In Bad Times, Girls Become Financial Assets

SILALI, Kenya — Soitanae Ole Kyoiogo watched helplessly as his treasured cows dropped dead in the drought, one after another, until only two survived from a herd of 50. Desperate to feed his family, he turned to the only source of wealth he had left: his daughters, ages 8 and 9.

By Edmund Sanders

March 19, 2006