Afghanistan’s working youth
Sami Rahimi, 13, rests his head momentarily as a speech by Afghan President Hamid Karzai airs on a television in the Kabul bakery where he works. He begins his day before dawn. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
Sami, right, continues working until the evening, when people buy bread on their way home from their jobs. Child labor is illegal in Afghanistan for those under 14, but it is pervasive because of extreme poverty and inadequate law enforcement. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
Sami’s bed is on the platform where baking supplies are kept during the day. About 25% of children in Afghanistan work. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
Sami has a moment of rest at the bakery. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
Sami’s employer allows him to attend religious school for an hour in the afternoons. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
Sami’s chores include fetching water for the bakery. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
Six-year-old Hamidullah shines shoes on the side of a road in Kabul. “My mother said don’t come back until I have 100 afs,” or afghanis -- about $2, he said. He recently lost his father to cancer. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
Brothers Hekmat, 12, left, and Qudratulla, 9, work in a metal shop in Kabul, where they help make water heaters and other items. Hekmat started working at age 8 when his father told him he should learn a trade. He attends class in the afternoon and is now in the third grade; Qudratulla is in second grade. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
Hekmat, left, and Qudratulla make $6 a week each. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
Shukriya, 8, sells toilet paper in downtown Kabul. “I don’t want to work,” she said. “If there was someone in my family to support me, I’d like to go to school.” She has been working for two years, an uncle said. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
