Past projects

Hazrat Ali Orphanage Renovations

Also in Kabul, Mahboba’s Promise runs The Hazrat Ali Orphanage which takes fatherless children from rural areas where no education is available so they can attend school in Kabul. Without this help, the children would be caught up in the poverty cycle for the rest of their lives. The buildingshave undergone major renovations thanks to the generosity of Mahboba’s Promise supporters.

Quiet beginnings

Mahboba began helping Dr Nasreen, a young female doctor. They cared for Afghan refugees forced into the Jalozai refugee camp in Peshawar, Pakistan following an earthquake in Takhar, Afghanistan.


Mahboba with Dr Nasreen in Peshawar

Helping Refugees

Mahboba’s Promise took on the task of supporting 69 boys in the Jalozai Refugee Camp. The boys were orphans having lost their families in the quake of 1998. Many had seen their parents, brothers, sisters and friends killed and saw dreadful sights in the days that followed. Mahboba’s Promise sent funds immediately to stop the children begging and then organized for them to go to school.

From Little things big things grow

Our first major project was the Sabit School in 2001 at the Jalozai Refugee Camp, home to Afghan refugees for two decades. The School was closed in July 2007 when the Pakistan Government emptied the camp. During its six years of operation, the school educated hundreds of Afghan boys and girls giving them a moderate education and a kind word. The children and their families were very grateful to the people of Australia for making this possible.

Children outside Sabit School, Peshawar

Mahboba’s Promise also supported two other schools, Najab School and Abu-Hanifa School, in the refugee camp between 2003 and 2006.

....AND GROW At the end of 2001, Mahboba was very concerned about the suffering in Afghanistan and she asked her Uncle, Haji Fazal Ahmad Sabit, to help. Uncle went to Kabul in 2002 and started work immediately with widows and orphans. He donated his house to start up Hazrat Ali orphanage in 2003.

When Mahboba's Promise was first operating in Kabul, two containers of warm clothing, blankets and equipment were sent from Australia, bringing instant relief to many hundreds of women and children.

From 2002-2004, Mahboba's Promise ran a shoemaking, cobbling and leatherwork course for adolescent boys.

Remote areas are helped too. 

In 2003, the Abdara Girls’ School and Abdara Medical Centre were opened in the Panjshir Valley with the help of Rotary and Muslim Aid Australia.
The same year we opened a girls’ school in Jalalabad. These little girls were very beautiful children and worked very hard. We supported them for two years until the community and a local benefactor were able to take over the project.

Providing stationery and school uniforms to orphan boys

Computer classes in the Girls School, Jalalabad

Building Hope

The original Hope House of Kabul was started in 2004 as a refuge for widows and children living in appalling and unsanitary conditions in a tent city. The shelter survived for three years in donated accommodation under constant threat of eviction. The current Hope House was opened in its permanent home in 2007. The need for a refuge has lessened and our focus now is on income generation, vocational training and reintegration into the community.

Tent city in Kabul - often these camps are not recognised by Government and have no sanitation or provision of any aid.

Giving great goats!

2005 - Through the widow sponsorship livestock program, sixty goats were given to families in the Panjshir Valley so that they would have milk, cheese and yoghurt for their families.

Mahboba talks with a widow who has just received a goat - July 2005

Farming the Future

With the help of Permaculture Across Borders we received an IMF grant to celebrate Global Youth Service Day in May 2007.

Hope House Community Centre - orphan boys learning about composting waste and household scraps.

Badakashan

With the support of the local community, Mahboba‘s Promise built a school in Badakshan in north east Afghanistan for children returning from Pakistan refugee camps. It has provided the first opportunity for local girls to attend any kind of school.

Abdara Health Clinic in Panjshir Valley

In the Panjshir Valley Mahboba's Promise has built the Abdara Health Clinic. It provides basic health care to the surrounding villages. The clinic has a room where patients can stay overnight. Recently an immunization program was started. It is also the only facility in the area for women who experience problems with childbirth.