Hope for Afghan Children

AFCECO Needs Your Help Today!

The Afghan Child Education and Care Organization (AFCECO) has been one of the most positive and unique developments in Afghanistan’s war torn landscape. For nine years children coming from extreme poverty, displacement, and violence have lived together in orphanages that are bastions of true democracy, places where everyone is equal and equally takes care of one another, where health and education take precedence over divisions of race and language and the climate of hatred civil war engenders. The investment by sponsors and donors over time has begun to pay off as the first generation of “graduates” now enter university while working for AFCECO. These young people are devoted to their homeland, to their people’s well being, and will invariably manifest the model of their orphanage’s peace, hope and integrity into mainstream Afghan society.

Right now AFCECO must weather a very difficult transition. Sponsorship has fallen off, and Afghanistan is going through a major shift as the international community moves out. In order not to lose the investment we have made in these children, we must rally our fundraising efforts to keep AFCECO orphanages from closing their doors. Click the button below to read more and share this plea!

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.

Get a taste of life in the AFCECO parwarishga (“foster havens”) by exploring our beautiful brochure. Click ‘Expand’ on the cover to view it fullscreen.

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.