Meet Worke (Work-aye). She is 34-years-old and came to the church with her two little boys. Their smiles and obvious tenderness toward their mama immediately won my heart. Birhanu is 8-years-old and in the second grade and Maru is 4-years-old. The boys have a 10-year-old sister, Birtukan, who couldn’t be with us because she was still in school (fourth grade).
Worke had to flee the Amhara region in northern Ethiopia to escape an abusive husband. She is safe from him but is in a terrible position making choices between a roof over their head or food in their stomachs. The one thing she won’t compromise on is schooling for the children.
Worke is employed as a low-paying daily laborer in construction or goes house to house seeking a job as a servant. Her rent is $20/month and her typical monthly income is $15.50. There are many evenings when all they have to eat is boiled maize (corn) or, in her words, “If we don’t have food, we just sleep.” Her lack of nutrition and the toll construction takes on her body has caused her to have health issues.
She tearfully shared her fear that she will die before she can get her children raised. I think a solution for her fears is to get this family food, don’t you? Would you consider “adopting” Worke and her three children for $50 a month to ensure they have plenty to eat every day?
Today I listened to a story told to me by a mother of three children who herself was an orphan and never had a chance to go to school. She is determined her children will go to school!
Tigist Gibe is 30-years-old and is HIV+. She has sores and rashes all over her legs secondary to HIV and brings home around $1.25 a day from begging. She needs money for nutritious food to prevent her from dying like her husband from AIDS. The antiretroviral medication only works with consistent, nutritious food. She, Addis, her 7-year-old girl who is in kindergarten, and 2-year-old Hawii (girl) live under a plastic tarp lean-to on the compound of a friend. Tigist is a wisp of a woman and her children are very small for their age … possibly due to poor nutrition combined with their genetic make-up.
Would you "adopt" this family for just $50 a month? They need a safe place to live and FOOD will make all the difference in the world to their health. It is also our goal to break the cycle of begging and eventually empower Tigist through employment. She can live an active, healthy life and be a wonderful role model for her girls. Let’s lend a hand and make it happen!
You can adopt Worke or Tigist or another at-risk family at:
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