by Farid Behbud, Arghand
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Oct. 26 (Xinhua) -- The long- protracted war and ongoing violence have not only deprived huge numbers of people, particularly women, of education, but also created widespread poverty and adversity among families who have lost their breadwinners in Afghanistan.
A shockingly large number of women who lost their husbands, sons and other breadwinners to insurgents in Afghanistan have no other option except to wait from dawn until dusk along the streets in many Afghan cities, particularly in the southern province of Kandahar, to sell old clothes to support their families.
In Shekarpur bazaar, a vicinity in Police District 3 of the provincial capital, Kandahar city, a number of destitute women, some clad in full traditional burqa, queued on the street side to sell their old and second-hand clothing.
A mother of six small children and resident of Police District 3 in Kandahar city, Zahra, 54, who lost her husband in the conflict, is among the women who have been working for survival by vending miscellaneous dresses along the road.
"My husband was a police officer and was killed in a battle a few years ago. I have to sell old garments to support my orphans," said Zahra, blaming the government for having done nothing tangible to support them.
In the same area, a mother of a fallen police officer, Shukria, 70, who said she only had a half-standing house to live in, is another example of the scores of economically impoverished women waiting for customers.
"I have to work hard, during hot and cold weather, to find something to eat and drink, as my son was martyred while defending the country," said Shukria, pleading with the Afghan government to assist her in escaping such a miserable life.
Confirming the dire challenges facing some women in Kandahar, Provincial Women Affairs Chairwoman Ruqia Asakzai told Xinhua that her office has often provided them with aid, but has no plans to consider a special place for the female vendors' to work.
Although women's status has widely improved in Afghanistan since the dethroning of the Taliban regime in late 2001, women, mostly in the countryside, are facing a variety of problems and violence.
Many are looking with hope to the three women who have been serving as ministers in the country and the 68 women, of the total 249 lawmakers, in the lower house, to bring about legislative solutions to protect and elevate the most vulnerable members of Afghanistan's society.
