By Rick Montgomery | Executive Director
If you have been following this program, you know that Global Roots made a name for itself in Afghanistan by growing food that orphaned children used to find loving foster homes. We launched an assortment of food security programs from 2010 until one of our managers told us that our main project (a giant "Children's Garden that over 300 children would visit several times a week) was too close to a Taliban stronghold and that they could "come anytime they want to take our children."
We realized in early 2020 that we should shut down our "Children's Garden" and use 2020 funds to create a vocational school for orphaned girls in a much larger city that we assumed the Taliban would never take.
We were wrong. The Taliban took the city last summer and we were forced to close down our new school to protect our girls.
Fortunately, however, one of our local managers worked up the courage to visit a Taliban commander. The manager in question is the main hero of our story. He knew not to talk about our vocational school. Instead, he pleaded with the commander to let Global Roots deliver hens to poor widows and their children and help them to launch their own poultry businesses.
One little girl (see photo entitled "Sama") says her family's diet is more delicious and healthy now that her mother can cook with chicken eggs. Sama says that she had fun building a new home for her hens and she is grateful to "whoever did this" because she and her family was lonely and scared. Now they have money from the eggs they sell to buy things they could not afford previously, such as underwear and medicine.
The program went so well that the Taliban commander gave us the provisional authority we would need to relaunch our successful vocational school for orphaned girls (see photo entitled "our girls").
It has taken us time to think of the best way to tell this story to the world and we think it's best to just tell it here on GlobalGiving.
There are certainly those inside the commander's organization who would not agree with what he is allowing to happen.
If you want more info, please contact our executive director at rick@globalroots.org
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