Programs
Kid's Hope Ethiopia Project
Yenege Tesfa Hitsanat Ethiopia Mahiber (YTH), or Kid’s Hope Ethiopia, was established by a group of concerned community leaders including social workers, a nurse and president of the Ethiopian Nursing Association, businessmen, police, and religious leaders.They established a project proposal, formed and registered with the Ethiopian government as an NGO and worked with the local government to identify the target population.
In 2005, Canadian Humanitarian founder and chairman Dr. Richard Northcott met with YTH to determine the best ways to help the large numbers of orphaned children in Addis Ababa. Sources of assistance for orphaned and vulnerable children from both the government and local NGO’s is generally limited, fragmented and discontinuous. It was determined that a community-based care project would be beneficial. Community-based care programs support children in their own village or community - this is healthier and more culturally appropriate than moving the child to an institution.
Realizing that community-based care projects were more beneficial to children in need, Canadian Humanitarian entered into an agreement with YTH to become a financial and supportive partner. YTH began the intake process in October 2005 in Guelle, an area in Addis Ababa, and formally began operations in January 2006. The local government supplied the names of children recommended by the community deemed to be disadvantaged or most at risk. YTH staff interviewed all 100 children referred and selected 40 for the project. Able extended family members or foster families were recruited to house these children and training and assistance for the foster families was provided.
Canadian Humanitarian visited the Guelle YTH project and met with the board and staff twice in 2006. These visits verify that the project is being carried out as planned and are beneficial in helping plan for sustainable options for the future maintenance and growth of the project. The children have visibly benefited, and all children and staff report a high degree of satisfaction with the project. Each foster home is visited monthly by a YTH social worker, and twice yearly by Canadian Humanitarian. Foster parents report great satisfaction with the project. When the project first started attendance at foster parent training seminars was 30-40%, as families were unsure of the validity of the project. In February 2007, foster parent attendance at the training seminar on HIV/AIDS awareness 100%.  In July 2007, a second Kid's Hope Ethiopia center opened in Alemgena, a semi-rural area of Addis Ababa for an additional 50 vulnerable and orphaned girls and boys between the ages of 5 and 14. Kid’s Hope Ethiopia centers do not represent a traditional method of caring for orphans. Rather, these centers offer the children access to an education as well as skill training, medical care, improved nutrition, adult guidance, positive peer interactions, and hope for their future. The project is an alternative to living on the streets without food, education, healthcare and guidance for children who have lost one or both of their parents. It is the priority of YTH to place participants in homes with extended family members if possible. The majority of the children in the Guelle and Alemgena projects live with extended family members (aunts, grandmothers, cousins, stepmothers), a few live with neighbours who have taken them in after the death of their parents, a couple live with siblings, and a select few live with single parents who are ill or struggling to provide for their family.
YTH is structured for the whole child. Instructors and adults in guidance positions learn about each child and respond to their needs. In addition to educational programs sensitive to Ethiopian culture, there is time for the girls and boys to play and use their imaginations - to just be kids without a mountain of worry. The girls and boys at YTH centers also develop valuable communication and interpersonal skills by watching and mirroring respected teachers and adults at the center.
HIV/AIDS is rapidly eradicating the social structure of Ethiopia. Homes, community gathering places, elder relatives for guidance and neighbors for friendship have been drastically decreased due to this deadly disease. When their social structures are gone, children can be reassured by the structured home-like environment and friendship of the Kid’s Hope centers.
For only $30 a month, or $360 per year, you can provide a child in one of the Kid's Hope centers with food, shelter, tution, clothes, books and hope for their future. Please sponsor a child at Kid's Hope today.
PATH Ethiopia
in the summer of 2007 PATH Ethiopia Literacy, Educational and Vocational Center opened it's doors to 80 orphaned and vulnerable children in the Kirkose area of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Well known as one of Addis's slum areas the PATH center supports 80 orphaned children obtain an education, improve their literacy and academic skills, obtain medical care and prepare for employment after school The center also offers computer classes and vocational training classes for the children's guardians incluiding paper bead jewlerry and embroidered shirts and bags. These items are sold in markets in Addis or at Canadian Humanitarian ievents here in Canada. Soon CH hopes to be able to sell them on-line. The center also houses a library/resource room accessible to the entire community.
Close to 60% of the Ethiopian population is illiterate. Ethiopia is also a very poor country; precedence is given to basic subsistence not education. As such, many individuals are unable to afford books and there are few public libraries in the country. Extremely impoverished people live their lives in a culture that treats them as worthless and powerless to change. As such, poor people live in a state of deep resignation, with no hope for a better future. They are raised to believe that poverty is their fate, and that there is no hope for them to escape from poverty. Canadian Humanitarian believes that providing these individuals with literacy and vocational skills enables them to break through their resignation and awaken to new possibilities - to believe that there is hope for a better future.
The PATH center will offers literacy courses and English classes throughout the year to the community. In the fall of 2007, the first vocational training program computer operation, maintenance and repair began. Followed shortyly by the jewlerry and craft courses. In coming years, PATH will offer additional training in other areas such as construction, hospitality and electrical.
Canadian Humanitarian invites interested individuals and groups to hold a "Lunch for Literacy" to support the PATH Center. For more information contact Sandra at choir@canadianhumanitarian.com
LiGA
LiGA is a small agency in Ethiopia. It stands for Light for Generation Association. The association was founded by 6 friends after they graduated college in September 2004.
The LiGA school project that Canadian Humanitarian is involved in currently enrolls over 240 children in Preschool through Grade 3. Many of the childrens' mothers are single and work as day labourers to support their families.
When we first began supporting LiGA School the school was a tarp and a mud floor. In 2006 Canadian Humanitarian built a 3 room school for $6,000 CDN. Canadian Humanitarian provides funding for renting the land the school is built on, teacher's salaries, uniforms and shoes for the children and books and supplies for the classrooms. In the Fall of 2007 40 students from LiGA School were invited to run in the Great Race with Ethiopian Olympic runner Haile Gebrasalisse. The children were thrilled to take part in such an exciting event with thousands of other children from schools in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. On our last visit in March 2008 the 244 children put on a wonderful show of singing for our group and we had the opportunity to visit the new center a few doors down that will accomodate the growing number of students at LiGA School. The Children's Bridge Foundation provided LiGA with a grant to purchase playground equipment and the children had a great time showing us how fast the merry-go-round could go! In 2008 teachers from Canada will be providing teacher trainings to the teachers at LiGA School. Canadian Humanitarian does not offer individual sponsorships for the children at LiGA school. However, indiviudals can sponsor the school for $30 a month. Your donation helps us fulfill our financial obligation to LiGA school and commit to increased provisions of school supplies, shoes, teacher training and community education workshops. If you would like to support LiGA School please visit our Contribute page. Sponsors will be provided with an update and photos of the children at least twice per year.
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