What could be worse for a girl child than to be a lowly female in India,
or to be an orphan in Ethiopia and HIV positive? A few organizations care
for these children, girls and boys, helping out child by child. I encountered
two organizations, Aarti in India and AHOPE for Children in Ethiopia,
that have given themselves to saving orphans. Please read about their incredible
work.
The numbers of orphans in Ethiopia -- 960,000 -- is phenomenal, the second
highest concentration in the world. Perhaps 10 percent are HIV positive,
and each year an additional 30,000 children are born HIV positive. Only
2 percent receive treatment, and, without treatment, half of these children
will die by the age of two.
I first learned about Ethiopian AIDS orphans in Melissa Fay Greene's extraordinary
book, There Is No Me Without You. One Ethiopian woman, Haregewoin
Teffara, confronted the AIDS crisis by opening her small home to 1, 2,
3 and ultimately 40 children. At the end of Greene's book, I was
moved to do something myself and found a list of organizations that help
AIDS orphans. I chose to give to AHOPE for Children and have never
been sorry.
In 2002, AHOPE established Layla House, the first organization in Ethiopia
to care for HIV orhpans. Today, AHOPE has two children's homes serving
204 orphans, providing them medical treatment, food, clothes, education
and emotional support.
In addition, AHOPE works to help orphans stay with their extended families.
This is a difficult task because of the stigma of AIDS in Ethiopia,
resulting from misinformation and superstition. Thus, families need
support to care for their orphaned relatives. The AHOPE Child Development
Center, established in 2007, offers services to destitute extended families,
including an in-house preschool program, and, for older children, school
fees, books and uniforms. The children's guardians receive training
in nutrition, hygiene and care for children. The Center even set
up a community library so AHOPE orphans would have a chance to interact
with community members in a natural social setting.
Together, the children's homes and Child Development Center serve around
300 orphans per year. Volunteers are accepted for 6-week programs.
Here's what AHOPE has to say about its volunteer program:
We need and welcome volunteers in Ethiopia. Volunteers are a vital part
of our team and take an active part in our programs including health care,
care giving, and teaching and tutoring English. If there’s a particular
area you are interested in or have expertise in for example music, art
or sports, there will be ample opportunity for you to develop programs
and work with the children.
All of the children at AHOPE Ethiopia are HIV positive. Volunteers must
be medically educated and mentally prepared to work with HIV positive children.
Volunteers are required to have proof of current HIV/AIDS awareness training
before their application is considered complete. We can only offer one
guarantee…….it will change your life!
Volunteering is an exceptional way to help, but so is giving a contribution
from your funds or talents.
The numbers of orphans in Ethiopia -- 960,000 -- is phenomenal, the second
highest concentration in the world. Perhaps 10 percent are HIV positive,
and each year an additional 30,000 children are born HIV positive. Only
2 percent receive treatment, and, without treatment, half of these children
will die by the age of two.
