- Founded in 1999 and initially funded personally by Seema Ghani, who lived and worked in London for 12 years. Seema returned to Afghanistan in May 2002 when Khorasan relocated from Pakistan to Kabul
This issue gives profiles of some of the children that show the reasons why they are with us and describes their aspirations. You will see that all the children have suffered almost unimaginable horrors but through gentle encouragement, love and support they are working towards their ambitions and have already made great achievements. As always we struggle to get enough funds and the need for money is even more acute at this time of year when the cold of winter is already biting and the long freezing months are still stretching ahead. Thank you again for all your wonderful efforts to help us. Please write to me at [email protected] if you would like a personal reply or update on our work.
The Children of Khorasan's Origins, Aspirations and Achievements!
The children of Khorasan are now assured of a safe and loving environment in which they can thrive.
A recent survey showed that two out of every three children interviewed had seen someone killed during the fighting in Kabul and seven in ten had lost a close relative to violence. Khorasan's children have all suffered trauma of the kind that the survey described. No child anywhere in the world should have to endure this kind of experience.
Many young people are left to fend for themselves in the dangerous streets of cities at risk of being preyed upon by dealers in the human organ trade. But Afghanistan's children are its greatest hope for the future. This is why so much of Khorasan's effort is centred on helping the children to make the most of their talents. They are encouraged to learn as much as they can, to explore new ideas, to have confidence that they can achieve their ambitions.
PROFILES
Lina is now 17 and has a great talent for judo – an opportunity almost unheard of for a young woman in Afghanistan. At her school in Kabul her teachers were so impressed that they asked her to teach them – so now she is teaching the teachers! Lina's ambition is to become a pilot one day because her father always wanted to fly but never had the chance. When he was killed in an explosion Lina decided she would like to live out her father's dream. Lina is a serious and hard-working girl and says that if it was not for Khorasan she would never have achieved anything.