Provide Care for Afghanistan's Abandoned Children

Dear GlobalGiving donors,

We are pleased to report that we were able to add 400 new children to our Children's Garden program in Afghanistan this month! This represents the largest single-month increase in the number of particpants we have seen in the 13 years since we laid down our first garden and built our first classroom.

Our Children's Garden is well known as a haven for children who lack support. There is no other organization that provides basic needs to children in need where we operate.

Even though this is a clear sign that our Children's Gardens are making a difference, it also tells us how badly things are going for the average family in Afghanistan.

Our Children's Gardens were devised to take in "stragglers" during the war -- children of war who had nowhere else to go. Now, with schools officially closed for secondary aged girls -- and with starvation evident in the homes of families that were once middle class -- more and more desperate caregivers and windowed mothers are bringing their children to us.

Fortunately, Global Roots is up for the challenge.

1. We received a major donation from an internatonal organization that will help us pay all program expenses for each of the 400 children that we recently accepted into the program.

2. Our staff is resilient. Many of the people who work with us could have resigned when things got tough but they didn't. They knew children would suffer if they left their positions. Fortunately, due to the increase in donations that we've seen recently, we are able to give them all raises.

3. We have found a government agency in Afghanistan that has our back and is willing to vouch for the work we do. We signed a Memorandum of Understanding with this agency that will protect our team, our students and their caregivers moving forward.

Challenges;

The grant we received for our Children's Gardens will not pay for a food program, medical attention or clothing for our children. This is why GlobalGiving donors are so important. The 400 children who came to us recently were wearing rags, many were sick and all were hungry.

GlobalGiving donations will help us expand food production to feed these children, put clothing on their backs and help us give medical attenton to the sick ones.

Media limitations

Unfortunately, due to the ever changing political landscape in Afghanistan, we need to keep this report brief and let photos do the talking. Please see the attached photos and contact us with any questions.

Before I sign off, I would like to send a thank you from a young girl named Sama who says she would be collecting trash in the streets for pennies a day without this program.

"Thank you kind people for giving me a place to go and something important to do. I am learning so much and I even get to take home food which my aunt prepares for all of us to eat. We would have no food without this program and I would be sad."