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In Afghanistan Amputees are Doing it for Themselves

Posted on October 9, 2008 by Leah Hazard
Topics: Economic Development
Countries: Afghanistan

How'd you like being a bicycle messenger on roads labeled "decrepit" and "all but impassable?" What about delivering documents by bike in a country where suicide bombings seem like a daily occurrence?

Now imagine doing it with only one good leg.

With some financial help from a German donor, that's just what a group of Afghan amputees is doing to support themselves and their families.

NPR reports that the men take to the street each day on their bicycles, delivering everything from documents to pizza, and insist that the absence of a limb is not an obstacle at all. The business has helped men like Abdul Khalil provide for his wife and eight children for the past six years.

The young businessmen face difficulties eking out a living in war-torn Afghanistan where one-in-ten people are disabled, but one thing is for sure — they're all glad not to have to beg to feed their families.

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