Bewaha means widow's village in Dari. 250 inhabitants live in this tiny village in western Afghanistan in Andraskan district, Herat province. Most of the women were widowed because their husbands were killed in the shady business of smuggling opium, hashish, and heroin to Mashad, Iran. Some of them lost all their sons as well in the years of conflict with the Soviets and Taliban. There are no jobs nearby, and those who can work must travel to Herat city daily, an 85 kilometer journey which...
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Bewaha means widow's village in Dari. 250 inhabitants live in this tiny village in western Afghanistan in Andraskan district, Herat province. Most of the women were widowed because their husbands were killed in the shady business of smuggling opium, hashish, and heroin to Mashad, Iran. Some of them lost all their sons as well in the years of conflict with the Soviets and Taliban. There are no jobs nearby, and those who can work must travel to Herat city daily, an 85 kilometer journey which costs nearly the amount one person can earn in a day. In the last three years, it is estimated that 30 of their children died. Water is scarce and unsanitary, and resources are virtually nonexistent in the vast desert valley that is their homeland.
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