Thanks to the dedication of our Afghan team members in Greece, our new colleagues in Afghanistan, and funding from the Linda Norgrove Foundation, CHEERing launched a pilot  program to help mothers and children in Afghanistan in September 2022.

The CHEERing Grow Clinic in Herat is run by three Afghan women: Samana, a midwife, Somaye, a doctor, and Basira, an anesthesiology student, who are providing health care for mothers, infants and children two days per week, weighing and measuring babies; giving frontline medical treatment, and managing cases of malnourished children. Thus far we’ve seen about 30 families. Severe malnutrition is an issue among many of the kids.

Dr Somaye will also offer weekly health based presentations for mothers, on topics like breastfeeding, dental health, and worm prevention, and supply them with tools and medicines to boost their family health.

CHEERing supplies online materials like PDFs of growth charts and Farsi health handouts, but most supplies are bought onsite to help the local economy. We sincerely hope our international experience, and our hardworking community partners, can make this pilot program into an established resource for women and children in Herat.