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Providing care to Orphans and their Community
The World Family has developed a sustainable community based orphan's pilot program in Gara Dima in the East Showa Region of Ethiopia. These highly underserved people of Gara Dima live with contaminated water, malaria, AIDS and other preventable diseases, and infant, child and maternal mortality. Other challenges the people face are inadequate health services, low academic enrollment rate, deforestation, the impact of perennial drought and high numbers of orphans. The community is unable to cope with all these problems due to the lack of economic strength.
The Yemegnushal Community Center is a program that is based on self-reliance with emphasis on community service and life skills training to build positive, productive and sustainable livelihoods. The project offers to orphans and their community living in Gara Dima, services that include health care, vocational/skill training, well drinking water, farming and livestock development, environmental awareness, educational opportunities and micro loans to help the community shift out of poverty.
The Center is a critical component to embracing the larger issues of community development. The program is dedicated to meeting the broad needs of the orphans and community. Any attempt to address a single need in isolation is destined to be weakened by the force of other needs. This unique comprehensive approach enables the community to participate in programs where they can develop valuable life-skills that in turn promote economic self-sufficiency and confront malnutrition and other health and social problems. Yemegnushal Community Center in Gara Dima is seated on 20 acres of land, which will be utilized for the demonstration of farming skills that will educate and support farmers in their efforts to produce more food.
In addition, this program offers cross cultural exchange programs to encourage cultural awareness through meaningful work and life experiences for students, educators, health professionals, other volunteers and to those whom we are all extending our helping hands. Also, this program includes service learning and community development opportunities. Along with these enriching opportunities, the introduction of Ethiopian traditional culture and hospitality will together support our vision of cultivating a global community.
Ethiopia has 6 million orphans, one of the largest numbers of orphans in the world, and 1.2 million are AIDS orphans.
Malaria causes 47% of the children's deaths in Ethiopia
Children orphaned by HIV/AIDS suffer from greater social isolation, stigma and adjustment. They are also less likely to be adopted.
School attendance rates for orphans is significantly lower than their peers. The situation is worse for girls who are taken out of school to look after household responsibilities. The orphans who are not attending school are more vulnerable to abuse, neglect and exploitation.
Only 35% of the community has access to safe water
The Yemegnushal Community Center is dedicated to Emebet Bellingham's mother, Yemegnushal Haile, a great humanitarian, who died tragically in 2006 while in the process of completing the building of a free medical clinic in Ethiopia. She was a compassionate woman who never tired of giving. Yemegnushal's loving and caring spirit will always be a source of strength and commitment for all of us.
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