A year ago today, I met Alamgir. My attempt to help this boy lives with me as one of my greatest regrets. Alamgirs mother died and his father pulled him out of school into a life of hard manual labor. A villager took pity on him and brought Alamgir to Dhaka City, where Alamgir instead worked at a tea shop. He’d earn about $12.50 a month. Getting to know Alamgir I discovered he only wanted one thing: to go to school like other kids. I did what I could. I found a place not far from where my dad went to school as a kid. This place would take Alamgir in, feed him, clothe him, and give him a bed of his own. When I told Alamgir this, his eyes filled up with tears. He packed his bags and insisted he quit his job at the tea shop. Locals were leery of me but eventually I was able to prove my cred and show I wasn’t trying to kidnap this kid and/or human traffic him. But the plans were squashed because his father, far away, veto’d the idea. Hoping to earn the same trust that I had with locals near the tea shop, I went on a road trip across the country. I took Alamgir, some locals from the town, and the tea shop vendor. The goal? To convince the father to let Alamgir study. This was not going to happen. Alamgir’s father insisted that Alamgir was to live a life of suffering. I’m not even joking - he used the word suffering. “I suffered, so can he” he said. Alamgirs father offered to take money to send Alamgir to school in the village - but would not do so if I required proof of enrollment and attendance. Ultimately, in the end, Alamgir was left worse off than when I met him. Alamgir’s father forbade his son from returning to Dhaka, and instead returned his son back to the life of hard manual labor of which a villager had once rescued him. The path to hell is often paved with the best of intentions.
Posted on: Tue, 06 Jan 2015 23:40:31 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015