To answer this we must first discuss the mission of our orphanages. Our main objective is not merely to save an urchin from the streets but to nurture a new generation of empowered Afghans. By empowered we mean people who have been given a secure and healthy home life, education, secular and democratic in nature, a place from which they can rise above racism, fundamentalism, and escape the destructive environment of poverty and drugs. To that end, we might take a child who has access to food, shelter and even parents, but who has no future. This is especially true for the girls. Often they are kept from school, treated like slaves and are likely to be sold into bondage. What is necessary is a hint that here is a child who, given a chance, just may become a leader in her or his community. To grab orphans from any of a thousand streets and create a super citizen in a bubble is of no use, given their lack of connectedness to any particular family, village or neighborhood. That is why we maintain a level of inclusiveness. Our children have a sense of kwak, the earth that is their homeland, and in most cases there are scores of Afghans who support their entry into the orphanage, who keep track and await their return as midwives, engineers, teachers, or even political leaders.

AFCECO tries to take children from all over Afghanistan, of all ethnic backgrounds and languages. We are in close contact with a variety of grass-roots organizations, councils and minorities. These people know about AFCECO orphanages and about our philosophy and principles and they forward to us requests from families they think are good candidates. AFCECO people also visit most of these places and make general verifications. We do have some criteria. Preference is given to orphans, child laborers, abused girls and children from remote areas where Taliban and extremists dominate society.

True, the cost of raising just one of our orphans could most likely feed and clothe five from the streets of Kabul. But it is not difficult to imagine the powerful effect that our one child will some day have on the welfare of hundreds of Afghans. This is not a humanitarian mission. This is taking responsibility for the future of one’s own country. We believe the notion that democracy cannot be imposed. It must spring from within.