‘I made a personal donation to a blind man when I visited a village in Afghanistan a few years ago’, explains Syed, a computer scientist and a volunteer with the charity.

‘When I returned to the village a few years later, I was approached by the same man who told me that he’d used my gift to pay for an operation to help restore his eyesight.

‘It took me a while to remember who he was as I’d forgotten about my first visit to the village and also about my donation, but I was touched by the obvious difference a small act of kindness had made to his life.

‘I was also taken back by the love and affection he and his family showed me.

‘This experience was an important turning point for me.

‘I started volunteering with Aryana Aid because I wanted to work with like-minded people who were keen to create more stories like this’.