Project Officer, Liz Rankin

Bruce and Elaine have been supporting and working with Roy and Adora since January 2007 and are impressed by their dedication and commitment to see the lives of the poor and disadvantaged turned around.     This association has strengthened and we have made numerous self-funded trips to the Philippines and with some limited support in Australia and the support of Roy and Adora, have self-funded a school that has grown way beyond what anyone of us could have imagined                                          

             Bruce and Elaine                                 Roy and Adora                           .

The Bonga Boarding Houses

                                                           

Your sponsorship will help to feed, clothe, educate, provide school books and medical costs to vulnerable children who would not have the opportunity of an education had they remained in their villages, as their families are very poor and schooling finishes at grade 6, therefore they cannot afford to send them to school in Bonga.                                                                                    

(Project Officer: Michelle Nethery)
Development and Welfare and Relief

Children in this program are aged from pre-school to teens, and are often in orphan siblings groups or in homes where poverty and illness are seriously limiting the capacity of parents to provide adequately for them, leaving the children at risk of malnutrition and illiteracy. 

Education for Blind Children

(Project Officer: Sandi Petersen)
Relief and Development    

This project which started in 2010 is providing education for children with vision impairment in Jimma. There are no educational facilities for blind children in the region.

Many schools in Ethiopia are very basic with 60-100 students in each class, and often no books or facilities, so for a blind child to learn in this environment is almost impossible. Ever since I became aware of the challenges blind children face in Ethiopia through some of the children in our sponsorship projects, I have hoped to somehow help them get to school.

The Bonga Elementary School is the oldest school in the poorest of poor areas. Over 950 children attend the school from Grade 3- Grade 8.
This school has no resources what so ever.

Project Officer , Dee Lumsden

A Boarding House for Liwan Students in Dekia  

Given the Liwan School only goes up to grade 4, those reaching higher grades come to Dekia to continue their schooling. There are now about 24 children – including 6 girls – in Dekia attending grade 5, 6 and 7. This is very exciting, given no one in their village had ever reached this level of schooling, and I hope that in years to come, these students will be able to help their village through being teachers, nurses, engineers and other skills so that Liwan can become a self sufficient thriving community.

A Health-Post for Liwan   

Liwan is a very remote village that WFA has been involved in over the past 5 years after we were approached with a plea to help provide a school and clean water for the village. The village is home to the Shuro people who have been marginalised and isolated, with no shared language with other cultural groups. The whole village was illiterate and they had no clean water, no toilets, no reliable food source and lacked health care and other basic services. Please see the following website for further information:

http://www.irinnews.org/Report/95737/ETHIOPIA-Safe-water-a-glass-half-full                                                                                            

Project Officer, Dani Potter

Kenya Testimony Faith Homes

Situated in Eldoret, Kenya, Testimony Faith Homes is currently comprised of three homes for children ages 3-17 and two   hostels for girls and boys aged over 18. Each house has an employed set of parents who care for the children in their care as they would their own family. Each house has approximately 40 children in the family from various tribal backgrounds and different circumstances as to how they became orphaned. Testimony School is located on the compound along with boarding facilities for both primary and secondary students as well as a Day Care Centre. The school’s financial governance is separated from that of the homes and it does not contribute to the homes financially. However, the school does provide the children of Testimony Homes with free education and opportunities that the children would otherwise not receive.

Project Goals

The projects in Jimma support a multifaceted and holistic approach for the poor provided by the Daughters of Charity in this area, including a Leprosy Community School Project, a housing project, sponsorship of children in the leprosy communities and in the broader community, and assistance to those with medical needs when required. Through the Lazarist Priests, WFA supports a project providing training, mentoring and equipment to set up groups of ten youths in small business projects. In Jimma, WFA also provides education for blind children. The aim of these projects is to provide support for vulnerable individuals and communities in ways which empower them with education and training, alongside assistance to improve their living standards (by providing access to housing and assistance with access to medical care). The changes visible in the lives of individuals and in the communities over the past seven years are wonderful to witness. 

Jimma Leprosy Communities Schools (project officer: Sandi Petersen):
Development

Through this project WFA has funded the building of a pre-school in Tulema Leprosy Village for educating and food support for over 100 children. The current focus is to assist (with other donors) extending Gingo School to grade 4. Those in the leprosy communities were suffering from devastating poverty, previously living on the streets with no income other than begging. Access to schooling has made an enormous difference to the self esteem and future opportunities for the entire community.

Addis Ababa Project

Coordinated by Morgan Smith

Brothers of Good Works Counseling and Social Services Centre (Previously Medical Missionaries of Mary)

Two projects are currently offered through Brothers of Good Works:

Project Officer, Gemma Pilcher

Samerro Project

Samerro is a small rural village in Western Ethiopia, toward the Sudan border. The village population is just over 2000 people, of which 98% are subsistence farmers. The poverty is great and without education there is little hope of improvement for the next generation.

Lalibela Project

Lalibela is a remote town known for its ancient rock hewn churches and every year more than 55,000 people make a religious pilgrimage to Lalibela because of its spiritual significance in Ethiopia. The landscape surrounding Lalibela is rugged and mountainous and is one of the regions affected by the devastating droughts of the past decades. The town has many homeless children and elderly people who are living on the street without food or shelter. 

Project Officer, Dee Hudson

Meskele Kristos is a desperately poor village where the families struggle to provide for the needs of their family members. Children often go hungry, suffer from malnutrition and illness. Many don’t even own a pair of shoes or enough clothes to complete one outfit for them to wear.

The projects in Bonga are a multifaceted and holistic approach for the poor in this area 

The projects in Bonga Rural Region are a multifaceted and holistic approach for the poor in this area.          

• the Liwan School and Clean Water project,                                                                                       
• The Shashenda Library,
• The Boarding House for rural students in Bonga,                                                                          
• the Flood Relief Program,
• the Child Sponsorship Program in conjunction with the Lazarist Priests.                                             

 Project Officer: Emma Lewis  

Development and Welfare and Relief
Providing educational support and assistance for community development

A portion of the child sponsorship goes toward providing food and educational support to disadvantaged children, many of whom would not be able to attend school without this assistance.

Project Officer: Sandi Petersen   Relief and Development
This project supports the Jimma Hospital/University deliver Prosthetic Services to Bonga and the many small villages out from Bonga in the Kaffa region, southwest Ethiopia.

Project officer: Sandi Petersen    Development and Welfare and Relief

Project officer: Christine Hoffman  

Relief and Development

This project started as a feeding centre support for 90 malnourished children but with WFA support has now become a pre-school providing food and education for the regions most disadvantaged children aged 3 to 7yrs.