The Path

An 80-year-old barber who earns $7.00/day  on a good day in Larkana, Pakistan, would be just like anyone else in his village except that, every morning at sunrise, rain or shine, he gets on his bicycle and rides through town ringing a brass bell and calling out to children to follow him through the streets.  The barber is rounding up all the homeless children in hopes of learning where they came from and finding someone to take them in.

Haji Anwar Khokar was the former barber for Pakistan’s President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.  He fell out of favor with the government when former President Bhutto was deposed and executed in 1979.  Now he barely hangs on, but dedicates himself to his religious beliefs and forsakes everything to give the children food, housing and a bed, with no questions asked.  Most children eventually open up to him about escape from the Taliban or child labor or child bride offers.