Hope for Children-Ethiopia Programs

1. Child Sponsorship

More than 800 children are now sponsored through Hope for Children-Ethiopia. Hope for Children-Ethiopia operates a variety of projects and programs which aim to ensure that the needs of its children are met and that the community’s ability to care for these children is strengthened.



2. Group Homes for AIDS Orphans

Hope for Children-Ethiopia tries to keep orphaned children living within their community with neighbors or family members. In situations where this is not possible, a group home is established within the community. In the group home, up to seven children live with a housemother in an environment that fosters a real sense of family life. There are now 9 group homes operating in Addis Ababa and another 2 in Babile.

3. Psychosocial Support

“To help them understand that death is part of life, to reassure them in the process of grieving and to bring them out of their confusion and anger, they need space and time to talk about their grief. Children need to be held, cuddled and provided with appropriate care and specific counseling. Besides this, Hope for Children believes that caregivers need to be informed about the possible reactions and behavioral changes related to the trauma of losing one’s parents.” Yewoinshet Masresha, Founder, 2005.

Hope for Children-Ethiopia has been a leader in the provision of psychosocial support to children, families and caregivers facing the terrible losses inflicted by HIV/AIDS. Hope for Children’s founder, Yewoinshet Masresha, brought with her considerable experience in the field of psychosocial counseling of those affected by HIV/AIDS. In addition, training has been provided by Mrs. Masresha and other noted experts in the field to Hope for Children’s caregivers, counselors and group home leaders.

Initiatives designed to meet the psychosocial needs of the children include:

Play Therapy - Since training was provided by UNICEF and others, play therapy intervention has shown very positive results, especially among the younger children whose caregivers have reported a decrease in anxiety, sadness and sleep disturbances.

Grief Counseling - Caregivers trained in child-specific grief counseling help children, as well as their caregivers, understand and respond to the possible behavioral changes that occur as a result of the trauma of losing loved ones.

Memory Boxes - With the help of community volunteers, parents are given the opportunity to leave something for their children to remember them by, such as photos, mementos and family stories.



4. Home-Based Care and the HFC Hospice
   

Hope for Children-Ethiopia now has forty-two women from the community who have been trained and are working as home-based caregivers. Over one hundred patients were regularly visited during 2008.

In an environment where hospital care is not often an option for people suffering from AIDS, the home based caregivers provide basic care, including assistance with bathing, feeding, wound care, massage therapy, cleaning, shopping and food preparation. Equally importantly, the caregivers offer vital human contact and comfort to those who are sick and have been alienated by their community. Counseling is also provided for both the patient and the patient’s family.

In addition to home-based care, HFC now operates a small hospice for those who cannot be cared for in their homes.  After receiving more intensive care in a clean, caring and safe environment, we have been surprised by how many patients have recovered sufficiently to return home.

5. Village Savings & Loan Groups

Working with Save the Children, Plan International and others, the Hope for Children community is forming village savings and loan groups based on a model that has been successful all over Africa.  Each group, made up of 18 to 20 caregivers, receives training in basic business skills.  They talk with other groups who have been successful and meet weekly to discuss ideas for developing small businesses or improving the businesses they have.  Every member contributes a small amount of money, and when they have accumulated enough, they decide which members of the group to loan it to and at what interest rate.  Gradually, as loans are repaid and micro-businesses grow, the hope is that each household’s income will increase.  While there are no quick solutions to poverty, the caregivers at Hope for Children have enthusiastically embraced the savings and loan group concept and are on the look out for business ideas.  We are behind them 100%!



6. HIV Education and Outreach
   

Providing accurate information to the community about HIV/AIDS and its prevention is an essential part of Hope for Children’s mission.

Peer Education and the Coffee Ceremony - Thirty-two volunteer peer educators who have been trained through Hope for Children provide house-to-house HIV/AIDS education to members of the community by holding traditional coffee ceremonies. By talking directly with families in their own homes, peer educators are able to answer questions, encourage discussion about sensitive matters and correct many of the misconceptions that contribute to stigma and discrimination. In 2005, Hope for Children’s peer educators visited over 4,000 households, reaching over 13,000 people in the Gulele Sub City.

Puppets, Bunnies and Clowns - Hope for Children also raises HIV/AIDS awareness through fun performances by puppets, giant rabbits and clowns that entertain and educate simultaneously.

7. Legal Project

Hope for Children’s legal program began in 2006 after the staff discovered a desperate grandmother and her 8-year-old granddaughter sleeping in the corner of the main office.  The pair was distraught; the girl had been raped by her HIV+ father, and her mother had recently died of AIDS.  Although this case is extreme, it is but one of many examples of the help needed to protect the basic civil rights of the children at Hope for Children.  Thanks to the hard work of Hope for Children’s staff attorney, the legal project has since its inception successfully supported children in over 55 cases.  In addition, the project works with parents who are sick and dying to ensure that proper legal documents are drafted and their children’s rights are protected once they are gone.

8. Saturday Program

It is important for ALL children to have time to play and be with other children, particularly children who are spending time caring for a sick parent or working. In order to provide a recreational outlet for the children, Hope for Children provides a special entertainment program at its office compound every Saturday where children can sing, dance and play games. In 2006, between 100 and 200 children attended each week!

In addition to weekly entertainment, Hope for Children runs a scouting program accredited by the Ethiopian National Scouting Association. Children learn how to work together as a team and how to be self-reliant. This year, thirty new scouts graduated.

Traditional Ethiopian dance classes are also held two days a week after school. A group of outstanding students has performed at kindergartens, schools and ceremonies in Addis throughout the year. Plans are underway to offer more music and theater programs for the children.

9. Kindergarten

Thanks to funding from the Global Fund for Children, the Hope for Children kindergarten affords the younger children in the community a safe and loving place where they can play and learn together. It also enables the staff to better monitor the health and well-being of the younger children, especially those who are HIV-positive. In addition, the kindergarten has given two older Hope for Children beneficiaries experience in kindergarten teaching that they can use to find jobs and become self-sufficient. Caregivers are very grateful to be given the opportunity to send their children to the kindergarten and are very proud of the positive behavior changes brought about in the children’s lives through our play therapy activities.