Kabul orphanage struggles to feed its children as cash runs low

Samira, 9, and other children from the orphanage walk to the school bus in Kabul, Afghanistan, October 12, 2021. Samira wants to be a doctor when she grows up. "I want to serve my homeland and save others from disease, and I also want other girls to study so that they become a doctor like me in the future," she says with a sheepish grin. Because of her age, Samira is still able to go to school outside the orphanage, and is already taking extra classes in order to get ahead. Hardship has not dented her ambition, but she also recognises that in order to achieve her goals, she may have to go abroad to study. "I am not allowed to study here". REUTERS/Jorge Silva

KABUL (Reuters) - Ahmad Khalil Mayan, programme director at a large Kabul orphanage, says he is cutting back on the amount of fruit and meat he gives the children each week because the home is running out of money.

For the last two months, since the Afghan Taliban seized control of the country and millions of dollars in aid suddenly dried up, he has been desperately calling and emailing donors, both foreign and local, who supported him before.