Hunger

This morning I was watching TV when a news story about some Pakistani boxers came up. They used to be employed by the Karachi Electrical Supply Corporation (KESC) until a few weeks ago when they were summarily fired without explanation. Now they are starving. Their families have to borrow food from the neighbours to stay alive. Some of them are able to find work doing odd jobs making pakoras or fixing bicycles. Mostly they are just destitute. The children sit miserably against a bare wall, too haggard to even cry.

There are so many millions like them, both in Pakistan and around the world, families dying slowly from the corrosive effects of poverty. This Ramadan, as we sit with our own families and enjoy our iftaars, let's also remember them and their suffering. As hard as it is to stay hungry yourself, it is probably harder to watch your children starve. The captain of the team recently burnt all the gold medals he had earned for his country. "If things don't get better," he said, "I will burn myself along with my whole family. What use are these medals to me."