Kid's Hope - Alemgena
Date project was established - 2007
Location - Alemgena Sub- City, Sabeta Ethiopia
Local Partner - Yenega Tesfa Hitsanate Mahiber
Benefits to the community - Hope. Tuition, books and uniforms for orphaned and vulnerable children. After school tutoring and clubs. Access to health care. One hot meal daily. Child care training and food disbursements for guardians of the children.
Project Description - The Alemgena neighbourhood is just outside of Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa. Alemgena is characterized by extreme poverty and a high incidence of orphans. Children in Alemgena have lost family members from abandonment, HIV/AIDS or other infectious diseases. As a result many of these children miss out on education and are forced to live and work on teh streets for survival. The Kid's Hope Program aims to take children out of an environment of no opportunities into a world of hope. Fifty children and their families directly benefit from the Kids Hope program. Below are the steps Canadian Humanitarian with local partner Yenega Tesfa Hitsanate Mahibir (YTH) are taking to break the cycle of poverty in Ethiopia.
The first goal was to ensure that all the children had a suitable home where they could live in a family setting. Foster care families were identified for each of the children. Next, the children were all enrolled in public school. Tuition was paid, books were purchased, and uniforms were made. This practice of enrolment has continued each consecutive school year. Once this was accomplished a home in Alemgena was rented that would serve as the Kid's Hope Center. Many activities now take place at the Kid's Hope Center. After their regular day of school, the children arrive to the Center for tutoring. Teachers offer help with school work, life skills training, health workshop, and personal grooming instruction. The center provides them with access to a library, shower facilities and membership in democratically and student rub clubs. Center clubs examples include gymnastics club, art club, public speaking and music.
Canadian Humanitarian and Kid's Hope Staff recognize the importance of dealing with the emotional trauma these children have endured after living in extreme poverty for many years. Many children have watched and cared for parent who had long months of illness before they died. Many have never had all they wanted or needed to eat. One child witnessed her father murder her mother and then commit suicide. The Kid's Hope Center employs social workers to work with the children to help them process and come to terms with their particular circumstances. These social workers also offer to Kid's Hope staff, foster families and the community trainings pertaining to the children's emotional health needs.
The benefits of the Kid's Hope Program are not felt only by the children. While foster families are not compensated monetarily by the program they are provided with much needed items such as cooking utensils, blankets, hygiene items, grain or rice and oil. Free workshops are also offered to foster parents of the children ranging from child care to public health to infectious disease awareness.
Program Successes - Many of the initial children enrolled in the Kid's Hope Program will finish high school in the next few years. Many of them are on track to finish school with good enough grades to attend vocational training schools or university. A scholarship program is being set up to facilitate their continued education. As these children move on to post secondary school, spaces will be opened to bring new children and families from the community into the program.