Finals for school are done and I get to go home Friday. YES!
No update yet on the dates of my trip. I'll post that as soon as I know.
Here is a link to Ms. Eileen's blog, Job's Daughters, and a slide show of pictures from
Kolfe Orphanage in Ethiopia. This is the older boys orphanage that they visited in Addis Ababa when they went and picked up their three children last Thanksgiving.
Kolfe Orphanage is over 30 years old and houses around 237 young men between the ages of 12 years to 18 years. The compound as they call it has not been maintained in more than 30 years because of the financial crisis of the government in Ethiopia. The system is supposed to give each orphan $500 when they turn 18 years old and send them out into the world to start their own lives. The government doesn't have the money to do this so they have been letting them stay there so as not to be put out in the streets with no money, and no living relative or friend outside of the compound. Some of the guys there are in their 20's because there are no jobs to be had to get out and start a life of their own. Even if they have an education, there are just no jobs available for them. So, they live there and help out around the place. But with no money it is even hard to fix things that break! It is so desperate and sad. They want to work, they want to learn and get educated but their economy is just not conducive.
The ones affected most by the orphan crisis are the older kids that don't have a chance to be adopted and are forced to spend the majority of their life in poorly funded and understaffed orphanages like Kolfe. These young men have been placed in this facility with the hopes of having food, medical care, shelter and an education. Unfortunately, budget constraints have severely limited the capacity to which Kolfe can provide these basic needs. The clinic is void of proper medical equipment, the recreational facilities are limited to one dirt patch used for soccer and the basic structure of the majority of the buildings are completely dilapidated. These are the poorest of the poor, they have lost their parents, families, and friends. Unfortunately, this kind of thing is all too common throughout Africa. Poverty, AIDS & malnutrition has left a devastating wake of 4.7 million orphans in Ethiopia alone!
When Solomon, a boy living at Kolfe was asked what is was like to live at Kolfe he responded..."It is nice, I now get to eat 3 times a day. Before I came here at 7 years old, I was alone on the streets and sometimes I didn't eat for days. I know God brought me here and I am very grateful... I have never known anyone outside of this compound…”
I will not be working directly with this orphanage, but I do hope to go and visit at least once while I'm there and meet the boys I've heard so many stories about from Ms. Eileen.
Amberlynn
Amberlynn and her new big sister Morgan.
Mrs. Craig and her new son Amon
The group gathering after hearing their plane had landed.
James, Jared, Jeremiah, and Josiah
Keziah playing with her balloon animal while we waited.
