Orphanage in North Afghanistan
After more than 20 years of war, there are many orphans in Afghanistan. Sometimes they are taken in by close relatives, in keeping with Afghan family culture. But all too often, that isn't possible. Shelter Now supports an orphanage in Faizabad.
since then...
2005:
We start to support a public orphanage as the children live under miserable conditions.
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2007:
The toilets have since been completely renewed with the aid of donations from Germany. But the orphanage still needs our help. There are so many things that need to be improved if the children are to live there without having to worry about unnecessary problems.
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2008:
The orphanage has since grown to a 100 children and we've now taken on a second house so that the boys can be housed separately from the girls. It is especially important in Afghan culture that the two sexes are kept apart as the children grow older.
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2009:
More children are coming - the house is too small. The orphanage has to relocate. "Xmas in shoeboxes" presents are distributed in April... A pleasant surprise for the boys.
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2012:
The Government allows us only the access to the boys' orphanage now - but they need us also. Meanwhile about 150 boys live here.
Young People from the Orphanage are receiving training
We have been supporting orphans in Faizabad - mainly with fresh loaves of
bread on a daily basis and occasionally with new clothes and other items. A dream of our two colleagues Natalie and Corey finally seems to have come true: We are now able to provide vocational training for some of them.
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Patience was needed before this became possible. Simply going to an orphanage and offering a few young people job training doesn’t work. We had to wait until the director of the institution himself approached us to request help.
They receive schooling until they are 18 but then they have to leave the orphanage and fend for themselves. Boys who still live with their parents normally take up the same profession as their fathers. Orphans however do not have this opportunity. There are no longer any girls in this establishment however. They have been put in orphanages in various smaller towns in the province of Badakhshan.
The youngsters helping each other using the sewing machines
A French foundation “Motul Corazon” has taken on two thirds of the funding and the rest comes from your donations. Even with the financing taken care of, our patience continued to be severely tested. First of all the orphanage moved to a different part of town, and then the directorship changed hands twice before the project finally got underway in October. In the meantime adolescents between the ages of 14 and 18 were asked about their career aspirations; a number of them want to learn tailoring and an excellent teacher was found.
Young orphan very focused on his training
Started sewing buttons along with the training
The training gives the real pleasure
Udo Stolte from Shelter Now Germany after his Centre visit
I visited the training centre on Tuesday the 21st of October. What struck me when I arrived at the centre was the new house with two spacious clean and tidy rooms, and the sound of sewing machines. As I entered the workroom I saw the young people busily engrossed in their work, but this did not prevent them all from standing up to politely welcome me. Their instructor, a thirty year old man, was introduced to me. Then the young trainees returned to their work around a large, low table and began sewing again with their manually operated machines. I was deeply impressed by their high level of motivation and the diligence with which they all smoothed the seams in order to get them as exact as possible. The teacher kept an eye on his students, helping here and their as required, but always in a kind and friendly manner. I was thrilled!
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The door opened and the director of the orphanage came into the workroom. He happily gave me a filmed interview, which confirmed just how pleased he is with this project.
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During the break I spoke with the boys about all kinds of topics including politics. They were very polite and fun to be with.
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Two days later I revisited the centre. One of the boys showed me what he had just finished sewing: a pair of Turkish trousers worn by the locals. I am amazed at what these trainees have learned in such a short time. A great project! (Project 6100)