Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Nov. 4th...Home

Can we make a difference?

It is not an uncommon question. We all ask it. How can we make a difference in the lives of our children? What can we do that will make a difference in the lives of our students? How can we reach out and help someone who is struggling? Why do we do the work that we do, and how is it making a difference?

The commonality across all scenarios is the individual.

I arrived at Kid’s Hope Centre in Guelele on my last afternoon in Ethiopia. Three of us were facilitating a sewing project with some of the older kids. This was my fourth time to Guelele in the last seven years. On our first trip in May of 2006, we were introduced to Canadian Humanitarian, and to a group of forty young children, who were just learning about sponsorship. After some singing, dancing and playing games with the kids, I asked if there were any children there who still needed a sponsor.

We were introduced to Mekedes.

Mekedes in May 2006

She was twelve or thirteen years old. She was a gangly teenager. She had a spark in her eyes, and a quick smile; she said that she wanted to be a doctor (they all did).  The Guelele sub-city where she lived is a very poor area where local markets sell basic foods, old clothes and fresh produce. In 2005, a local NGO called YTH, partnered with Canadian Humanitarian to develop a community-based approach to caring for children in need.

That year, Mekdes was identified as one of a hundred orphaned and vulnerable children in the Guelele area. Her parents had died. She lived with her grandmother, who also cared for four other children. Her grandmother was a day laborer, and her income was inconsistent. The family had to live without basic essentials. When there is not enough money, boys are sent to school and girls are kept home. It is the role of the girl to take care of younger children, chop wood, collect water, go to the market and help their mothers, aunts and grandmothers. In times of desperation, prostitution may be the only way to make a living. Adolescent girls are at great risk. 

Canadian Humanitarian and YTH had resources (in 2005) to support fourty of those vulnerable children in the Kid’s Hope program, and Mekdes was chosen. Children were selected based on their personal circumstances, but also on the desire and motivation of the child.

Initially, the Kid’s Hope program provided the funds that allowed Mekdes to go back to her community school. It was a simple gift. However, over the ensuing years, Kids Hope has undertaken the challenge to break the cycle of poverty while helping children to find what they need to meet their unique potential. To increase the likelihood of success, CH uses a child-centered model that addresses the whole of the child’s life. This includes support in the areas of: education, family life, medical, dental, nutritional, social, emotional and mental support, life skills, programs for the guardians, research and expeditions that bring volunteers into the country.

Mekedes (left) in Feb. 2008

Mekedes in October 2009

Mekedes in 2010

Mekedes in 2011

As a sponsoring family, we are unusual. Members of our family have seen Mekedes in Ethiopia in ‘06, ’07, ’08, and ’09; so we have been able to observe the kind of change that occurs over time. Moreover, Mekedes has understood that there are people across the world who are pulling for her. Hope.

On my last day in Addis, I met the manager of the Kid's Hope Guelele Centre, and told him that I was part of the family who has supported Mekedes these past seven years. I knew that she had just started University, and he asked me if I wanted to phone her. He led me to his office and picked up the phone, dialed, made a number of requests in Amharic, and then simply handed me the phone.

“Hello,” I said.

“Hello” she replied.

“Mekdes! This is Wendy from Canada!”

“Oh! Hello. How are you?”

“I am fine. How are you?”

“I am fine.”

“You are at university.”

“Yes.”

“Are you happy?”

“Yes.”

“I am in Addis right now, I am sorry that I will not see you.”

“You are in Addis?”

“Yes, I have been here for three weeks.”

“Oh. How is Kristine?”

“Kristin is fine. She is at university too. She is not here.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“Mekdes, I just want you to know that we are so proud of how hard you have worked.”

“Oh. (giggle) Okay. Thank you. I love you.”

“We love you too…. Continue to work hard. . . . Goodbye.”

“Okay. Goodbye.”

One day near the beginning of the expedition, I sat with a fellow volunteer on the bus, wondering how we could possibly make a difference when there were so many challenges. He shared the basics of a story with me, and now, I would like to share it with you.

While wandering a deserted beach at dawn, stagnant in my work, I saw a man in the distance bending and throwing as he walked the endless stretch toward me. As he came near, I could see that he was throwing starfish, abandoned on the sand by the tide, back into the sea. When he was close enough I asked him why he was working so hard at this strange task. He said that the sun would dry the starfish and they would die. I said to him that I thought he was foolish. There were thousands of starfish on miles and miles of beach. One man alone could never make a difference. He smiled as he picked up the next starfish. Hurling it far into the sea he said, “It makes a difference for this one.”

Loren Eiseley

Faith is believing in something you can’t see.

Patience is waiting to see what will be revealed.

And wisdom is knowing that change is not always better, only different.

Salam.

Yohannes in Ethiopia, in 2006

Kristin and Fraser reading with Yohannes, in Ethiopia '06.

Lauren and Faven playing jacks with the kids.

Lauren and Faven with Aunts Tagegne (L) and Mali (R), in Harar.

Cousin Abee with Faven at the Rift Valley.

Abee and Yohannes at the Rift Valley

Grama (Bekela) with Faven in Harar.

Gifts of mattresses, bedding, cooking supplies and food for Dagim and Buziyay, in Dire Dawa.