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Year 1996
The war in Afghanistan and the Soviet Union had created a large amount of destruction in the area. It had also added to the civilians' sadness and despair.
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| Destruction of Kabul, Afghanistan |
It was during the war that the Taliban did not allow the women to work. A large number of women had jobs within the orphanages - the job to take care of the orphans. As a result of not being allowed to work, the orphanages did not have the necessary amount of support it needed.
The resulting conditions: the children had an extremely small selection of food and were unable to be protected from many things, such as cold weather. Some orphanages had faced more frightening dilemmas than others. This quote from Anita Pratap shows an example of one such disaster an orphanage had to face:
"On one occasion, gunmen looted the orphanage's meager furniture, food stocks and blankets." (Pratap, Anita)More can be read from this article: here.
Year 2002
The Taliban organization had fallen in the year of 2002; however, many problems continued.
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| Afghan orphans wait in line to eat lunch at an overcrowded orphanage in Kabul, Afghanistan September 1, 2002. |
The number of children had increased exponentially; Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, had reached a population of more than 2000 children in one orphanage. This issue came from many actions such as parents abandoning their children. A resulting condition that the orphanages had to face was that they could not take in all the children anymore; only children with very serious conflicts were accepted.
In the case of having more orphans and the Taliban gone, the number of workers (mainly women) had increased as well.With such an increase in population, the orphanages were over-crowded.
Afghanistan experienced other problems, such as having blocked sewage systems. Agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGO) also refused to be involved with the orphanages' troubles. No one was willing to give the orphanages any money. All of this resulted in the conditions of orphanages being unable to support the buildings and the people living in them. Looking at the buildings, the majority of rooms had no heat and were in poor condition.
The quote below expresses the truth of how orphans in Kabul, Afghanistan were, and likely still are, being cared for:
"As winter fast approached, some two thousand orphans in the Afghan capital Kabul's only state-run orphanage still await much needed assistance." (AFGHANISTAN: Focus on Kabul orphanage)More can be read from here.
Year 2006
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| RAWA's logo |
The orphans aided by RAWA had been living in painful environments consisting of gangs, drugs, pollution and other inconvenient aspects. Also, before having been taken in by the orphanages, the children had been victims of child labor. They were given no right to stand up for themselves and were simply forced to work.
This quote explains how RAWA has been helping the orphans:
"RAWA established these orphanages to provide not only food, shelter, clothing and education to these suffering children but to help them grow into productive members of a civic society." (Afghan orphans reshape their lives at RAWA orphanages)
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| Birthday Parties |
The education that the orphans receive are much like the education that normal children receive: the orphans get homework to complete and are given help when needed. The orphans are also given television to watch as a form of "opening" their inner talents and intelligence.
More can be read from here.
Year 2011 (Present)
Today, the children of Afghanistan are learning to tolerate with living in their home and how to deal with the safety issues in their environment.
A person by the name of Asieh Namdar (see here) spoke with a former child refugee and found that Afghanistan has few doctors and leaders. There are also practically no clinics, schools or clean water; there is simply high levels of poverty, war and almost no food.
Although the orphanages are in a dire state of needing help, they receive some money from groups such as the Afghan Women's Mission (AWM) and the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA). This money is to be used to food, books, clothing, health supplies and other materials that the orphanages need.
Unfortunately, as like in the year of 2002, non-governmental organizations and actual governments are unwilling to support the orphanages of Afghanistan. The orphanages must depend on what supporters they currently have, but still hope that people all over the world will help by donating money to them to help the orphans of Afghanistan.
