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CNN Live Saturday

Children of Afghanistan Look Forward to Better Days

Aired December 01, 2001 - 15:56   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: The children of Afghanistan have known war all of their lives, and now they are looking forward to better days. CNN's Harris Whitback in Kabul now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(AUDIO GAP)

HARRIS WHITBACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): ... bombers are now filled by something rarely seen here in the last five years, the colorful paper kites that are the national pastime. Kite shops in Kabul are back in business. During the Taliban years, there were considered an affront to Islam.

"They would beat us and destroy our kites," says kite maker Salgai (ph). "They would not let us sell them openly."

Children now stand on rooftops, string in hand, indulging in play as timeless as child's laugh.

Development workers say much more needs to change in children's lives. Decades of war have left tens of thousands of orphans. One in four Afghan children dies from preventable diseases before the age of 5, and a fast approaching winter is threatening thousands more.

UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy says immediate aid efforts should have longer-term effects as well.

CAROL BELLAMY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, UNICEF: Some degree, the emergency response is literally to try and reduce the number of kids who will die this winter from just terrible conditions. So, yes, that's a critical need for blankets and medicines. But those medicines at the same time will contribute to health system being able to respond.

WHITBECK: Some efforts to rescue Afghanistan's threatened children have been home grown but inadequate. A state-run orphanage in Kabul houses 450 boys and girls. But they sleep in dank, unheated dormitories, and the staff has not been paid in four months. An improvised school for orphans teaches children to read and write, but it depends on private donations that dropped off during years of war.

UNICEF says it will focus on education. BELLAMY: Two years from now, the public school system could be running. It might not mean every child is in school. There are countries around the world where lots of children are not in school. But at least the system would be running. The teachers would be back in the classrooms, and women would be contributing members of society.

WHITBECK: Children may be spending more time in the classroom and less time flying kites.

Harris Whitbeck, CNN, Kabul, Afghanistan.

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