“Give a man, a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for his life time.” Appearing in a book from the late 19th century, this Italian proverb is at least 120 years old. It’s implications are, however, still rare.
Specifically speaking about Pakistan, poverty rate rised from 4.4 per cent to 5.4 per cent during last year alone. More than two million people are forced to live below the poverty line. It is now almost impossible to find a street without beggars. The Covid-19 induced economic crisis has forced more families to shed the blue-collar and live on streets. Public places are swarming with weary kids laboring or asking for money.
Little Amna is one of such poverty stricken children whose video we saw on Facebook yesterday. Angel-faced and bare-feet Amna is seen selling roses to strangers outside Islamabad’s famous Centaurus mall. At age of barely 8-10 years, she shoulders responsibilities much greater than her age.
Amna’s father has passed away and she is youngest of her family. Her mother works as house help in different sectors of Islamabad. She also collects scraps and sells them to feed her family.
Due to extreme poverty, she does not afford to send her children to schools. Yet she works day and night and somehow manages to send them to a Quran teacher. Little Amna watches her mother wearing her bones off and can’t contain herself from helping her.
“Unlce, my father has passed away. Seeing my mother working hard makes me want to cry. If I were a boy, I would have labored at market so my mother could sit at home and rest,” says Amna in the cute yet heartbreaking video.
Amna goes to her Madarassa in the morning and learns Holy Quran. After her Quranic lessons, she goes to market to fetch food for her family. In the evening, she comes to Centaurus everyday along with her even younger cousin.
According to Amna, she and her cousin manage to earn around 200-300 rupees every evening. Despite losing her childhood in the hardships of life, Amna can’t even buy a pair of shoes for herself.
“Today is my first day here. My mother does not let me come but I want to help her. My mother is sick so I come here at 6pm,” Amna tells her interviewer.
Although, the person interviewing Amna promises to buy her shoes and gives her and her cousin Rs500 each. But does her hardships end here? Will her shoes be enough to protect her from our crushing economic system? Or will a Rs500 note be providing for her family for the rest of her life?
The role of the state is the real question here. The government is focused on inaugurating “Panah-gahs” and providing free food to poor people. While such programs can be appreciated to some extent, they do little to no good for children like Amna.
Most people in Pakistan spend their lives in the cover of middle-class. One way or another, they manage to take care of their children. But orphans like Amna are left on the mercy of society. The state can at least take responsibility of such children and ensure that they are not forced to beg for the rest of their lives.
According to a recent survey, approximately there are 25 million beggars in Pakistan most of which are children. It is not just streets swarming with derelicts, it is millions of children out of schools. It is thousands of homeless families, it is countless youth without jobs and a massive burden on the country’s economy. Shelter-homes, charity and free food is definitely not a solution to any of these.
The need of the hour is to introduce comprehensive poverty alleviation programs instead of charity. Through proper and fair channeling of resources, government should be able to cover not only food expenditures of needy children but also provide them free and quality education and health.
Amna might not have shoes in her feet, but she sure has got will to change her family’s fate. Unfortunately, all we have managed to do for the likes of her is charity and handouts. But our aids will only count when we can teach them skills and education to move ahead in life.
Thanks for sharing, Islamabad is the most well-planned city in Pakistan because it contributes to the capital of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and contributes to its services. The tenth-largest town in Pakistan, with a population of about 2 million people.