AFGHANISTAN: A 57-year-old man in Afghanistan has become the focus of attention after revealing the extraordinary challenges of raising a family of 58 children from four wives.
Muhammad Sadiq, who lives in Afghanistan’s Uruzgan province, says his youngest child was born only a few weeks ago. With such a large household, keeping track of everyone has become a daily challenge.
Sadiq reportedly counts his children every night before going to sleep to make sure everyone is home. On one occasion, however, he discovered that one child was missing from the count.
What made the situation even more unusual was that Sadiq did not immediately know whether the missing child was a boy or a girl. He later learned that the child’s mother had taken the youngster to the grandmother’s home.
Sadiq also recalled another incident that highlighted the difficulty of remembering the names of so many children. When a cleric asked him for the name of a daughter whose marriage was being solemnised, he gave a name after thinking for a while. The cleric suspected something was wrong and asked him to check again. Sadiq later discovered that he had accidentally given the name of another daughter.
Despite the unusual family size, life for the household is far from easy. According to the report, the family faces severe poverty and shortages of basic necessities. Some children reportedly go to bed hungry, while food is generally prepared only twice a day.
During winter, six or seven family members may share a single thin blanket. The house reportedly has no proper windows or doors, with entrances covered only by thin curtains.
Two women are responsible for preparing food for the household, while bathing, washing clothes and cleaning dishes are carried out without separate facilities.
Some of the younger children also collect paper and plastic that can either be sold or used as fuel to help support the family.
The family has also suffered devastating losses, with 14 children reportedly dying over the years. Experts cited in the report warn that early marriage and repeated pregnancies can pose serious health risks to mothers and children.
Despite the hardships, Sadiq says he has two major hopes for his children: that they receive education in both religious and worldly subjects, and that none of them ever has to go to bed hungry.
The unusual story, first reported by the BBC and cited by Aaj News, has drawn attention not only because of the extraordinary size of the family but also because it highlights the severe poverty and difficult living conditions faced by many large families in Afghanistan.
