<i>Living a life of Sisiphus</i>
Photo: Durdana Ghias
Rubel was pushing a rickshaw full of sacks and a man was sitting on the sacks. Though 12 years old the malnourished boy looked not more than 10 years of age.
A dozen other kids were doing the same type of jobs. They were helping the vehicles to climb the ramp of a bridge.
Scores of people and non-motorised vehicles like rickshaws and rickshaw vans cross the Lohar Bridge every day at Kamrangirchar, one of the vital links connecting the char with the city.
It is really astounding to see how these little boys manage to push the heavily loaded rickshaws and vans all the day just for Tk 2 per vehicle.
Most of the children were thin and wiry and looked tiny than their actual age. They work from the crack of the dawn till midnight. Some of them do it because they have to support their families. Some do it because they want to earn for themselves and spend on whatever things they want to including drugs.
"I push rickshaws because I don't have any other work to do," said Rubel while pushing the rickshaw in the sweltering heat.
He gets around Tk 100 daily by pushing rickshaws and rickshaw vans from seven in the morning to two in the afternoon.
Asked what he does with the money Rubel said he gives the money to his mother to support his family of four that his rickshaw puller father cannot run.
Despite all he has a dream. "I want to go to the school and want to be a doctor when I grow up," he said.
Like Rubel other children were pushing rickshaws and other non-motorised vehicles up to the bridge.
Athin is pushing rickshaws from dawn to twelve at night for the last three years.
"I know it is hard work but I don't feel that way anymore," said an all smile Athin, looks around 12 but is unable to say how old is he.
His older brothers work as motor mechanics and liftmen at different companies in the commercial areas in the city but still he likes to fend for himself, he said.
"I am fine. I am happy that I get around Tk 200 every day," he said.
Asked what he does with the money Athin said sometimes he gives an amount to his mother but mostly he spends it all for himself.
"I like biscuits, lozenges, heroin and ganja," he said frankly disclosing the fact that a large number of street children earning for themselves spend their income on drugs.
When asked whether he knows about the bad effects of drug Athin said, "Addiction is a very good thing and it doesn't harm the body," while his rickshaw-pushing mates agreed with him.
According to those working with street children admit that till now there is no statistics at the government or NGO level on the exact number of street children or those using drugs.
"We know there are scores of street children but we are yet to know the number and ratio of drug users," said Iqbal Masud, programme coordinator of Dhaka Ahsania Mission, who has been working with addicted street children for the last two years.
As for the NGOs, some organisations have worked sporadically with street children. But vital questions remain unanswered because of their piecemeal approach to the issue, he said.
"In the last one and a half years we detoxified 35 addicted street children and we gave life-skill training to 25 children. But we could not continue the programme because of fund constraint. There is poor response from donors for street children. They are more interested to donate for HIV/AIDS and for buying condoms but not for street children," said Masud.
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