Zabiullah Wafa is one of the thousands of Afghans whose breadwinning source stopped right after the previous government fell and the Taliban took over the country.
Zabiullah was a local reporter for the Khaama Press News Agency and other media outlets in the western Ferz Koh city of Badghis province who has lost his job as a journalist and is now making bricks as labor to feed his ten-member family.
He was a well-known ten-year local journalist in Badghis province but was laid off and left unemployed due to the financial drawbacks of the local media.
“After the Taliban takeover, local media outlets laid me off and it has been two months for me to be wandering without job. To feed my family I decided to join my father in making constructional bricks.” Wafa told Khaama press.
The former Afghan journalist is not fully convinced of his income from making bricks though, it is still a small amount of money that can help his family members survive.
Wafa says that hundreds of Afghan journalists are living the same limbo and asked the international community to stand by them and help them in this dire situation.
Earlier, IFJ in its recent report said that 153 media outlets have been shut due to financial problems that have directly affected more than seven thousand journalists in Afghanistan.
The freedom of speech and media have been curtailed after the Taliban takeover and most of the media outlets have sacked their employees while others have cost deducted and have decreased the salaries even by 40%.
These all come as the prices of food ingredients and fuel have been rising that will cause a humanitarian crisis if not addressed by the winter season.
I am glad to see this journalist doing something constructive now.