“Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless.” Psalm 82:3

4.3 Million Orphans to Love – One at a Time

Ethiopia is a country beset by years of war, severe drought, and epidemics, and crippled economically and socially. More than 4 million orphaned children struggle to survive every day. Many of these little ones lost their parents to Africa’s HIV/AIDS outbreak. AGCI has embraced Ethiopia’s children through our Hannah’s Hope orphan care home and outreach ministries.

Hannah’s Hope Orphan Care Home

Located in the capital city of Addis Ababa, Hannah’s Hope is a haven for children who have come out of desperation and into the sheltering embrace of hope. Through the holistic care provided at Hannah’s Hope, children often grow and develop remarkably in just a matter of weeks. Children of all ages, from different regions and tribes, are all welcomed into the loving embrace of our “special mothers” who nurture and care for each of these little ones.

“Hannah’s Hope is amazing. It doesn’t feel like an orphanage, it almost feels like a different kind of family.” – Lauren (Mission Trip Participant)

Our Orphan Care Work

AGCI works in collaboration with Orphan Care Homes across Ethiopia. Each home is as unique in its needs as the children they serve.

• At a home in northern Ethiopia, Embrace Mission trip participants recently built a new playground and painted all the rooms with bright, engaging murals for 20 children.  
• In another region, AGCI Partners provided the funds to completely renovate an orphan home so the 50 children would have a safe environment in which to live. 
• In western Ethiopia, AGCI donors are providing ongoing support so that a new orphan home can serve 20 children today and expand its programs to serve an additional 10 children. 
• In Addis Ababa, AGCI regularly provides contributions of shoes, clothing, formula and other supplies to area orphan homes, reaching hundreds of children each year. 

Your gift of $35 a month can provide the food, shelter, clothing, and engaging environment an orphan needs to grow. Become a Partner Today.

Preserving Families

SLIDESHOW:
Ethiopia Micro Business

Micro Business Start-Up Grants. What began as the faithful efforts of one Ethiopian widow, Rachel, to provide for her son has grown to become the hope of hundreds of women. AGCI’s Micro Business Start Up Grants provide widows and orphaned young women in northern Ethiopia and Addis Ababa the skills and financial support to begin their own businesses and pass on their knowledge to other women in need. In just two years the program has grown from 13 women operating two hair salons and one bakery to include hundreds of new micro businesses that involve baking, basket making, embroidery, bead work, and more. Depending on the business, grants range from about $420 to $650 (the equivalent of a year’s income to 18 months’ income in Ethiopia.)

As one widow recently shared with us when she learned about the Micro Business Start Up Grants:

“Our family has only survived because of good, generous people in America. I am forever grateful and praise God for them. But I don’t want my children to grow up depending on their help.  Today, you give me hope that I can provide for my children and that they will have a future. They will learn to care for themselves and for their children, too. Please tell the people who have made this possible how thankful I am and that I pray for them.”

OUR PASSION is to empower Ethiopia’s widows and orphaned young women by providing the opportunity to become self-sufficient and the skills to raise their children to be self-sufficient, too. Join us today and create hope for 150 more families in Ethiopia. Help us raise $80,000 to provide grants for 150 additional women’s businesses including rent and utilities, equipment and materials, and financial training.

Family Sponsorship. Through the monthly financial support of our Partners, AGCI provides ongoing sponsorship to more than 300 families whose living parent suffers from ongoing illness, permanent disability or extreme financial hardship that will never permit them to provide for their children. In a country where most people live on less than a dollar a day, monthly sponsorship of $35 ensures children will receive adequate nutrition, shelter, clothing, and attend school. Less than half of all Ethiopian children receive an education, so the opportunity to attend school gives an orphan hope for a life far better than the one they know now. For just $35 a month — less than the price of a daily cup of coffee — you can put a family on the road to hope, education and financial stability. Become a Partner or Make a One-Time Gift to support our Ethiopia programs to preserve a family.

Strengthening Communities

Through Partner financial support and Embrace Mission teams, AGCI continues to improve the lives and living conditions of thousands of children in Ethiopia every day. Our projects and programs include:

• Construction and ongoing support for Wyrea Daycare Center in Addis Ababa where 333 preschool children are cared for each week while their parent works. Without this facility, many of these children would be wandering the streets of Ethiopia’s capital.
• In Gambella region, AGCI provides helps farmers launch a bee-keeping operation. The bees have improved crop pollination and the honey has become a new income source for a dozen families.
• At Ethiopia’s only juvenile detention center, more than 100 children, age 7 – 15, receive gifts of shoes, blankets, and clothing. Many of these orphans have been detained after being sold into child slavery, sex-trafficking rings, or street gangs.
• In 2012, AGCI volunteers and contributors are creating new sports fields, a library and restroom facilities for a K-8 school in Addis Ababa that serves more than 1,300 children in one of the city’s poorest neighborhoods. Read more…

You can be part of our ministry to care for a child whose most basic needs are not being met, help change a child’s life through our Hannah’s Hope Homes, preserve a family, or help strengthen a community.  A monthly contribution of $35, $50, or $100 can change a child’s life forever. Become a Partner Today.