Amid Crisis and Hunger, Afghan Orphans Find Hope Through LIFE Relief Efforts

Afghanistan is still one of the most challenging places in the world to survive.  Decades of war, economic destruction, and climate disasters have left millions in need. Afghanistan has been categorized among countries suffering from critical levels of hunger, with over 15 million people, including children, food insecure, according to the Global Hunger Index 2024. In 2025, 22.9 million people in Afghanistan will require humanitarian assistance, including 12.4 million children.

Afghan children are traumatized. Surviving the current humanitarian crisis can have a profoundly negative impact on their psychosocial well-being and development. It is orphaned children who are the most vulnerable. With no stable family, income, or support, many are pushed into begging, dangerous work, or leaving school altogether.

Wars and violent conflicts have taken countless lives, leaving children behind in their wake. Poverty forces families into impossible choices, with some giving up children, hoping they’ll be better cared for in an orphanage or by someone else. Healthcare is inadequate, leaving parents to die of treatable illnesses because help simply isn’t there. And then there are the natural disasters, caused by the global climate crisis, causing earthquakes, floods, and droughts that wipe out homes and many lives in seconds.

Sadly, the number of orphaned children in Afghanistan continues to grow as Iran and Pakistan step up their deportation of Afghan refugees.  Many of the families flooding into Afghanistan are headed by women, who the current government restricts from gaining employment.

Since 2021, foreign aid to Afghanistan has sharply declined. The most significant setback came in January, when the U.S. government suspended the majority of its aid programs to the crisis-stricken country.

In the face of the crisis, Life for Relief and Development is providing hope. LIFE distributed 550 baskets of food to orphans and their families in Nangarhar Province, to offer immediate relief to some of the area’s most at-risk. Each basket had the basics: rice, flour, lentils, cooking oil, and sugar.  They contained enough to nourish each family for over a month.

This initiative is part of LIFE’s extensive Orphan Sponsorship Program, which cares for orphans 365 days a year in Afghanistan, as well as worldwide. It’s a simple goal: To ensure children can meet their basic needs, stay in school, dream big, and build brighter futures.

Musa and his family were among the happy recipients of the food relief. Musa’s father died when he was very young, leaving day-to-day life for him and his mother filled with challenges. While Musa enjoyed attending Islamic classes and was very studious, hunger and poverty prevented him from doing anything but struggling to survive.

Because of LIFE’s help, Musa is being fed, clothed, and has the school materials he needs for success. Today, he’s not only surviving; he is thriving. He is one of the best students in his class and looks optimistically to the future.

“LIFE showed me I’m not alone anymore,” Musa said.

Without your help, orphans in Afghanistan risk falling further into hunger, exploitation, and despair. Through your donations, you’re helping them regain their childhoods.

You are helping them eat. You are helping them study. You are helping them heal.

To all our donors: thank you. It is because of you that Musa and countless others can dream once more.

There are still many more waiting. Please continue supporting the Orphan Sponsorship Program. Your help gives a child not just food or school, but a future.