Most of you know of my passion for wanting to make a positive impact on the lives of children, be it via donations or mentoring. In particular, for those children with no parents / loved ones; it can drastically change their future. Most of you also know my strong belief that education is a great weapon for eradicating poverty. This passion led me to spending time with the Kidane Mehret Children’s Home in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in June this year.

Kidane Mehret is run by the Franciscan Sisters of the Heart of Jesus and is a home to 210 children ranging in age from infants to teenagers. I had the pleasure to really get to know the Sisters and spend time with the both infants and teenagers. The sisters have dedicated over 40 years to the children that have stayed in this Orphanage, housed them and given them the chance of survival.

The Home is divided into 2 floors, often overcrowded. The first floor houses infants and toddlers, the second houses special needs children (this includes children with mental health issues, numerous disabilities and those with HIV and AIDS) and more infants kept on mattress in the corridor. Despite the lack of funding / adequate volunteers, the Sisters continue to do an amazing job caring for the children! I will be returning here to continue my work in 2018.

During my time there, the Sisters expressed one of the challenges they face, that being, when the children reach teenage yrs, they don't have the support needed to prep them for the university journey. The lack of computers, school materials and mentors prevent these children reaching the next step and all the hard work not really coming to final fruition. There’s clearly a lot of work to do. Today, I am asking for your help in raising funds so we can purchase 10 computers for the children.

I have included a link showing the great work Sister Luthgarda and the team do.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7Ygp9bzxR0

Amani