Three older men in Herat told Amu TV that they continue to work long hours despite illness and physical limitations because their families depend on their earnings for basic necessities.
They said that a lack of suitable jobs and rising living costs have made it increasingly difficult to support their families, leaving them with little choice but to continue physically demanding work.
Abdul Rahman, 60, spends his days moving through Herat city with a handcart in search of work.
He has undergone three surgeries and says he is no longer physically capable of heavy labor. But with a wife and three children depending on him, he continues searching for whatever work he can find.
“I have a cart, and I go all over the city looking for work,” Abdul Rahman told Amu TV. “I go everywhere, but I can’t find work. I’m responsible for the expenses of four people. When I go home at night, they ask, ‘Dad, what did you bring?’”
For Mohammad Akbar, 52, work begins before sunrise.
He works at a bakery in central Herat from about 4 a.m. until 10 p.m., earning 600 to 700 afghanis a day. Despite the long hours, he said his income is insufficient to cover his household expenses.
“I earn 600 or 700 afghanis a day, which comes to 19,000 or 20,000 afghanis a month,” Akbar told Amu TV. “But our expenses are very high because seven or eight people depend on this income.”
Outside Herat city, Mohammad Musa, 70, works under the sun threshing crops for about 300 afghanis a day.
He said around 10 members of his family depend on him financially, leaving him with few alternatives despite his age.
“We are poor and have no choice but to work,” Musa told Amu TV. “I am 70 years old, and I can’t go to Iran either. We have many children. I have no option other than working.”
The experiences of Abdul Rahman, Akbar and Musa illustrate the economic pressures facing some low-income families in Herat, where older workers say they continue searching for jobs or performing physically demanding labor despite their age and health problems.
For the three men, stopping work is not an option: Their daily earnings remain essential to putting food on the table for the family members who depend on them.
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