A man, sitting and looking sad. He holds a plastic cup or bowl in his hand. Photograph: Muhammad Abuzar

Escaping the chains of debt

In Pakistan, the poor turn to a sophisticated network of philanthropists to avoid the shame of borrowing from family and friends.

Mr. Junaid in the street with his son as the people behind him buy fruit from a fruit seller. "My son is attached to me and he never wants to leave my sight. Before I go out for work, I usually take him with me for a walk," Junaid says. Photograph: Muhammad Abuzar

Ahmad Junaid was at a wedding when his mother died. "I had to get a bus to my sister’s house where my mother's dead body was waiting," he said.

He cried the whole way, "The driver was making unnecessary stops to get more passengers. I told him my mother had died, but he replied: 'So what? Someone dies every day.'" 

That was only the beginning of the indignities waiting for Junaid. His mother had died in another man’s house, a mark of shame in Pakistan as others were quick to remind him.

"When I finally arrived, the first words that reached my ears were, 'Look at these people with no dignity.' My father-in-law came to me and said, 'I don't have any respect for you, nor do I want to be here. I am only here because my daughter is married to you.'" 

It's been 14 years since that moment, almost all of them hard. Junaid is a 33-year-old rickshaw driver caught in the torturous world of poverty, debt and family ties in Pakistan.

His rickshaw is rented, as is the house where he lives with his wife, Sidra, his four daughters, Sumbal, Alina, Sawera and Falk, and his son, Ammar, who is just two years old.

"Although I am struggling to feed my family, I want to educate my daughters. I don't want them to end up like me," Junaid told me.

But I am nearly buried under different debts and the collectors are always knocking at my door."
Junaid

Mr. Junaid with his children. From left to right: Sumbal, Sawera, Falak, Alina, Junaid and Ammar. Junaid wants to educate all of his children. Photograph: Muhammad Abuzar

Junaid has been working since he was six years old. "My father and I, we used to pick vegetables for farmers and carry heavy loads in order to make a living." His father was also burdened by debt. "We moved to Lahore in order to make our fortune and avoid the collectors."

As happens everywhere, people from Mr Junaid's background find it very difficult to get bank loans when they have no assets to show the bank. "These people depend on loans from their family and friends," said Sheikh Zahid Qabli, a social worker who has provided financial support for families for over four decades.

"Taking a loan from a relative is fairly easy, but it is very risky. If it becomes known to other relatives one loses respect and the whole family is embarrassed. Everyone starts distancing themselves. Taking a loan from a friend is easier, but it can only happen once or twice."

Junaid was picking up two elderly passengers in his rickshaw in September 2021 when his phone rang. It was a woman he owed 125 euros, who started shouting at him. Although embarrassed, he couldn't cut the line. He didn't want this creditor showing up at his home.

When he finally got free, one of the passengers asked what the argument was about. He explained the situation and the man then said he knew someone who might help. "He wrote down a name, an address and a telephone number."

Mr. Junaid lives with his family in a one-room rented house. There is a common open space in the house which is shared by the landlords. There is a small kitchen and a bathroom in the rented space as well. This picture clearly depicts the financial condition of Junaid’s family. Photograph: Muhammad Abuzar
After dropping off a heavy load for a customer, Mr. Junaid reaches home tired and exhausted, where his family is waiting for him. He usually comes home in the afternoon to get some rest and food before going back to finding work. He says he can't afford to eat lunch elsewhere. Photograph: Muhammad Abuzar

The name on the piece of paper belonged to a philanthropist, Mr Barkat Ali Luna. Junaid wrote to him, stating that although he worked hard, he couldn't "meet his expenses as he has four daughters and one son, he lives in a rented house and drives a rented rickshaw."

He told the stranger that every month he has to borrow money from someone, and said he desperately needed a loader, a three-wheel cargo vehicle. There is, he said, not much profit left in rickshaw driving. With a loader, he wrote, he could earn a respectable living and continue the education of his daughters.

The letter was born of desperation. At around the same time he was berated by the woman to whom he owed money, Mr Junaid received a call from the principal of his daughters' school. "I was told, 'It's been six months since you paid the fees for your children. I will send them back home if you don't pay soon.'"

Mr Junaid begged him not to close the door on his girls, but was told the school had already given him a discount and now it was time to pay. He was told he only had a few more days.

"Whenever I reached home my wife would be holding her head in her hands," said Mr Junaid. "I'd tell her everything is going to be fine."

Alina, Mr. Junaid's daughter, showing her annual result card as she is promoted to the next class after securing 393 marks out of 425. Alina says she wants to study up to a PHD. Photograph: Muhammad Abuzar
Mr. Junaid's daughter's fee card for the year 2021-2022. This fee card mentions that the full fee was only paid for the months of March, April and May, and partially paid in June. Since July 2021, no fee was paid as Mr. Junaid was in a financial crisis. Later, Mr. Zahid, a philanthropist, paid the fee for Mr. Junaid's children. Photograph: Muhammad Abuzar
Mr. Zahid Qabli, philanthropist and president of Lahore Lions Club, which is affiliated with Lions Club International. Mr. Zahid has paid the fee for Mr. Junaid's daughter as well as some of Mr. Junaid's outstanding debts. Mr. Zahid is happy to see that Mr. Junaid's financial condition is gradually improving. Photograph: Muhammad Abuzar

While Mr Junaid awaited a response to his letter to Mr Barkat, he reached out to many other people in desperation to arrange the fee for his daughters' education, and someone introduced him to Mr Zahid. When Mr Zahid looked into Mr Junaid's financial situation, he was touched by his dedication to educating his daughters. The first thing he did was pay all the remaining fees for Junaid's daughters.

"I want to help people, but I don't want to create more beggars on the road," he told me. "If Mr Junaid has some loan to pay that he took on interest, I am willing to make a full payment to get him out of the loan. But he has to pay me the actual amount although I will take no interest from him. I want him to realise people can support him if he is willing to work."

In Pakistan, it is very common for everyone to give alms and charity, regardless of one's condition. It is a common sight on the roads to see the non-wealthy stop by a signal to put money in a charity box which is chained next to a pole. Most business people are philanthropists, too. Some do it for PR, but many others genuinely like to help people.

From Junaid's perspective, the opportunity to work hard is all he wants. "I have discovered that rickshaws won't leave you starving, but they will never let you make progress. This is why I want to drive a loader. I am scared that if someone kicks us out of the rented house I would have nowhere to go with my daughters."

Junaid's character certificate, issued by the local Union Council. This certificates states that Junaid is a Pakistani national, has never been convicted and has a good character. Junaid attached his character certificate along with other documents in the application to the philanthropist for the purchase of a loader rikshaw. Photograph: Muhammad Abuzar
Mr. Junaid in his shiny brown shoes after placing the order for the front cover/roof for his loader rikshaw. He is happy that once this cover is installed he can work extra hours without having to worry about weather conditions. Photograph: Muhammad Abuzar
After waiting for over an hour, Junaid moves towards his loader rikshaw with commitment and dedication, having found his first customer of the day. "My kids are hungry and waiting for me so it is really important for me to find work. If I get work, my children will be fed," Junaid says. Photograph: Muhammad Abuzar
Mr. Junaid lifts the wooden boards to be dropped at another woodshop. He looks determined. Mr. Junaid has to lift heavy loads and travel great distances at a time for a small sum of money. He says, "I usually don't refuse any work as it is better to have something than going home empty-handed." Photograph: Muhammad Abuzar

Mr Barkat was moved after receiving Junaid's letter, but he wanted to make sure his money was going to a deserving person, so he ran a background check on Junaid and found out that he rented his rickshaw from his brother-in-law, Mr Muhammad Ali. Junaid had been told the vehicle belonged to someone else and that his brother-in-law just took care of the finances for the owner.

"There is a taboo about getting favours or work from the sister in-law," said Mr Junaid's brother-in-law Mr Ali. "Junaid is hardworking and needy, but if he had learned that I owned the rickshaw it would be too embarrassing for him. Then how would he feed his family? He has four daughters. I am also from a humble background, otherwise I would support him more."

After he got to know Junaid, Mr Barkat Ali Luna gifted him the loader, upon the condition that he would work hard and support his family honestly.

Without the help of Mr Zahid and Mr Barkat, it would not have been possible for Junaid to escape from his miserable condition. The lack of a social support system makes people entirely dependent on the kindness of others.

But Junaid is delighted. "Now that I have this loader, I can pay my debts and educate my daughters. I want them to do Ph.Ds., to become better human beings, to bring forth a better generation. We won't have to worry about being thrown out of a rented house to live like vagabonds," he said. "My mother always wanted us to have a house of our own."

He said that he had been blessed by that unknown passenger who handed over Mr Barkat’s number. "If these philanthropists didn't exist, people like me would die and our children would starve. A rich man can afford to have dignity and honour, but a poor man like me is helpless."

Sumbal, Sawera, Falak and Alina doing their homework. Sawera reaches out to her sister. Usually these girls do their homework in the open common area where their landlords always pass by, because this open room is shared by them and their landlord. Photograph: Muhammad Abuzar
About the author
Muhammad Abuzar

Muhammad Abuzar is a Media professional from Lahore, Pakistan. He is engaged in digital media storytelling and his areas of interest are civil society, media, and technology.