[ad_1]
Just a 15 minute drive from the affluent neighborhoods of Islamabad, we find the poorest in the Pakistani capital. They have moved here from other parts of the country to survive by begging.
– We are very, very poor. Look at these poor children. Most are sick and have nothing to eat. Someone should help us out of this poverty, says Kausar, a mother of seven, to NRK.
She shows the makeshift tents in which they live. The tents are made of plastic, straw sacks and cardboard. You don’t have access to running water here. Adults have no jobs to go to, children have no schools to go to. Most are illiterate.
But the worst thing is that children here are malnourished from birth.
Searching in vain for the mother’s breast
NRK has been going to examine conditions that the World Food Program and various aid organizations have reported on for several years. Millions of children in Pakistan are so malnourished that their bodies and brains do not develop properly.
HUNGER: A mother of four, Fatima does not have enough milk to breastfeed her 40-day-old baby. She does not get enough food, therefore she has no milk. His family lives in this store. They survive on handouts from the nearest mosque.
Photo: Sidsel Wold / NRK
One of those who knows why this is so, we meet in one of the other tents. Fatima is 26 years old. He has four children, the youngest is only 40 days old.
The little boy looks at his mother all the time. With the tiny hand, the baby looks for the mother’s breast. But to no avail. The mother has no milk to offer.
– I cannot breastfeed my baby because I do not have enough healthy food to eat. When we don’t get enough food, our children become weak and sometimes die of malnutrition, Fatima says.
Both children and adults surround us. Several of the children put their hands to their mouths to indicate that they are hungry. They expect us to come with food.
– Help us, please, say the women who take my arm to attract attention. Several of the women are pregnant.
An arid landscape with makeshift plastic tents and straw sacks. This is how many of the poor and malnourished live 15 minutes from the wealthy neighborhoods of Pakistan’s capital.
Photo: Sidsel Wold / NRK
12 million children
When former cricket star, then politician, Imran Khan was elected prime minister in 2018, he was met with huge expectations and hopes. In her inaugural address, she highlighted malnourished and stunted children.
Khan noted that Pakistan is among the top five countries in the world where most children die due to poor nutrition. And millions of children are affected by malnutrition.
In the speech, Imran Khan showed an X-ray of the brain of a healthy two-year-old and a malnourished two-year-old.
– His brain hasn’t grown as it should. We are talking about 45 percent of the children of Pakistan. Almost one in two Pakistani children in Pakistan suffers from this disease, the prime minister said.
COME WITH HOPE: After 20 years in politics, cricket legend Imran Khan won the election in 2018. He promised to help malnourished and stunted children. But it has done little with the case, the poor tell NRK.
Photo: MOHSIN RAZA / Reuters
– These kids can’t compete, they can’t advance into the 21st century. We must help them, Khan promised in 2018.
Chris Kaye, director of the World Food Program in Pakistan, confirms the situation.
– It is estimated that 12 million children under five are stunted. That means 5 million lost children. The problem of malnutrition in this country is truly surprising, considering that Pakistan is relatively rich. This is a structural problem that requires a structural response.
Kaye believes that the problem can only be solved through political action. The head of WFP is pleased that the Prime Minister recognizes the consequences of stunting for the country’s human capital.
CONCERNED: Chris Kaye is Pakistan’s chief for the World Food Program. He has become involved in the situation of malnourished children. – Five million children have been lost, he says.
Photo: Özgür Arslan / NRK
In Pakistan, the World Food Program works mainly with emergency aid, but Kaye is also very concerned about malnourished children.
– It is estimated that 3% of GDP is lost each year due to malnutrition and stunting. If the problem is not solved, the future generation of Pakistan will weaken, he says.
Survive with gifts
Fatima, a mother of four, lights a fire to heat some of the meat the family has obtained, and they are completely dependent on gifts to survive.
Behind this dusty and dirty little community along the road, we glimpse a minaret. And this particular nearby mosque ensures that many families do not starve. People who go to pray in the mosque bring food that they put in bags outside.
The only chance for her and her children to survive is to beg. There will be little food for the children to grow up.
Photo: Sidsel Wold / NRK
– I have four small children and because of hunger they can barely live. We are completely dependent on the gifts we receive from the mosque there. We don’t have a job, so how do we buy food? We don’t have a place to live, we just have these self-made tents. We live a life without meaning, says Fatima.
– But how did the prime minister’s promises fare? Nothing has happened?
– Imran Khan has done nothing. He promised to take care of stunted children and promised to end our misery and worries. But instead of helping the poor, it has made our lives worse, says Kausar, a mother of seven.
But not everything is answered all the time. The man from Fatima finds a red drum hanging under the cloth of the tent. It starts to beat, and as the rhythms spread out on both sides of the road, people crowd to see what happens.
A child begins to dance. And smiles slowly spread through the audience.
A DISPLACEMENT OF LIGHT: Life here is hard and brutal, but there are also good moments. When Fatima’s husband finds the red drum, some of the children soon begin to dance.
Photo: Sidsel Wold / NRK
