[ Man ]This is where my kidney was removed
That's the scar left by the knife they used to cut it out
- How many of your brothers have sold kidneys? - Five
[ Jillan ]They bring poor people from all over
Some end up selling kidneys
[ Ghulam Farooq ]Here,
they took it here
If you can pay, they'll solve all your problems
They said, 'We'll make one call now
Two or three men will come, ready to sell, and you will choose'
[ Hakimi ]If that organ is missing, you're impaired
All that impairs or maims is not in keeping with Islam
- Is it a crime to traffic human organs? - That's right, it constitutes a crime
[ Ghulam Nabi ]In God's name, I am Ghulam Nabibullah
I'm unemployed with no particular trade and I'm disabled and can't do heavy labour
I sometimes go to the city to take on some light work, like cleaning
I got married 10 or 12 years ago
I have five children
Four boys and one girl
And if you count all my brothers, children and parents, there are...
17-18 people in my family, in all
- When did you sell your kidney? - 3 years ago
No one told me to, it was my decision
No one forced me, I acted alone
I looked up a patient who needed a kidney,
went to the clinic, and said I was ready to donate
The incision went from here to here
That's where the surgery was
It hurts here. This spot hurts too, when I walk
It hurts here as well
It was probably during the operation that the wound became infected
And I had no money to buy good medicines after the operation
We live in destitution
[ Gulsom ]Two of them worked as security guards,
and two worked as loaders
We've never had anything but stale bread at home
We were getting older
Creditors kept demanding money, but we couldn't pay
First, our eldest, Nabi, decided to do this
I tried to dissuade him, my husband fell ill, so my son sold a kidney
That's how desperate our situation was
All the time, people came to demand money, we had no choice
- Creditors? - Yes
- How many of your brothers have sold kidneys? - Five
This is where my kidney was removed
That's the scar left by the knife they used to cut it out
[ Gulsom ]Only God knows
how uneasy it made me feel
Come on in, go on, go on
- Hello - Hello, how are you?
Hello, are you well?
[ Agha Abdul ]Let's discuss how we can make it all stop
God willing, it will be resolved. There's no other way
There's nothing we can do to stop it. What do you think, what can we do?
- They sell kidneys in many districts - We need to do something, to stop them doing it
They embarrass us and our district, we must do something
We'll be 'Seshanbe Bazaar', the village of kidney sellers
Selling organs is not permitted by our religion
It is against God. It is against Islam
On the other hand, what these people do is understandable
I believe that, rather than robbing and killing people,
in this desperate situation, they choose to sell their kidneys
[ [ Ibrahim Hakimi ]If our brother needs blood...
we can donate blood for him,
eat properly and a month later, the blood we donated is replaced
But we can neither sell nor donate our kidneys
Even if you eat well
Even with the most expensive, most exquisite food,
your kidney won't grow back
If that organ is missing,
you're impaired. All that impairs or maims is not in keeping with Islam
We can't make people reconsider by force
We can only...
mentor them
We can only tell them not to do such things because they hold no virtue and bring no joy
Don't commit this evil
- Come over here - Come here
How old are they?
We don't know
We can't read, we count seniority by milk, who drank milk first and second
Come on in, take a seat!
- Are all six kids yours? - Yes, sir
And which one is the oldest?
This is the youngest
- The youngest? - Yes
- And most mischievous? - This one
[ Bibi Gul ]When we lived in Badghis, we borrowed some money
We had little ones, we tried to feed them, for a while at least
In a year or so, it might've been better, you never know
Then my kids' father said he'd borrow money, I said not to
He said: 'How can I not? If I don't, the kids will starve'
We borrowed constantly, the shopkeepers noted everything
Once, I asked if I could see,
I look, and it's almost 500,000! Now what do we do?
First, my husband sold a kidney but after paying our debts, we had nothing left, so I did too
My husband said: 'What are you doing? Why sell your kidney? You'll get sick, infirm!'
I said, 'You sold your kidney, where's the money? We've no food and nothing to eat!
No matter how hard you try, or what you do, we owe so many people!'
I'm not lying, brother. I went to the doctors,
asked how they find, cut out and transplant kidneys
Do they take from young, middle-aged, or old people?
They said not old people. I asked if I was the right age. I was
It was three years ago
The kids hardly had any clothes or shoes
We bought flour, rice, butter. Most of our money went on food
[ Ahmad ]If in a month or two we don't receive food aid,
I'll have to sell one child to buy food for the rest
We have a saying, 'Sacrifice one to feed ten'
So, that's what we'll do
[ dr. Mohammad ]Well, basically, ours is a regional hospital
We treat patients, severely ill patients in need of serious surgery and care,
from four nearby provinces
Renal conditions get therapy, urology, or dialysis
In total, we have 30-50 patients with renal conditions in different wards
On average, 80% of patients
admitted to our clinic are in either a critical or severe condition
I've been suffering from a renal condition for 10 months now
I'm ill. So, it's either transplant or dialysis
- A transplant? - Yes
- You haven't had one? - I can't, my finances are dire
- How much is a transplant? - About one million Afghani
Sadly, we can't perform kidney transplants here
We need the right equipment and conditions
We put our faith in the Lord
We hope the Ministries of Finance and Health will help
Because the people who come to Herat regional hospital badly need the surgery
How long have you been in hospital?
It's four days since I was admitted
How do you feel? Are you getting better?
I feel better now. Only my belly is swollen
Before, my face and feet were swollen too
- How long have you had this problem? - About a year
Currently, two Herat hospitals perform kidney transplants: *** and ***
They've performed these operations for some time now
The surgery has been carried out successfully in Herat's private clinics
[ dr. Mohammad ]Every week, sometimes 3 or 4 times a week, as the head of the hospital, I get such requests
My phone number is easy to find and people often call me offering to buy or sell a kidney
I send kidney patients to the *** Hospital,
and others that perform this operation, so that they get to the right place
We refer those patients, people who need kidney transplants, to those hospitals
[ Ghulam Farooq ]We fled here, to Herat Province,
away from the war, the danger, strife and despair,
the famine, and fratricide
God has blessed us with four sons and three daughters
- Four daughters - Yes that's right. With four daughters
I swear to God, we have not a thing to eat in the morning
Get a job?
Like hell! You can't find a decent job
You work two or three days for 200 Afghani a day
And this is my son
One of his kidneys failed, and he immediately lost a lot of weight
We went to hospital and the doctor said his kidney had failed and had to be removed
I said, 'Let's see if we can keep it while he's alive'
But the doctor said, there was no way but to remove the kidney
Here
They took it here
- When was the operation? - Almost a year ago
It's a year since they took the kidney
We have medical checks once a week, to prevent complications
- Does it hurt when you play? - Yes it does, and when I sit
- He can't play - No, I can't play
- Do you tell your father? - No, because we have no money
Only God knows if his kidney will ever function
If we're beset with my son weakening every day, if I get no help, if the government won't help
Then, to keep him alive, I'll have to sell my own kidney
I'll sell my kidney to pay for my son to have a kidney transplant
So that he can get better and go on to study and work
So that he will have a future
Whatever happens to me, doesn't matter
[ Jillan ]I'm Serjellah, from Herat Province
I have a family, thank God, I'm married with 4 daughters and 2 sons
6 kids
- What do you do? - I'm a car mechanic
About two years ago, I started to get headaches
I went to the doctors, I visited them five or six times
Some said, I had kidney problems,
others said different
They told me all kinds of things
I went to Pakistan where I was told I had a failed kidney
At first, I asked my relatives, but no one was willing to be a donor and give me a kidney
Then, I applied to hospitals, one after the other
I met several registered kidney sellers
Go to the *** Hospital, you'll find 100 to 200 sellers
Lots of poor go to sell kidneys
When you went to the *** Hospital, what did they say?
I was told that they would make a call
Then, two or three sellers would come, and we had to pick one of them
Sadly, the one we chose died
He died after the surgery, unfortunately
After some time, probably two months after the surgery,
some neighbours told me that the man who'd given me his kidney had died
How much did the kidney cost?
Some 350,000
Not including the transplant cost, I paid 350 grand just for the kidney
With the transplant surgery, it cost 400 to 450 thousand
- Did you pay the hospital or the donor? - Straight to the donor
Look, this is where they performed the surgery. There, see? That's the scar from the cut
Now I have one transplanted kidney, and two of my own
They didn't cut it out, they left it in my stomach
After the kidney transplant, did it affect your life at all?
It did. I feel better but I have some issues:
I don't feel I have enough strength, or any will or desire in my heart
I'm not strong for active work
It feels like they saved me from death, but that's it
According to some sources,
there's a black market for human kidneys in Herat
Has anyone been arrested yet?
As for accusations of massive and open illegal kidney trading,
we don't have any evidence
Because the investigative department is still working on its inquiry
We see no difference if it turns out to be one man or a group of people,
a medical centre or anyone else
Anyone who has broken or breaks the law will have action taken against them
So why do clients from America, England and other countries
come to Herat for kidney transplants? Isn't that evidence?
That's due to lower costs
You must understand that complex surgery in Europe or America
means financial difficulties for clients
Also, the families of our former citizens
come here from overseas to transplant organs between relatives
[ dr. Mohammad ]The hospital hasn't set up shop to buy and sell kidneys
It just provides technical facilities for kidney transplants
I'm sure that the people who work in those teams,
most of whom are staff, friends and acquaintances,
are not running any kind of kidney removal or storage business
to sell kidneys at any price. There's no such thing
Is organ trafficking a crime?
Absolutely!
We have special laws that indicate and define it as a crime
And if we found documentary evidence of such acts, we'd take action
[ Eqbal Shah ]My name is Eqbal Shah
I work as an assistant tea seller
I make 300 Afghani a week in the summer, and up to 500 in the winter
My work and other responsibilities are not difficult,
it's not hard to serve a plastic cup on a tray
I can't do heavy work
I'm useless at any hard work, due to my weak hands
Only God knows how I'll manage to work in the future
One of my kidneys failed
One works, the other doesn't
That's why I'm lethargic, fatigued, and have an under-developed body
I have renal failure. I need to have my kidney either replaced or treated
Where did you seek help to buy a kidney?
Which hospital does that?
The *** Hospital performs kidney transplants
For those who face kidney problems, they find a suitable replacement in five days
If you're able to pay, they'll solve all your problems
- Do they find donors too? - Yes, yes they do
They make contact with the donors,
and pay them
So, here in Herat Province, are kidney transplants common?
Very. Due to the dire economic situation, they're very common
Very!
- People come from other provinces too? - Yes, they do
From talking to people in the hospital,
I know that they mostly come to sell their kidneys
Do you realise that the people who gave you our number without permission
have violated our agreements?
What if we have problems coming our way?
Do you realise that?
But if you guarantee us anonymity, that we won't be recognised,
and you won't show our faces, we'll agree to talk to you
Let's go to the school
That looks like the school, over there
Yeah, he must be waiting for us
That's the man. That man
[ Abdul Ahmad ]I was in Iran, I came back, and am now solving my wedding problems
There's a girl I like,
I proposed to her
Her father took advantage of it,
and demanded a bride price of 800,000 Afghani
So here I am
[ Ahmad's brother ]He spent a lot of time talking to her privately on the phone
He says he loves her
but her greedy father...
he wanted to sell her to two other suitors
I seem to be bleeding
You touched the wound. Don't touch it
Easy!
Don't scratch it
Take your hand off it
You're bleeding. You've warmed it up
[ Abdul Ahmad ]When I was arranging the wedding, he demanded 800,000,
an impossible sum for a simple worker
The economy in Iran is bad
A man told me of a clinic that buys kidneys. So I went and sold mine
Health is the most valuable thing a man has
It's vital to stay healthy, he should've come to me,
we'd have worked it out, found the money and resolved it
But my brother said, 'I've already made the mistake'
I was so angry, I came here, to Afghanistan
And now, you can see the condition my brother is in
I'm very upset
I don't know what to do
He's dropped this misery on me
The girl you love, your fiancée, does she know?
No, she doesn't know I sold my kidney
There's a lot she doesn't know
How did you find a buyer? Who gave you the information?
Everyone knows who runs that kind of business. They have people in markets to advertise
When I came back from Iran, a friend to whom I'd told everything,
said he knew a place where they bought kidneys
And then, we went to the *** Hospital
A doctor there took my blood samples
I was in hospital for two or three days before they removed my kidney
Then, I went back home
I sold it for 430,000 Afghani
How do you feel now, can you work?
Of course not
After losing my health, and knowing I'm very ill,
obviously, I won't be able to work
[ Local doctor ]Ok, you can take the patient now
You're welcome
Sorry. Don't mention it
You can go now
Be sure to come back in two days to change the dressing. Goodbye