THE NEED

It’s impossible for us to look at these young children and not think of our own little ones. It is very real to us. Let it be very real to you as well. And–PLEASE!–go beyond just wishing it was different and DO something about it!!! Help send 90 of the most vulnerable children to school, slotted to begin September 2012. It IS possible.

Kechene is a district within Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital, of 46,000 people. It has the highest HIV prevalence in the city, with almost 16% of its residents estimated to be suffering from the disease. Because of the AIDS crisis and the devastating impact of poverty and unclean water, the district is filled with widows and their children, or worse, orphan-led households. Many within the district eke out a living by rising at 4 am to get firewood back to the city’s morning market for sale by 7 am. It is not an easy life. They labor, often for up to seventeen hours a day and have very little to show for it.

Many of those opting for this lifestyle are the widowed women who go to collect sticks, while their young children are left at home.

With so little money, and such enormous challenges, the children often have no option but to go out into the world and earn a living, too, to contribute to the family. The work available is physically demanding on these tiny laborers; it is not uncommon to see a boy of around 5 carrying his brother on his back as he goes about his work – selling Kolo (roasted barley). Tiny boys drift about hustling for work shining shoes: this earns about half an American cent a shoe shine.

“The children here have no childhood, and very little idea of play, or fun. They are only concerned about making a little money to eat, so you see them, from a tiny age, bent double carrying wood, or sat working with a weaver all day, which earns them just 1 birr a day, about 12 US cents.”*

BUT THERE IS HOPE.

While reading this may seem totally overwhelming–mind-numbing even–there is something that we can do! Awake and Alive is planning to start a school for the youngest of these children in Kechene ages 4-8 who are the most vulnerable. While Bright Future focuses on children age 9 and above, Awake and Alive’s goal will be to help those younger–the ones who are left at home while their moms are out working. This school will not only provide these precious children with 2 full meals a day and shelter, it will also provide them with an education–a luxury most children in this area cannot afford. Yet, without an education they have very little hope of rising above their current circumstances.

With your help, Awake and Alive can change that.

$1,000 will sponsor a teacher for an entire year. This teacher will change the course of so many young children's lives! With sponsoring a teacher you will not only give the children hope for a Brighter Future but will be giving a teacher the ability to have hope in their community and the ability to be the change for so many orphaned children.

$500 will sponsor a child to attend the Bright Future Academy. This will remove one orphaned child from hard labor and the streets of Kechene. It will provide uniforms, books, 2 meals a day(something these children are not use to), protection, and hope for a Brighter Future for an entire school year.

Of course ANY amount you can give will make a huge impact on the lives of these little children.

“Now glory be to God! By his mighty power at work within us, he is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope.” Ephesians 3:20

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