From September 2002 until the present we have been operating a small orphanage/Montessori – style school in Kabul. This 24-hour facility provides safe and warm housing, food, education, psychological stability and a loving environment for 18 children.

These 18 boys and girls have created a bond among themselves, like a large family. As time passes we watch them grow stronger both in body and in mind, becoming more confident and more joyful. Their characters and personalities are maturing and the older children act as mentors to the younger ones.

The children above age 6 attend the neighborhood public school in the morning to study language, math and religion, and in the afternoons back at the orphanage, their education is supplemented with lessons in science, geography, art, etc with our two trained teachers. The younger ones learn and play all day as well in an environment designed for their growth and development. All the children are manifesting their talents in different forms, from composing poetry to learning English and other languages to playing basketball.

MEPO’s two free clinics, one in Kabul and one in Nangrahar province, serve the deprived communities with free check-ups, lab work, and medicines. The clinics are staffed with doctors, pharmacists, lab technicians, and midwives. On average, each clinic sees 50-100 patients per day, including pregnant women who come for pre-natal check-ups and those who come for vaccinations.

An important factor to note is that despite the flow of large-scale international aid going into Afghanistan in the last 3 years, the health sector has not developed and in fact in some ways has deteriorated such that the poorest people have minimal access to health care. As a result, Afghanistan has one of the world’s highest infant and maternal mortality rates, as well as prevalence of infectious and water-borne diseases. This is why these two MEPO clinics are crucial as the only source of medical care for hundreds of people.

The two clinics and the orphanage have 25 staff total. In Afghanistan where unemployment and inflation are high, our projects not only provide social services, but also support 25 people and their families. Most families have at least 6 members, and so these projects are also supporting the lives of about 150 people.

MEPO’s educational contribution to cultural awareness and understanding is the recent publication of a book entitled The Breeze of Dialogues: Ansari, Rumi, Shams and Essays on Mysticism. This book is authored by Dr. Mostafa Vaziri, MEPO’s coordinator and volunteer doctor, and shares the poetry and wisdom of Afghan and central Asian masters and mystics.

The book will be available in the US by early December, and will come in a softcover made of Nepali rice paper. For MEPO friends, the cost is $16. All proceeds from the sales will go directly to MEPO’s projects.

Yet costs continue to rise in Afghanistan and particularly in Kabul where the economy is extremely volatile. Thus, to be able to continue to provide such vital services to women and children in Afghanistan, we need your continued support. All international MEPO members are volunteer and receive no compensation, and MEPO has no administrative or operative overhead costs.

MEPO [checks made payable to MEPO]