It is a scene straight out of a Southern summer.

A little girl, dark hair bouncing behind a bright pink headband, runs happily along a garden path, dissolving in laughter when a blond boy about her size jumps out from behind a tall tomato bush. Together, they race off toward the corn patch … and more adventure.

It’s a scene out of a Southern summer, all right - a recent sultry morning at the New Hutchinson Mill Road farm of Lynn and Ricky Wolfe.

But the “ordinary” outing to gather peppers, squash and cucumbers was a tiny slice of an extraordinary undertaking - Solace for the Children, an international medical relief program that brings children from Afghanistan to the United States for six weeks of medical treatment and respite care with American host families. It’s a simple concept with a lofty goal: “Building peace on a foundation of health.”

Eleven-year-old Fakhria, the dark-haired girl visiting in Troup County last week, is from Kabul, Afghanistan, one of six children of a loving but impoverished Muslim family. Her father, a bank worker, earns about $300 a year.

Fakhria lived the first decade of her life with a serious heart defect that left her undersized and overly tired. At her parents’ request, Solace brought her to the United States for open-heart surgery last year. This summer, she’s back for follow-up treatment and evaluation of other health issues.

Fakhria’s host parents, Chip and Angie Willimon Cosper, are LaGrange natives now living in Jacksonville, Fla. The Cospers felt a trip to their hometown was just what the doctor ordered for the tiny girl whose heart now functions normally but whose future, like that of most Afghan children, is fraught with danger and uncertainty. The Cospers’ daughter, Kendall, was to attend a nearby church camp with a LaGrange cousin, providing the perfect opportunity to bring Fakhria to LaGrange.

In addition to the organic farm of Chip Cosper’s sister and brother-in-law, Fakhria and the Cosper boys, Christian and Henry, visited local relatives and area attractions such as Water Wiz, West Point Lake, the circus at Callaway Gardens and Charlie Joseph’s restaurant.

Her favorite Americian food? “Cheeseburger,” Fakhria said with a grin.

Angie Cosper, a LaGrange Academy and Clemson graduate who works as children’s director for her Methodist church in Jacksonville, is coordinating that city’s first-ever Solace summer program. It’s been her volunteer assignment to raise money, find hosts, arrange donated medical and dental care, and generally smooth out complications associated with bringing 16 needy Afghan children and two interpreters for six weeks of respite care and medical treatment not available in their war-torn homeland.

“It’s been a lot of work,” she said, “but it’s easy when you know God is calling you to do it. Doors just open up.”

Cosper describes Solace as a reverse medical mission. Instead of sending doctors to a troubled country, the organization brings the ailing children here for treatment at first-rate U.S. health-care facilities. The goal of the nonprofit, nondenominational program is to return the children home healthier, with a clear understanding of what it is to live in peace.

Or, as Cosper puts it, “The host families open their hearts and love them, treat them like their own children. The idea is to expose them to the real America and let them get to know what Christian Americans are really like.”

The hosts respect the children’s faith and don’t proselytize, just try to “show God’s love,” Cosper said.

“Love is the universal language, and it’s the language of children,” she said.

Most of the children come from loving families who show great courage and determination in sending them away for treatment, she said.

“I think it reflects the desperation they feel, that they would let them travel so far from home to get medical care,” Cosper said.

The children are encouraged to shed their surnames for the six weeks they are in the United States. One reason is to protect them from reprisals from anti-American factions, like the Taliban, when they return home. The “anonymity” also helps forge friendships across tribal or religious lines within the group.

Cosper explains that the 16 children in the Jacksonville program come from all over Afghanistan. Their names often identify their tribal or religious affiliation, linking them to rivalries that date back hundreds of years. At home, many of the children would not associate with each other.

“It gives them the opportunity to get to know each other and form friendships that would be unlikely in Afghanistan,” Cosper said.

Fakhria has emerged as a natural leader among the visiting children, Cosper said, with a chatty and persuasive personality and considerable charisma. In addition to easing her health problems, the Solace visits have given her a chance to become fairly fluent in English, essential if she is to earn a scholarship, her only chance to attend college.

“We hope this helps her use her gifts and talents to help her country,” Cosper said.

It’s not just the Afghan children whose lives are changed through Solace, Cosper notes.

“This has changed our lives forever, too” she said, “especially the way we view what God has put us on earth to do.”

It’s a matter of priorities, she added.

“Helping these children helps my children. I want them to grow up thinking they can change the world, but the only way to lead is to serve.” she said. “… You get a strong understanding of that when you share your food, your room, your clothes, your toys and your parents with someone who doesn’t look like you or speak like you or believe like you. They can see God put them on earth to serve others.”

The Jacksonville chapter is the first outside North Carolina for Solace, whose goal is to become a national humanitarian organization serving upward of 1,500 children annually. The Cospers expect Jacksonville to host another group next year and hope to see the program expand to Georgia, maybe even LaGrange.

“The response to Solace has been amazing, and the impact on our community has been incredible,” Angie Cosper said. “More and more Chip and I realize we love Jacksonville for many of the same reasons we love LaGrange, not the least of which is people with big hearts and a willingness to serve others.”

— To learn more, visit solaceforthechildren.org. Cosper can be contacted through the website.