There are approximately 1.2 million child laborers living in Afghanistan today. Many are forced into work by the age of five or six due to the disabling or death of a father. Their mothers, who are often uneducated, find it extremely difficult to find a job. In these cases, the children, who are pulled from school, become the sole bread winners for their families.
Wake Forest University junior Jawad Wahabzada has seen first-hand an entire generation of young Afghans lose out on their chance for an education, and the deteriorating affect it’s had on the society. Starting at age seven, shortly after the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, he was forced to work eight to nine hours a day as a child laborer in Kabul.
To raise awareness about this issue, the sophomore communication major has teamed up with Wake Forest documentary film graduate John Bougher to create a new documentary film Children of Kabul. Wahabzada says that unless the Afghanistan government and international community provide financial incentives for families to keep their kids in school, the entire country faces an uncertain future.
Children of Kabul screens at RiverRun International Film Festival on Friday night, April 20.
