Ethiopia is home to many orphans and widows. We at Bring Love In have been compelled by God to bring hope, care and education to these vulnerable people.
In Ethiopia, family is a key defining aspect of people’s lives. Relatives are often reliant on each other to meet daily challenges.
Child Care
Ethiopia has one of the highest rates of orphans and widows in Africa. Nearly 12% of children in Ethiopia have lost a parent, making it a country that is desperately in need of care and resources to ensure these kids receive the support they need.
Child care is an important part of any child’s development and is essential to help them grow strong, healthy, and happy. However, many families in Ethiopia lack the means to provide this care.
Thankfully, there are organizations that have found ways to provide this type of care. These charities can help you sponsor a child, donate, or volunteer.
The first charity on this list is Partnership for Change (PFC). This Norwegian NGO has a program in Ethiopia that helps women secure economic independence through education and daycare.
PFC believes that education is key to overcoming poverty. They have developed a program that offers low-cost, quality education to Ethiopian children who would otherwise be unable to attend school.
Aside from education, this nonprofit organization also focuses on health and nutrition. They aim to provide a safe place for children to come to where they can have access to good food, healthcare, and social support.
There are also programs that focus on family preservation, reunification, and foster care. These organizations have a proven track record of protecting the rights of children and helping them develop in to healthy, independent adults.
Orphanages may offer a way to provide children with a safe place for their needs, but they’re not intended to be a long-term solution. Only a family can truly support a child’s physical, emotional, and psychological needs.
Education
Ethiopia has a strong education system, but it still has significant barriers to learning. One of the biggest problems is poverty, which prevents children from obtaining the basic materials they need to succeed. Often, families must choose between food and school supplies.
In addition, a large percentage of children do not complete their primary or secondary school education. This means that they are not prepared for the challenges of life.
The KIDUS FOUNDATION educational project directly supports widows’ children to attend school by paying for their tuition lessons and materials. The project is designed to break the cycle of poverty, and your monthly support can change a child’s life forever.
Educated children are much more likely to survive and thrive. They are also more likely to have better health, higher incomes and more opportunities.
Through your gift, you can help Ethiopia’s children get the education they need to become leaders in their communities. You can sponsor a child for about $1.00 a day, and your support will ensure that they have access to nutritious food, clean water, and an education.
With your help, we can continue to empower these orphaned and widowed children in Ethiopia so they can have a chance at a brighter future.
Our hope is to see the community of Kechene become a place where orphans are loved, marriages are strengthened, and widows are equipped with job skills. We are able to do this by working through Christ-centered practices in the local church.
The Rafiki Foundation works to cultivate a multitude of godly contributors by: caring for orphans, teaching Bible study and Classical Christian education, giving help to widows, and equipping church schools with quality educational facilities. The Foundation reaches ten African countries and has a network of ten Rafiki Training Villages that provide living and education for their communities.
Health
Orphans and widows of Ethiopia represent a critical population that needs to be targeted for care. USAID’s orphan and vulnerable child (OVC) programs support communities to help them build capacity for child protection, including through strengthening social welfare systems, addressing key health risks and facilitating access to HIV services.
Orphans are children who have lost a parent or guardian because of death, illness or adoption. During the global AIDS epidemic, the term orphan became a category of vulnerable children deserving special protection, and currently, the notion of ‘orphans and vulnerable children’ (OVC) dominates much of the policy for protecting children across sub-Saharan Africa.
OVC programs also focus on reducing critical remaining risks to the health of these populations such as loss of follow-up of infants with HIV and low viral load suppression among children living with HIV. In addition, they focus on improving community-based response to these critical remaining risks through community health worker training and technical assistance.
The level of utilization of Antenatal Care (ANC), use of skilled delivery attendants and postnatal care (PNC) services are important determinants that can help to reduce maternal mortality. However, utilization of these crucial services is poor in Ethiopia and is affected by a number of socio-cultural, perceived benefits and accessibility-related factors.
Women who live in urban areas are more likely to use skilled ANC attendants compared to women in rural locations. Similarly, use of ANC by never married women is more common than among those who are married.
In addition, women who are not working are less likely to use ANC than those who are employed. This suggests that they may not be as financially responsible for their family’s health care needs, which could be the reason why they are not using these services.
Nutrition
Nutrition is a key component of health care and has a major impact on child development, growth, and mental health. In Ethiopia, child malnutrition is a serious public health problem and one of the highest in the world. It is the leading cause of child mortality and has a direct impact on children’s cognitive, physical, and school performance later in life.
Despite the fact that Ethiopia has made great progress in improving food security, nutritional status continues to be a major challenge. High levels of undernutrition among children and pregnant women negatively affect their ability to achieve and maintain optimal health, resulting in poor growth and development and increased risk of chronic diseases.
The first 1,000 days of a child’s life, from the start of pregnancy through the age of two, are often referred to as the critical window of opportunity for a child’s health and development [1, 2]. Malnutrition during this time can have long-lasting and severe negative effects on a child’s health, cognitive development, and physical growth.
Although Ethiopia has made tremendous strides in increasing food security, many households still have limited access to nutritious foods due to economic constraints and high levels of hunger and poverty. To address this challenge, USAID is supporting Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Program, a multi-sector approach focused on nutrition-related activities to reach food insecure households.
Using an anthropometric and dietary assessment, researchers from the University of Addis Ababa evaluated the nutritional status of orphans and widows in four woredas (districts) in the capital city of Addis Ababa. The survey examined the prevalence of stunting, wasting and underweight in children under five years of age. The study also assessed the relationship between nutrition status and socio-economic factors, such as household wealth, maternal education, food security, and vitamin A supplementation.
Life Skills
Ethiopia is home to over 4,500,000 orphans and countless widows who struggle with poverty, lack of education, and food insecurity. The World Orphans Orphan Care Team is partnering with churches in Addis Ababa to provide Gospel-centered training and funding that will transform the lives of these vulnerable children and families.
Despite the best efforts of many NGOs, some orphanages in Africa have closed down due to war, disease and natural disaster. These closures have shifted the burden to family members who may not be able to financially support their children.
In these situations, ONETrack International works with Transition to Home NGOs who offer a variety of life skills programs for children to help them reunite with their families and live at home. The program offers a holistic approach to the child’s needs, including education and medical care.
The Strong Families Care Center provides a safe and nurturing place for children to grow up in, while their mothers work to support their families. Mothers also receive training in healthcare and hygiene, child development, parenting, and life skills to help them become self-sufficient and less at risk of abandoning their children.
With this program, we harness the power of what is called “resonance effect.” After completing the training, women often become the strongest advocates for it and want to share their new knowledge with others in their community.
Through our Meserete Hiwot Fund (Basis for Life in Amharic), we are providing youth from age 19 to 22 with life skills that will empower them to start their own businesses, and to find meaningful work. These programs will not only give these young people the necessary resources to start their own business, but they will be trained in job readiness and placed with a job that will provide them with financial independence.
