Orphans are HOPE

Students performing a native dance

This week I witnessed a beautiful thing......Hope for Afghanistan in the work that is being done by AFCECO.

 Andeisha Fand was a refugee  during the Soviet invasion and the wars that followed, meeting her husband in the refugee camp.  Seeing the devastation of her country, she decided on a practical solution to the "ignorance, oppression, hatred and poverty so deeply inbedded in the society. " She brought 20 orphans to the school she was directing at the age of 2l, in 2004.

"When I saw how quickly they responded, I felt hope.  I thought that if we could do more than feed and house these children, if we could educate them, teach them to embrace equality, empower them with a sense of security, they might give back to thier country what their country desperately needs:  Afghan teachers, Afghan midwives, Afghan engineers and of course, Afghan leaders."

AFCECO has grown in six years to include 13 orphanages, serving almost 700 children in Kabul, Jalalabad, Herat as well as Afghan refugees in Pakistan.  This May they opened their New Leaning Center, serving all the children of its Kabul orphanages....providing all children from grades 6-12 with in-depth and advanced courses  that compliment and extend the public curriculum.  They also provide a wide variety of extracurricular programs.  It is housed in a beautiful, 3-story house that is full of life 6 days a week.

Ballet class performing for the Talent Show

I attended their talent show at this Learning Center.  What a testimony to the vision and care this couple have given to their country's orphans and their vision for the future of Afghanistan!  I thought it was too fantastic to be kept a secret.   Their website is  http://www.afceco.org/

A few more stark facts about Afghanistan children:

*There are two million children who are orphans and over 600,000 children sleep on the streets
*50% of the Afghan population is less than 18 years of age with almost no education
*There are an estimated 8,000 child soldiers in the country.
* More than 60% of children have wtinessed a violent death
*50% of children suffer from chronic malnutrition