A Hope For Children

The children of AHOPE have really been on my heart lately. I think that a little of this comes from the desire to have the ability to donate as much as possible to this organization. There are certainly moments when I feel like I am up against the impossible, that I am never going to make it, that it will never be enough. But I think of my sister and brother-in-law--they are going to be such wonderful parents. And I think of the children of Ethiopia--they need so much. And that certainly keeps me motivated. I was reading a little about AHOPE and thought I would share it with you. You can read more about them on their website, but I really love how Keep a Child Alive describes the AHOPE orphanage. Instead of paraphrasing, I thought I would just include the entire thing:

"The money that KCA has provided not only buys ARVs, but also provides psycho-social and educational support to these children. This care is facilitated by additions to AHOPE's staff. Specifically, an additional physician, nurse, and administrative assistant have been hired to support treatment and care for the children in the orphanage. Educational support is provided by two additional teachers: one to help children with learning disabilities and the other to teach dance, music and art. KCA's money is also being used to pay a psychologist to evaluate the children and counsel those in need. Finally, a community outreach coordinator has been hired in order to identify existing family members of the orphans and assist with reintegration of orphans with their families.

The health and economic figures for Ethiopia are devastating. According to the UNDP (HDR 2005), the life expectancy is 47.6 years old, only 22% of the population has access to clean drinking water, and 80% lives on less than $2/day. But this orphanage in Addis Ababa is bringing hope, light, joy, art, music and love to sick children, a Keep A Child Alive mission."

Both paragraphs were found here. How can you not get behind an organization whose mission is to bring "hope, light, joy, art, music and love"? So beautiful. When choosing the charity or organization that we would be donating to, Katie and I talked about supporting larger organizations, such as Keep a Child Alive. We decided, though, that while KCA is undoubtedly incredible, and does give financial support to AHOPE, we liked the idea of having a specific focus, and so decided to give directly to AHOPE.

A year ago, even six months ago, I never would have thought that this would be my focus, that this project would be so much of my daily routine, my thoughts. But while, at times, it has been so exhausting, and sometimes so disheartening, I have seen such good come out of this--more than I could have imagined. It is so humbling to see that goodness come out of something that was once so sad. It makes it well worth the challenge.

I hope you are all well. And I certainly hope that you can find the blessings in your own life.

xo,
Amy