Achievements / Highlights

>	Center opened July 9, 2005
>	64 students and 14 employees
>	Students have physical and/or mental disabilities
>	Each child receives education, life skills, vocational skills, warm meals, and encouragement daily
>	We are making a difference, one child at a time!

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Imagine an Afghanistan that is not devastated by civil unrest, poverty, and disease. An Afghanistan with rising literacy rates, a flourishing economy, a strong education system and civil services that meet the needs of the nation’s people.

Reality
Currently, Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries in the world. The people and the infrastructure have been devastated by decades of war and severe drought. Over the last 25 years, the education system has been in a state of neglect and as a result, more than 85% of the current population has never gone to school. There is presently a shortage in schools, teachers, and supplies, as well as other basic necessities such as electricity and proper sanitation. None of the children growing up today have ever known peace and most live in grave poverty. Half a million of these eager children have the added misfortune of being disabled with approximately 400,000 of them being amputees (2005, UNICEF). Some are born with the physical and mental disorders that challenge every family and society. Others, however, are victims to the estimated 10 million active land mines scattered throughout Afghanistan. The most common land mine injuries are the loss of limbs, the loss of sight and trauma. In a country already under stress to provide a proper education to the physically and mentally healthy, there are little to no resources for the physically and mentally challenged special needs children. The Afghan school system is not yet ready to include these children in their regular curriculum, and their own families are not equipped with the means or education to care for them properly. Regrettably, many of these children are left to beg on the streets in order to survive.

Imagine a Different Reality
The Sarahim Center of Special Education for Afghan Children with Disabilities (SEACD) opened in July 2005. The Center's mission is to provide developmentally and physically challenged Afghan children with the education and life skills to become self-sufficient and productive members of society, while also fulfilling their nutritional and healthcare needs.