Allauddin is the only refuge for children in Kabul. It may also be the world's only orphanage where most children have at least one living parent. Allauddin has been so overwhelmed with orphans, nearing 800 and counting, that it had to move Mazar and more than half the younger ones into a renovated compound in the ruined half of the city. Uddin shares a bed and filthy blanket with a larger boy in a small room with 38 other orphans. A putrid stench in the hallways comes from bathrooms without running water, because the vintage generator that powers lights and water pumps recently broke down.
Meals consist of bread and tea for breakfast, rice for both lunch and dinner.
Dried milk once provided by a foreign charity is long gone. Tens of thousands of Afghan children are doomed because virtually no one with the power or means to help has even bothered to notice. Children kept by their families aren't so lucky, either. The 110-mile stretch takes more than six hours to traverse. Kids hope drivers will toss out a few afghanis, a small fraction of a cent, since the afghani recently plummeted to 75,000 to the US dollar.