Child Foundation Offers Hope of a Brighter Future

The homeless street children of Iran, orphans in Afghanistan, earthquake and tsunami victims, children suffering, illness and exploitation — all receive aid from Child Foundation. And in the midst of wars, poverty and natural disasters, children with cancer are not forgotten.

Established in 1994 by three Iranian-born professionals now living in the United States, Child Foundation is an international non-profit organization providing basic living essentials such as food, shelter, clothing and medical needs to needy children. Mehrdad Yasrebi, a research engineer who designs ceramic medical devices such as joint replacements, is one of the founding directors. “The intention is to help any children who need assistance,” he says, “but with emphasis on identifying children with high IQs who without financial support would end up quitting school or be forced into marriage at a very early age. We want to encourage them to continue their education.”

The organization began by directing aid to Iran, but has since expanded relief efforts to Afghanistan, Indonesia, India, Mexico, Bosnia and Turkey. Child Foundation will soon move into Iraq, as well. With six offices and teams of social workers in Iran, the Child Foundation identifies children in need of assistance and offers monthly aid funded through sponsorships. The average expense for each child, Dr. Yasrebi says, is approximately $90 per month, with 90% of those sponsorships provided by donors living in the United States. Charitable gala affairs celebrating Norooz, the Iranian New Year, and raffle sales provide additional revenues.

Afghan refugees in the provinces of Khorasan (top) and Teheran (bottom) are just some of many underpriviledged and underserved populations who benefit from Child Foundation aid.

“There are approximately one million Iranians living in the United States, and many of them are doing quite well,” says Dr. Yasrebi. “Once you start a charity, there are so many people who open their hearts to you. We have recently started seeing a broader base of donors beyond those in the Irani-American communities.”

Last year, Child Foundation established a Lymphoma and Leukemia division. The new initiative is a response to the high incidence of these cancers occurring among children in a region encompassing Iran, Iraq and parts of Russia. The Child Foundation is interested in conducting research to determine why so many children are developing the disease, and to initiate programs to help prevent it.

Child Foundation’s Washington Branch has been instrumental in supervising the cancer program and organizing medical treatment for children in their home countries and in the United States. Four children of Middle Eastern descent have been treated successfully at hospitals in the Washington, DC, area, and there are many more young cancer patients under sponsorship abroad.

In Orumiyeh, Iran, Child Foundation has a center housing cancer patients whose medical costs and other needs are supported by sponsors. Child Foundation also frequently sends medicine to other medical centers that are helping children with cancer.

“We are hoping to expand our outreach in this area,” says Dr. Yasrebi. “We have a strong link with the Iranian American Medical Association, and we are would like to send medical teams through them as well.”

Other international aid partners include Red Cross, UNICEF, Doctors without Borders, Mercy Corps and INCTR. The Child Foundation and INCTR are collaborating on an initiative to help children in Bam. That ancient Iranian city was destroyed by an earthquake on December 26, 2003. INCTR is discussing the possibility of sending a medical team to the region to assess the local ability to care for children with cancer and to develop a plan to improve it. Efforts are also underway to send teams of doctors on a quite different mission – to provide plastic surgery to children injured in the earthquake. Meanwhile, the foundation is stepping up efforts in the area of nutrition, and expanding its sponsorship program to new countries.

Donations to Child Foundation are expanding at the rate of 40% a year, Dr. Yasrebi says, bringing its annual operating budget close to $3 million. Organizers already are seeing tangible results. In Iran, only 15% of high school students are able to enter a university. Last year, 94% of those supported by Child Foundation continued their education beyond high school. “That keeps us going,” says Dr. Yasrabi. “If you leave them alone, 90% will drop out of school. But given the opportunity, they can make a good life.

“The response of the Iranian community is also hugely gratifying,” he says. “Iranians have a wide range of religious, political and cultural ideologies. Child Foundation is one of few charities that can unite all Iranians in achieving its charitable goals.”

Marcia Landskroener for INCTR