleep. Fear bin catch me but I no get choice”.

Ammar make like 270,000 Afghanis ($3,100) for im kidney, e use most of am to pay back gbese wey im borrow to buy food for im family.

E say “if we chop one night, we no go chop di next. Afta I sell my kidney, I feel like half a pesin. I feel hopeless, if life continue like dis, I feel like I fit die”.

Selling organs for money no be new tin for Afghanistan, e bin dey happun before Taliban take ova. But now, even afta pipo don sell am, e no dey reach dem to take survive.

For one empty cold house we met one young mama wey say she sell her kidney seven months ago.

Dem bin get gbese to pay, afta dem borrow money to buy flock of sheep. Di animals die for flood some years ago and dem lose dia means of living.

Di 240,000 Afghanis ($2,700) she get for di kidney no dey enough.

She say, “now we dey forced to sell our two year old daughter. Di pipo wey we borrow dey harass is everyday say make we give dem our daughter if we no fit pay back”.

Her husband chook mouth say, “I feel so ashamed of our situation. Sometimes I feel say e go beta to die dan live like this”.

Na like dat we don dey hear of how pipo dey sell dia daughters.

Nizamuddin say, “I sell my five year old pikin for 100,000 Afghanis”, as e look like e wan cry. According to wetin we hear for ground dat na less than half of wetin dem dey sell kidney for.

Hunger don break pipo dignity for hai.

One of di heads of di community, Abdul Gafar, say “we understand say e dey against Islamic laws and we dey put our children life for danger but no oda way dey”.

For one house, we meet one four year old Nazia wey bin dey play wit her 18-month-old brother Shamshullah.

Her papa, Hazratullah say, “we no get money to buy food, so I go announce for local mosque say I wan sell my daughter”.

Dem don sell Nazia to marry one boy from di southern province of Kandahar, wen she reach 14, she go go meet her husband. So far Hazratullah don collect two payments for her.

Hazratullah tok say, “I use most of am buy food and some for medicine for my son, see as e det malnourished”, as e show us im pikin big elle.

Di rise if malnutrition don prove wetin hunger dey do pikin five and under for Afghanistan.

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) say di rate of admissions for malnutrition nationwide don increase by 47% dis year.

Since last year, dem don increase di number of beds becos of di number of pikin dem dey admit, but dem dey almost always food. Sake of say di pikin wey dem come get more dan one disease wey dey do dem.

Omid dey malnourished and get hernia and sepsis, At 14 months e dey weigh di same of new born pikin at 4kg. Im suppose weigh at least 6.6kg. Im mama Aamna borrow money to fit reach di hospital, wen e start to omit like mad.

We ask di tok-tok pesin of di Taliban provincial goment for Herat, Hameedullah Motawakil wetin dem dey do tackle hunger.

“Di situation na sake of international sanctions for Afghanistan and di freezing of Afghan assets. Our goment dey try see who dey in need. Many dey lie to see if dem fit get help”, na wia e tanda even afta we tell am of di proof wey wey get about how everytin don spoil.

E also say di Taliban dey try create jobs. “We wan open iron ore mines and gas pipeline project”.

E no sure sat e go happun soon.

Pipo tell us dem dey feel abandon by Taliban goment and di international community.

Hunger na slow and silent silent killer and dem no dey feel di effects immediately.

But outside of di world eye, dem fit neva know as e dey chook for Afghanistan, cos no body dey count.

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Additional reporting by Imogen Anderson and Malik Mudassir

 

Source: bbc.com

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