Parents selling their young children in drought stricken Afghanistan

https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/22/asia/afghan-child-sales-intl/index.html

Outside Herat, in a refugee camp, a CNN cameraman met Mamareen, who has lost her husband to the war, her home to the climate and now her daughter to the urgent need to feed her other children. Akila, 6, is now, under the warped economy of this tent city, the possession of another family. Mamareen sold Akila for $3,000 to Najmuddin, who has promised her to his 10-year-old son, Sher Agha.

"I fled my village with my three children because of severe drought," she says. "I came here thinking that I will receive some assistance, but I got nothing. To avoid starvation among my children, I gave my daughter to a man for about $3,000, but have only got $70 so far. I had no money, no food and no breadwinner – my husband was also killed."

Asked if Akila knew her fate, she said: "She doesn't know that I have sold her. How would she know? She is a child. But I had no other choice. Whether in tears or laughter, she will have to go. Who would sell a piece of her heart unless they really have to?"

Her fate lay meters away, in another, richer tent in the camp, with Najmuddin, her purchaser. Part of this transaction is cultural – part of the mores of a society where girls have long been traded for dowries rather than being asked for consent. But to Najmuddin, this was an act of charity.

"Her family didn't have anything to eat. They were hungry," he said. "I know I am also poor, but I am sure I can pay it off slowly… in two to three years."

The Afghan cameraman asked, aren't they children? "It doesn't matter. These things happen here. Even an old man marries a young girl. It happens."

This story hurts my heart more than words can express. I am so thankful to live in a country currently fighting acts of this sort. Praying for the children of Afghanistan.