Provide Care for Afghanistan's Abandoned Children

Our current Children's Garden and Chicken egg farm has reached such a level of success in Baharak, Afghanistan that other communities want to duplicate it.

Our director Rick Montgomery has been working diligently with our local partners to create a new program in nearby Faizabad. Please see the attached photos of our thriving project in Baharak. A successful meeting in Kabul last spring between Rick, a village elder and the local manaber of our Baharak Children's Garden (BCG) led to great confidence that a new project in Faizabad will be successful even if it happens right under the nose of the Taliban.

Recently, however, we have had problems keeping in touch with our local manager due to the increased activity of the Taliban in the Badakshan region. We are monitoring the situation carefully and we are praying for the local managers of our project.

If all goes well, ground will be broken on a new Children's Garden and hen house in Faizabad by April, 2014 and our next oversight mission will take place shortly thereafter.

Now is the time to protect children in Badakshan! Nothing is more important than food. A close second to food is the emotional support our children gain from time spent in our gardens and hen houses. The food we grow supports a foster care network because good families will take in children if they have food to feed them. Thanks to our gardens and hen houses our children find loving foster homes because they do not come empty handed.

Global Roots is currently seeking major funding from several Western European governments who left Afghanistan after a very frustrating experience with NATO. We are also seeking funding from US Aid. Time will tell if large grant giving organizations can see the value in our grassroots, locally led strategy.

Thank you for your help and for sharing our belief that the best aid programs begin with the feeding of a needy child -- and that it's best to teach a child how to feed him or herself or at least empower local caregivers to get the job done in the most sustainable manner possible.