Kandahar, AfghanistanNavid Amini always knew he wanted to study medicine. But one day this past January, the 24-year-old realized that providing health care might not be enough. The people flooding into the public hospital where he works as a medical resident were not just sick—they were poor, hungry, and desperate for help.

One patient, a widow with five children, begged Amini and the senior doctor for money, medicine, and food. He wanted to reach into his pocket and give the woman some cash. But then what about the next patient and the one after that?

That night, Amini lay sleepless in bed, overwhelmed by the thought of how many other Afghan families out there needed help. “I was trying to remember a time