Young mango sellers near Dhaka’s Korail

Summer is the season of the ‘King of Fruits’ in Bangladesh. Throughout summer, when mangoes of all varieties are available, people crowd the shops and markets to buy the season’s most luscious mangoes for their families to enjoy.

But the same cannot be said for Momin, a young mango seller who has set up a shop in an alleyway of Dhaka’s Korail, the largest slum in the city.

Back in Sherpur, Momin could easily climb trees and enjoy the fresh mangoes of the season. However, his family was barely getting by because his father was the sole breadwinner with minimum wage.

So, four years ago, Momin came to Dhaka with his family for work.

He now sells seasonal fruits in a makeshift fruit shop with his father. Selling fruits has enabled Momin’s family to afford two meals daily, but not enough to provide for his education.

Despite mango being his favourite fruit, he cannot enjoy it like most kids his age.

Noman, 14, sells fruits in Korail. Due to his lack of interest in studies, he stopped attending school after third grade, despite his parents’ constant efforts to send him back. His day begins at 8 in the morning, and he closes his shop sometime around midnight.

He told Hello, “I don’t want to go back to school.” And so, he has accepted a life where he has to work 12 hours a day, rain or shine.

But is this really the life we want for the children of today? A life without entertainment, proper education, just to keep the family from starving?

Reporter’s age: 14 | Dhaka