Karim is 13-year-old boy who lives in an orphanage in Kabul, Afghanistan. He suffers from scoliosis – a curved spine – from injuries suffered after being pushed from a roof at least twice by a maternal uncle after he was orphaned at age five. Now in safety, surgery is necessary to heal his back fracture and to become part of his road towards becoming whole again and moving beyond his abusive past.

Every orphan child is our collective responsibility. This Ramadan this crowdfunding campaign aims to make this boy whole again.  

A Traumatic Story 

At his tender age, Karim has a story wrapped in suffering, grief, and trauma.

Karim was reared in a household of worsening domestic violence. When he was five, his father beat his mother to death. The father turned Karim’s care over to his mother-in-law. His grandmother tried to manage his care the best she could. Her son, however, pushed Karim off the roof of their home on at least two occasions. The fall’s impact fractured his back. The grandmother, unable to control the abuse and protect Karim, turned his care back to his father, who had re-married.

His father and his stepmother began a harsh three-year cycle of abuse until they turned Karim out of their home when he was eight. A police officer in his native Badakhshan Province found him crying on the side of the road.

With no one to take him in, the local authorities turned Karim’s care over to Afghanistan’s Department of Education, which subsequently made him a permanent ward of an orphanage in Kabul that is operated by the U.S.-based Orphan House Foundation.

Karim arrived at the orphanage in 2011. His spirit had been broken from the physical and emotional abuse. With much care and love, Karim has made amazing strides; the orphanage director considers him a success story. The back surgery is part of his recovery plan towards becoming whole again and moving beyond his troubled past. 

The Operation 

From the falls, Karim developed scoliosis, which means his spine has an S-shaped curve. Surgery will prevent him from developing a hunchback or arthritis in the back. The surgery will also offset damage to his nerves so he does not lose muscle tone.

Karim – a spirited boy – has physical limitations due to his back injury and he is not able to fully participate in activities with his peers at the orphanage. His medical care in Afghanistan is overseen by Dr. Kadeer Halimi, who is an Emergency Room physician in Fremont, California and the founder of Orphan House Foundation.

Karim aspires to one day become a police officer with a special emphasis on addressing the kind of domestic violence abuse cases that took his mother’s life. He currently attends a private school and lives in the orphanage with 22 other orphans. 

An Islamic Mandate for Orphan Care

We are inspired by Prophetic values to strive to shelter, clothe, care, and “feed orphans from what we eat.” We are also reminded Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was himself an orphan. Our founding principle has been to raise the orphans in our care with the same level of love and compassion as we would our own in the U.S. We are heartened for our own mortal selves and this Foundation’s donors and supporters when we read this saying from the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him):

"I and the caretaker of the orphan will enter Paradise together like this, raising (by way of illustration) his forefinger and middle finger jointly, leaving no space in between." [Saheeh al-Bukhari]

An orphan is the Muslim Ummah’s collective responsibility. Imagine your child needs surgery and you cannot afford it. Every parent knows deep in the recesses of his or her heart that they would suffer, scrape, and sacrifice to make that operation happen. Karim has no father or mother to make those sacrifices for him.

How You Can Help

1. Personally invest in Karim’s story by donating to this campaign today. This campaign closes on the last day of Ramadan, and the blessings for good deeds performed during Ramadan are multiplied 70 times. Donations to this campaign are Zakat eligible and tax exempt. 

2. Please make dua for this crowdfunding campaign (and our other campaign) and for Karim’s surgery and rehabilitation.

3. Share the campaign with your friends! Post this on your Facebook and like our page to follow our progress! Tweet all about this campaign! 

4. Join the Orphan House Foundation mailing list and receive updates about Karim and the orphans. 

About Orphan House Foundation