Sent out to beg, yet the 4-year-old girl dreams of becoming a teacher

Parvin was playing with rubbish and discarded items she had picked up in a corner of Bahadur Shah Park in Dhaka. She is just four years old. At an age when a child should be growing up in a safe environment, her days are spent in a corner of the park or on the pavement.

During a conversation with Parvin, she was asked about her parents. At one point, she was told, “Come on, let’s go to your father.” The moment she heard this, her expression changed. Frightened, she said, “I don’t want to go to my father. He’ll beat me if I do.”

Asked why her father would beat her, Parvin, still playing with an old pen, said he had sent her out to collect money from people. Instead of begging, however, she had been hiding away in the park to play. In her words, “My father told me to collect money, but I didn’t go. I’m hiding here and playing instead.”

Parvin’s father was asleep inside the park, while her mother was selling pens at Ray Saheb Bazar. Parvin has three other sisters.

As the conversation with Parvin continued, her father woke up. At one point, it emerged that she had not eaten anything since morning. Hearing that she was hungry, this correspondent sought her father’s permission to buy her some bread. But the bread did not remain in her possession for long. A little later, her father was seen taking it from her hand and eating it himself. Parvin did not appear upset; instead, a smile remained on her face.

Little Parvin said she had to ask people for money every day, telling them she needed it to buy rice to eat. In the afternoon, her father would demand an account of the money she had collected. If she failed to collect enough, not only Parvin but also her sisters would be beaten.

Parvin’s other sisters, Fatema, Roza and Panna, also have to roam around different parts of Sadarghat, begging passers-by for money. At the end of the day, they have to hand over whatever they have collected to their father, Munna.

A tea-stall owner near the park alleged that Munna spends part of the money he receives from his wife and children on drugs.

Alongside poverty, Parvin is also suffering from health problems. She has had boils on her head and neck for some time, as well as sores inside her mouth.

Parvin lamented, “I’ve been telling my father for a long time that I have boils on my neck and head. I’ve asked him to buy me medicine. He keeps saying he will, but he never does.”

In the evening, this correspondent also spoke to Parvin’s mother. Her account of her husband’s behaviour was much the same. She said he scolded her whenever the girls failed to earn money and beat her over the matter. She wants her husband to start working again and take responsibility for the family.

Despite such hardship, Parvin has a dream of her own. She wants to get an education and achieve great things in life.

“I want to study and become someone important. When I grow up, I want to become a teacher. I want to teach everyone,” she said.

Parvin’s mother said she had many dreams for her four daughters. “I want to make my girls doctors, engineers and lawyers. I’m willing to work in other people’s homes if that’s what it takes to educate them. I’m tired of living on the streets like this. If I can save a little money, I’ll take them back to our village. Otherwise, if someone could provide us with financial assistance, I could educate my daughters.”

The family has been living in the Bahadur Shah Park area for nearly four years. Their ancestral home is in Madaripur.

Parvin’s father, Munna, used to drive a rickshaw. He claims that he has been unable to find work since his rickshaw was stolen.

“I’d like to work if someone offers me a job. I’m making my wife and children work out of desperation. I want my daughters to get an education, too,” he said.