Desperate to feed her family, Saleha, a housecleaner here in western Afghanistan, has incurred such an insurmountable debt that the only way she sees out is to hand over her 3-year-old daughter, Najiba, to the man who lent her the money.<\/p>\n
The debt is $550.<\/p>\n
Saleha, a 40-year-old mother of six who goes by one name, earns 70 cents a day cleaning homes in a wealthier neighborhood of Herat. Her much older husband doesn\u2019t have any work.<\/p>\n
Such is the starkness of deepening poverty in Afghanistan<\/a>, a humanitarian crisis that is worsening fast after the Taliban seized power on Aug. 15<\/a>, prompting the U.S. to freeze $9 billion in Afghan central-bank assets and causing a halt in most foreign aid.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n There's a paywall, but it doesn't matter. The headline is enough. The headline is more than enough. https:\/\/t.co\/6jdcMuQRSu<\/a><\/p>\n — Cara Duley – Noli Timere! (@MissCaraReads) October 18, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n \n