Hope for Afghan Children

The children’s tour of America concludes

This winter, six children from AFCECO’s orphanages in Kabul traveled around the USA, accompanied by Nasrin, the inspiring director of the New Learning Center, and Ian Pounds, their wonderful educational director. The aim of this tour was to:

• Provide the children with a profoundly enriching, educational experience, while they simultaneously represent AFCECO and their country as emissaries of something hopeful and effective in bringing peace and democracy to their people.
• Connect with as many sponsors and supporters of AFCECO children as possible along the tour, strengthening our bonds, and raising awareness of our activities.

The tour wrapped up in New York in March and the children have now headed home, after accomplishing both these goals and bringing joy and a more profound understanding to thousands of people across the USA.

Welcome to Hope for Afghan Children

Three decades of war and repression in Afghanistan have left deep scars on that country, most deeply on the children.

In a country where more than seven out of every 10 people are illiterate and where 1 out of every 12 children has lost both parents, providing care and education for girls and boys is a powerful step towards a more hopeful future.

To that end, Hope for Afghan Children supports the work of AFCECO, the Afghan Child Education & Care Organization. AFCECO provides quality care and education to hundreds of children in orphanages in Afghanistan. More than that, AFCECO is nurturing a new generation of young Afghans – girls and boys – who respect diversity and the rights and the dignity of all. This is Afghans building a new Afghanistan.

It’s our privilege to support this endeavor. We invite you to join us.

The orphanages we sponsor

AFCECO, the Afghan Child Education and Care Organization, provides quality care and education to hundreds of children in orphanages in Afghanistan and Pakistan, where the girls and boys learn:

• Respect for all human beings regardless of language, religion, race, sex, color or other differences;
• There is no difference between people;
• No human being is superior to any other because of class, color, language, race or religion;
• All human beings do not have to think alike or live the same way;
• It’s to the benefit of society that all human beings live in peace, understanding and harmony.

Many of the children in the orphanages are not orphans in the traditional sense, but conditions are so harsh in much of Afghanistan that many parents are unable, economically or physically, to care for their children or keep them safe. AFCECO provides a parwarishga - the Dari word means “foster haven” – a home, education and security to children who otherwise would have a very grim future.

Open a new world for your child and yourself

“You have changed the life of a generation of Afghan children who will remember you forever, and who will change Afghanistan’s future not with gun and force but with love and respect they have learnt in the orphanages.” – Andeisha, AFCECO’s director.

Sponsoring a child in an AFCECO orphanage is an extraordinary experience.

Unlike some child sponsorships where your link with the child is remote and filtered through a large organization, AFCECO sponsors are encouraged to build a personal relationship with the children they sponsor. Your child will send you letters and photos via email and you will be able to respond in kind.

Over the months and years, your Afghan children can become a central part of your world.

That’s the first bridge you build. It’s one of love.

You’ll also find your sponsorship builds bridges of learning, understanding and friendship, not only with the children you sponsor, but also with the adults who care for those children, your fellow sponsors, and with others who have come to care about the fate and future of Afghanistan.

Connect, share and do greater things

Sponsoring an Afghan child is a reward in itself. It’s a caring and learning experience for sponsors and children alike.

For some of us, though, that first sponsorship is simply the start of something bigger. As you learn about your child, the orphanage she or he lives in, the people who work in those orphanages, and the key role of education in building a safer, more egalitarian Afghanistan…as you learn all this, you may find your initial sponsorship blossoming into a larger personal commitment.

This site is here to help all AFCECO sponsors who seek a greater involvement.

• Sign up for the discussion forums and share your hopes and ideas.
• Connect with others who are co-sponsoring your child/children.
• Share your passion for your children (bragging is encouraged) and for the work we are doing together.
• Ask questions when you’re stumped by a Dari or Pashto word, or unsure how to write to your seven-year-old.
• Kick in some funds to our ‘Spotlight’ fundraisers – we can achieve larger goals together than by ourselves.
• Suggest other ways we can help further AFCECO’s work and goals.
• Share the word about AFCECO and this site with other sponsors and with potential sponsors.

Daily life in the AFCECO orphanages

In 2009, Ian Pounds spent five months living and working as a volunteer in Mehan Orphanage in Kabul. It is an experience which affected him deeply. Those of us who followed his weekly journal were moved, educated and inspired. We came away with a much richer understanding of the workings of the orphanages and the world of our sponsored children.

Now, Ian is back in Afghanistan, once again volunteering with AFCECO at the Kabul orphanages. He will continue his journal and we will feature his posts here on Hope for Afghan Children.

I hope you will join those of us who already make it a habit to sit down with a cup of tea or coffee each weekend while we read Ian’s latest installment.

Andeisha Farid, AFCECO’s director, is one of 12 people profiled in a new book by Jill Iscol and Peter Cookson: Hearts on Fire, Twelve Stories of Today’s Visionaries Igniting Idealism Into Action.

The Hearts on Fire website features photos and videos of Andeisha and the other 11 remarkable people whose stories are told in the book.

Reading Hearts on Fire, those of us who already know Andeisha or have seen her hand at work will be reminded, yet again, what a privilege it is to be a part of this AFCECO family.

All proceeds from the sale of the book will be donated to the work of the 12 profiled visionaries.