The young man sits nearly naked in a small concrete room, a thick, heavy chain fastened around his ankle and bolted to the wall. Flies swarm around a wound on his wrist where shackles have rubbed the skin raw. His own waste has pooled in the corner, turning the dirt floor into a pungent mud.

This is no jail, however, and 23-year-old Jalaludin has committed no crime. The Mia Ali Baba shrine in eastern Afghanistan is a holy place, and those who care for it say that spending 40 days here will, God willing, free Jalaludin from his personal prison: mental illness.

For 300 years, the shrine keepers here have been taking in the mentally ill. They say they are upholding the legacy of their ancestor whom the shrine honors, a holy man by the name of Ali Baba who was known in this area outside Jalalabad city for caring for the mentally ill when they were shunned by others.

"This is an obligation for my family, but it is also an honor," said Mia Subadar, one of the shrine's current guardians. "Since I have been here, hundreds of people have come here and become healthy."