The three adorable daughters of the “bowab” (doorman) of my building. The youngest one (Safiya, meaning “pure”) in the middle was playing tabla, the oldest one, Sarah, on the left insisted on taking my grocery shopping today and was able to carry a lot of grocery bags with some ease- putting me to shame and simultaneously highlighting how someone’s life can be so different-and Heba on the right, who loves cats and also has insisted on taking my grocery shopping, always asking me “iyza haga?” (You need anything else?) which is a phrase utterly normal to impoverished children here, as there is no concept that children should not be doing manual labour when basic living needs are not inherently secured. I protest and say “anti bint” or “anti atfal” (you’re a girl/you’re children) when they ask me why they can’t carry my groceries for me for a tip, which they just laugh at, the notion somewhat foreign to them. From what I sometimes see, there is a loss of childhood in underprivileged children in struggling countries; they have dealt with more hardships as part of their everyday life than some children ever will.
Amanda Tapp 