EMBRACING HOPE ETHIOPIA INC

Embracing Hope Ethiopia, a Christian charity founded in 2010, exists to partner with God, individuals, the local church and the poor themselves to see lives transformed, poverty cycles broken and families preserved in the name of Jesus Christ.

Serving among the poorest of the poor whom live in slum areas of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and trying to survive on less than $1 USD per day, EHE strives to see Mothers and their young children embrace hope in all areas of life; physically, emotionally, psychologically, relationally, intellectually and spiritually.

It was identified that many of the reasons for children being orphaned could be prevented if there was an organization who could walk holistically alongside Mothers who fiercely loved their children, yet had given up hope and had no one to care for their children while they worked. It is for this reason that we predominantly serve children under age 5 or pre-school age. A typical admission into our program is for children age 2 and younger - an underserved population within most development sectors.

EHE currently serves 142 children from 130 families living in the Kore' slum of Addis Ababa. Over 50% of these mothers were trying to make a living by begging along the roadside with their young child to try to get enough food for that day. Other mothers were doing menial, temporary work that permitted them to bring their children, but many times resulting in unsafe environments for children as well as inadequate salary to survive. All of the mothers were considered the poorest of the poor outcasts living in the slum and a number of them have chronic health conditions (including HIV) and disabilities.

We use a wide range of interventions in partnership with Mothers to help them to move toward sustainability and take a step out of the poverty cycle. Our work is focused on partnership with the mothers as well as local governments and other development organizations. We also are focused on making this a local movement by empowering nationals to oversee and work every level of the organization.

We are committed to seeing this intervention spread to other slum areas in Addis Ababa as well as in other urban areas of Ethiopia. There are those living on the edge in many locations who simply long to have someone walk alongside them.

Many Moms (because of their great love for their children) would choose to terminate their parental rights for the sake of having someone to watch them while they work, so that they could be fed, so that they could have an education or proper healthcare. Our strategies include:

1. Free Day Care. If a Mother is able to work, then she will see dignity restored. If a child is able to have a safe, clean, loving environment, then he or she will grow healthy while Mom is at work and be better positioned to learn and become a caring citizen who will contribute to society.

2. Hygiene. Many deadly illnesses are avoidable. By providing hygiene education, clean centers and hygiene materials, children and their families can grow healthy.

3. Education. By providing an education through Early Childhood Education even for infants, these children will learn to think differently and have a head start over their peers. Poverty will not be a barrier to a good education. By Learning basic Amharic and English at Age 3, children will be ready to attend Kindergarten at age 4 and be ahead of their peers as they move into formal education. By providing our own Kindergarten and Elementary School we can ensure a high quality, unparalleled education in a slum.

4. Nutrition. Basic nutrition provides the capacity to learn as well as to grow into a healthy adult. Over 20% of children in the Day Care were so malnourished they would not have survived without intervention. Now they are thriving. It also provides mothers the energy to work.

5. Special Needs Interventions. By providing extra for Moms with special cases (e.g. HIV) they can keep their children while addressing these needs. Just because a Mom is HIV+ is no reason for her to need to give up her child.

6. Health Care. Many of the poor do not have access to adequate health care and simple infections become killers. Proper health care results in saved lives and quality lives.

7. Adult Education. By addressing basic life skills and literacy education, we are empowering mothers to take part in stepping out of poverty.

8. Community Building. Many mothers had no one. Now, they have friends who care for them. They rely on each other within a family environment provided by our staff.

9. Micro Grants and Micro Savings Initiatives. Families are empowered to start small businesses and to save to create margin. Most Moms save over 1 months salary within 6 months of starting to save.

10. Family Sponsorships. Providing a reduced level of support for families who no longer require Day Care allow us to address poverty over the long run.

11. Counseling. Our Leadership Staff, Nurses and Social workers engage in formal and informal counseling with moms to help them break a cycle.

12. Spiritual Development. Encouraging Families to respond to Jesus as The One who fills our impoverished selves.

EHE has an experienced staff in all levels of the organization who care for individual mothers and their children to see them courageously break cycles that in many cases have existed for generations. By applying time tested development techniques linked with holistic care for Mothers and Children, lives are being changed.

EHE's on the ground team is made up of national staff many of whom have experience in working with large scale development organizations as well as local governments, health care organizations and educational institutions. In addition, expatriate volunteers serve alongside of them whom have decades of experience in working among the poor.

EHE's key to success is to engage mothers in the process of them making progress. Mothers have ownership of the organization and are considered stakeholders in addition to local governments, sub-city governments, federal government, faith based organizations and community based organizations.

All on the ground decisions and progress are managed by a local Ethiopian Board of Directors who have empowered an Ethiopian Executive Director. This Board of Directors is made up of professionals within the Development, Church and Social Work sectors. The organization is licensed by the Ethiopian Government through the Ministry of Justice Charities and Societies Agency. Physical and Financial Activity reports are filed with this agency on a quarterly and annual basis and progress is meticulously tracked by government agencies. All Ethiopian operations are audited yearly through an Ethiopian certified public accountant office.

Overall progress and accountability is assessed by a U.S. Board of Directors, one hundred percent of whom contribute financially to the work of Embracing Hope Ethiopia. The Board of Directors at present is made up of Professionals within Sociology, Medicine, Public Relations, Development, Education, Church and Accounting. This Board of Directors is responsible to maintain ethical integrity through regular reporting as well as a yearly formal Financial Review conducted by an independent certified public accountant and a Budgeting process.

We are focused on seeing families preserved and orphans prevented and it is working. To date only 6 families have dropped out of the program. All others have remained in the project and have kept their children with them despite crushing poverty. There are now over 400 less orphans than what there potentially would have been without intervention. These families are intact, the children are within their cultural origin and the family is thriving comparatively.

We have seen most moms within the project more than double their monthly salary since entering the project. Other Moms and children with significant health issues as well as severe malnourishment simply would not have survived without intervention. We have heard doctors say on multiple occasions, “If it had not been for EHE, this child would not be living today."

We also have seen stark changes in the physical, emotional, psychological, relational, intellectual and social outlook of children and moms. Most families arrive unable to maintain eye contact, sickly and withdrawn. Within six months these same families are engaged, healthy, robust and full of life. They are examples of joy and life.

Over 95% of Mothers in the project report to work somewhere in the city daily. Some have started their own businesses. Others have gained promising jobs. They are full of dignity and do whatever they can to give back to society. These Moms have remarked frequently about how EHE has become family to them and was there to help them when there was no one else.

We also have seen Moms responding to the love of Jesus. Proselytizing is forbidden, however many mothers have started to ask about the source of our hope in why we demonstrate love to them and serve them like we do.

There still is much to do. Because of limited resources we must turn away 1,300 mothers just in our local area per year. These mothers have great need and would benefit from a project like EHE's Early Childhood Intervention / Day Care Centers. There also are an additional 4 slum areas in Addis where children are at risk of being orphaned as well as other urban areas in Ethiopia where there is great need.

EHE is also looking for solutions to ensure that mothers are not becoming dependent on the services that are being provided. We are constantly tweaking our systems in order to move Mothers in partnership toward sustainability rather than dependency. For these cycles to be broken, we must continue to do the hard work of viewing each family on a case by case basis.