The Need

You might ask: Why another orphan care project in Ethiopia?

Our family has lived in Ethiopia since 2009. During that time, we have met countless orphaned children on the streets, children we wanted to help. However, when we’d try to do something, we’d always run into the same problem: Even though these children wanted a home, they could not be placed. They could not, because every single one of the orphanages, adoption agencies, or other care centers, are already full. There are simply not enough places to house all of the children who have been left.

In Africa, nearly 12% of the children have lost at least one parent, and Ethiopia has one of the highest orphan rates of any African country. To make things worse, the orphan population in Ethiopia is growing exponentially as HIV and malnutrition run rampant among the population. The infrastructure simply does not exist to care for the children who are left alone when their parents die.

We know that it’s always staggering to hear these numbers – overwhelming really. But when you come right down to it, it’s not about numbers. It’s about each and every one of these children individually, each one who has been forced to grow up on the streets – each one a child, a person, God’s creation, no matter where he or she was born.

Ours is a mission to build more capacity to care for orphaned and abandoned in Ethiopia, and to give them a bright future by raising them in small Christian family groups, giving each child under our care access to the best education possible and doing our best to build a future not only for each child individually but also the community around them.

If you want to read more about our plans, and what we are doing to give these children a future, hop over here.