Well my grandparents (Keppers side) probably don't want this to become public knowledge, but I just received my first donation to implement a project (independent of WIO) for the orphanage where I volunteer!!!!!
It is an amazing amount of money, in Ethiopian Birr it will be able to buy a lot. My first investment will be for the infants as they are the most neglected in regards to their development as the toddlers are loved and adored by the older children and are therefore always playing. The infants on the other hand are only removed from their cribs for changing and then placed back to be fed by a propped-up bottle. Providing them with musical toys, mobiles, and the like will be a sustainable project as it does not require the funding of increased staff. Additionally, I hope to create a child-friendly area where they can be placed outside of their cribs (hopefully outdoors) so they can wiggle and scwirm around and have a little fun!
THANKS GRANDMA AND GRANDPA!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Friday, February 23, 2007
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Facts on Ethiopia
Facts on Ethiopia and its most vulnerable children:
When, in 2005, the UN appraised the health, longevity, education, and standard of living of people in 177 nations for its Human Development Index, Ethiopia was ranked 170th. The UN's Gender-related Development Index, capturing inequalities in achievement between men and women, ranked Ethiopia 134th out of 140 nations. The UN Human Poverty Index evaluated 103 nations and ranked Ethiopia 99th.
Ethiopia has the second largest population of orphans and more specifically, AIDS orphans in Africa. The number of orphans in Ethiopia today is about 4.8 million (1.5 million are orphaned due to AIDS), which constitutes 11 percent of the child population. As children age, they become more susceptible to orphanhood. Currently 4% of children aged 0-5, 12% of children aged 6-11, and 20% of youth aged 12-17 are orphans. The average orphan in Ethiopia is 10 years old, of either sex and Ethiopian Orthodox Christian.
The under-five morality rate in Ethiopia is 166/1000, or 1 in 6. In some regions in Ethiopia it is as high as 233/100 or almost 1 in 5. About 90% of morality in under-fives is caused by pneumonia, neonatal causes, malaria, diarrhea and measles. Malnutrition underlies about 57% of these deaths, and 11 percent are associated with HIV infection. Ethiopia is home to 6 million children under five years of age who are classified as underweight.
The proportion of working children ranges from about 69% in Addis to 89% in SNNPR (Southern Ethiopia)
Caring for Ethiopia's orphans costs $US 115 million a month in a country whose annual health budget is only $US 140 million.
There is just one doctor for every 24,000 children, one of the worst ratios in the world.
Ethiopia has one of the most severe crises of child marriage in the world today. Among female migrants to the city, 19% cited the desire to avoid early marriage as the reason they left their home village.
Only 3% of married girls aged 15-19 are in school, compared with 34% of unmarried girls.
Mean age difference between spouses is 10.1 years if the wife married before 15.
Percentage of girls married by:
15- 30.6%
18- 70.2%
20- 82.5%
Percentage who thinks wife beating is justified if sex is withheld: 43.3%
Maternal morality ratio in 2000 as a lifetime risk of maternal death is 1 in 14.
When, in 2005, the UN appraised the health, longevity, education, and standard of living of people in 177 nations for its Human Development Index, Ethiopia was ranked 170th. The UN's Gender-related Development Index, capturing inequalities in achievement between men and women, ranked Ethiopia 134th out of 140 nations. The UN Human Poverty Index evaluated 103 nations and ranked Ethiopia 99th.
Ethiopia has the second largest population of orphans and more specifically, AIDS orphans in Africa. The number of orphans in Ethiopia today is about 4.8 million (1.5 million are orphaned due to AIDS), which constitutes 11 percent of the child population. As children age, they become more susceptible to orphanhood. Currently 4% of children aged 0-5, 12% of children aged 6-11, and 20% of youth aged 12-17 are orphans. The average orphan in Ethiopia is 10 years old, of either sex and Ethiopian Orthodox Christian.
The under-five morality rate in Ethiopia is 166/1000, or 1 in 6. In some regions in Ethiopia it is as high as 233/100 or almost 1 in 5. About 90% of morality in under-fives is caused by pneumonia, neonatal causes, malaria, diarrhea and measles. Malnutrition underlies about 57% of these deaths, and 11 percent are associated with HIV infection. Ethiopia is home to 6 million children under five years of age who are classified as underweight.
The proportion of working children ranges from about 69% in Addis to 89% in SNNPR (Southern Ethiopia)
Caring for Ethiopia's orphans costs $US 115 million a month in a country whose annual health budget is only $US 140 million.
There is just one doctor for every 24,000 children, one of the worst ratios in the world.
Ethiopia has one of the most severe crises of child marriage in the world today. Among female migrants to the city, 19% cited the desire to avoid early marriage as the reason they left their home village.
Only 3% of married girls aged 15-19 are in school, compared with 34% of unmarried girls.
Mean age difference between spouses is 10.1 years if the wife married before 15.
Percentage of girls married by:
15- 30.6%
18- 70.2%
20- 82.5%
Percentage who thinks wife beating is justified if sex is withheld: 43.3%
Maternal morality ratio in 2000 as a lifetime risk of maternal death is 1 in 14.
Saturday, February 10, 2007
First Day at Kechene
Well...I just got done with my first day of volunteering at Kechene Children's Home. Kechene is the government run orphanage that I have mentioned in an earlier journal. It is a home for girls of all ages and boys until the age of 8 or so.
Today was a blessing. There really isn't any other way to put it. The 'Moms,' as they are referred to are wonderful and compassionate and truly care about the well-being of all the children in the home. The children were fun-loving, beautiful, and full of energy as all children are. However, as in any children's home there are aspects that should be changed, but due to limited funding, especially being a government run facility, the Moms capacity to provide adequate care, especially to the infants is limited.
The infant room smells of urine and must. All the children are wet, as their 'diapers' are a piece of cloth and a plastic bag. They are changed every time they wake from a nap. They are truly cared for, however, due to the fact that there was only one mother in charge of the 10 or so children that are unable to walk yet, they are never held. Never fed in the arms of the moms. And certainly are not allowed to spend time outside.
Today, I was able to take of all of the children outside for at least 15 minutes with the help of willing child volunteers. It was a great time and their reaction to the outside was entertaining, beautiful, and distressing. The first contribution I want to make is to provide an area outside where the youngest children can play. A closed in area that will not require much supervision, as it would be unrealistic to create a facility that required increasing the staff, as there is no additional budget for such personnel.
Additionally, the Director took me to visit the Children's Circus. It is a program he created for Orphaned and Vulnerable Children in Addis. The program provides free training for 75 children in the community as gymnasts. It has only been running for a year, but their performance was amazing!!! They practice three times per week and perform at local schools and functions. What talent!
There are so many great projects here for orphaned and vulnerable children, they just need to be multiplied by 200.
Today was a blessing. There really isn't any other way to put it. The 'Moms,' as they are referred to are wonderful and compassionate and truly care about the well-being of all the children in the home. The children were fun-loving, beautiful, and full of energy as all children are. However, as in any children's home there are aspects that should be changed, but due to limited funding, especially being a government run facility, the Moms capacity to provide adequate care, especially to the infants is limited.
The infant room smells of urine and must. All the children are wet, as their 'diapers' are a piece of cloth and a plastic bag. They are changed every time they wake from a nap. They are truly cared for, however, due to the fact that there was only one mother in charge of the 10 or so children that are unable to walk yet, they are never held. Never fed in the arms of the moms. And certainly are not allowed to spend time outside.
Today, I was able to take of all of the children outside for at least 15 minutes with the help of willing child volunteers. It was a great time and their reaction to the outside was entertaining, beautiful, and distressing. The first contribution I want to make is to provide an area outside where the youngest children can play. A closed in area that will not require much supervision, as it would be unrealistic to create a facility that required increasing the staff, as there is no additional budget for such personnel.
Additionally, the Director took me to visit the Children's Circus. It is a program he created for Orphaned and Vulnerable Children in Addis. The program provides free training for 75 children in the community as gymnasts. It has only been running for a year, but their performance was amazing!!! They practice three times per week and perform at local schools and functions. What talent!
There are so many great projects here for orphaned and vulnerable children, they just need to be multiplied by 200.
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
Right now I am waiting at the Ministry of Women's Affairs office hoping to meet with the woman who can provide me with the documents needed to complete my report. This is the most important office in regards to orphan welfare and so far the employees have been welcoming.
I taking advantage of this downtime to write an entry has I have finished reading all the documents I had brought with me to keep me 'busy.'
This entry is about my visits to two state-run orphanages yesterday. My first visit was to Kechene Children's Home, an orphanage that houses infants and toddlers of both sexes and also girl youth. I had visited the facility before, my intent with this visit was to inform the Director that we will be delivering 50 computers by the end of April. To say the least, the Director was shocked and thanks me profusely for the offer because as a government run facility, they were not often presented with offers of donations as man of the private orphanages are. Until two years ago, they didn't even have a single computer. Until now, they have had to function with a single computer in which the children do not have access to as it is for administrative purposes.
Lukas knew how excited the girls would be to hear the news and so he told me that I had to inform them myself of the donation. As you may be able to imagine, the same room filled with more than 50 girls went into an uproar when Lukas' translation was completed. Clapping and giggling and chatter filled the small living room.
The impact these computers will have on these children is immense. Almost all of the youth study computer science, from a textbook, many never actually having had access to an actual computer to apply their training. Additionally, the younger children will have access to developmentally appropriate games which is especially important for institutionalized children. (So if anyone has children's games they would like to donate, please just email me and we can make an arrangement for them to get installed on their computers!!!! Please!!)
Well, that was the uplifting part of the entry, the second part of the entry is not so upbeat. Just a warning.
As I was concluding my visit with the Director, I asked if I could visit the infant ward of the facility and he was more than happy to oblige. The ward had moved into a newer building on the compound, one that was brightly painted and had larger windows allowing the children access to the Ethiopian sunshine. However, what was evident almost immediately was the silence in the room. A room filled with 20 or some children under the age of 2 years. A few were sleeping, but most simply laid on their backs looking at the ceiling. For the 20 children there was only one caretaker. The babies were wet from head to toe and wrapped in warm clothes, clearly cared for, as the staff was extremely kind to them and interacted with them when possible, but limited in their capacity to staff the ward properly.
The children were beautiful and a few destined to Gabon, the US, and Finland, the rest were awaiting their forever families. When I spoke to them they beamed with smiles. When I offered them my finger to hold they grabbed tightly, refusing to let go. One girl was strong enough to stand and she wanted me to bring her out of her crib. But of course I couldn't at the time. I wanted to bring all the children outside into the beautiful summer day and prop them in the sunshine with a bundle of toys to play with. But none of the children were offered that opportunity, they couldn't go outside, there was no staff to watch them. They couldn't play outside because there was no children's area. They couldn't be surrounded by toys because there were none.
However, there is hope. I will be volunteering in the infant ward every Saturday for the entire day. Playing with them and making sure they are allowed to play outside. And with donations of money I received before my departure, I will purchase some much needed toys and reuseable diapers. And thanks to the support from home, I'm going to be able to make the facilility a bit more child-friendly including giving the children art supplies so they can decorate the walls with bright colors and make their home their own, as many of the children older than 2 will never be adopted, as they are not of an 'adoptable age.' Most foreigners want infants and the rest will call the orphanage home until they are pushed to the streets when they reach 18.
I taking advantage of this downtime to write an entry has I have finished reading all the documents I had brought with me to keep me 'busy.'
This entry is about my visits to two state-run orphanages yesterday. My first visit was to Kechene Children's Home, an orphanage that houses infants and toddlers of both sexes and also girl youth. I had visited the facility before, my intent with this visit was to inform the Director that we will be delivering 50 computers by the end of April. To say the least, the Director was shocked and thanks me profusely for the offer because as a government run facility, they were not often presented with offers of donations as man of the private orphanages are. Until two years ago, they didn't even have a single computer. Until now, they have had to function with a single computer in which the children do not have access to as it is for administrative purposes.
Lukas knew how excited the girls would be to hear the news and so he told me that I had to inform them myself of the donation. As you may be able to imagine, the same room filled with more than 50 girls went into an uproar when Lukas' translation was completed. Clapping and giggling and chatter filled the small living room.
The impact these computers will have on these children is immense. Almost all of the youth study computer science, from a textbook, many never actually having had access to an actual computer to apply their training. Additionally, the younger children will have access to developmentally appropriate games which is especially important for institutionalized children. (So if anyone has children's games they would like to donate, please just email me and we can make an arrangement for them to get installed on their computers!!!! Please!!)
Well, that was the uplifting part of the entry, the second part of the entry is not so upbeat. Just a warning.
As I was concluding my visit with the Director, I asked if I could visit the infant ward of the facility and he was more than happy to oblige. The ward had moved into a newer building on the compound, one that was brightly painted and had larger windows allowing the children access to the Ethiopian sunshine. However, what was evident almost immediately was the silence in the room. A room filled with 20 or some children under the age of 2 years. A few were sleeping, but most simply laid on their backs looking at the ceiling. For the 20 children there was only one caretaker. The babies were wet from head to toe and wrapped in warm clothes, clearly cared for, as the staff was extremely kind to them and interacted with them when possible, but limited in their capacity to staff the ward properly.
The children were beautiful and a few destined to Gabon, the US, and Finland, the rest were awaiting their forever families. When I spoke to them they beamed with smiles. When I offered them my finger to hold they grabbed tightly, refusing to let go. One girl was strong enough to stand and she wanted me to bring her out of her crib. But of course I couldn't at the time. I wanted to bring all the children outside into the beautiful summer day and prop them in the sunshine with a bundle of toys to play with. But none of the children were offered that opportunity, they couldn't go outside, there was no staff to watch them. They couldn't play outside because there was no children's area. They couldn't be surrounded by toys because there were none.
However, there is hope. I will be volunteering in the infant ward every Saturday for the entire day. Playing with them and making sure they are allowed to play outside. And with donations of money I received before my departure, I will purchase some much needed toys and reuseable diapers. And thanks to the support from home, I'm going to be able to make the facilility a bit more child-friendly including giving the children art supplies so they can decorate the walls with bright colors and make their home their own, as many of the children older than 2 will never be adopted, as they are not of an 'adoptable age.' Most foreigners want infants and the rest will call the orphanage home until they are pushed to the streets when they reach 18.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
