Care for Kidane Mehret

Isabella Califano Ehrlich is organizing this fundraiser.

Donation protected

Six years ago we began our journey to adopt in Ethiopia after personal losses caused us to reflect on the gift of a child in our lives. Three years ago, our worlds were changed when we picked up our daughter, Arsema June.

KIDANE MEHRET

Arsema was cared for in the orphanage Kidane Mehret in Addis Ababa by nuns who have dedicated their lives to the care of abandoned children in Ethiopia. This photo below shows some of the babies who were in care when we picked her up.

Since we adopted June, Ethiopia has closed international adoption. However with domestic adoption a rarity children still come to the orphanages. The reasons are the same - extreme poverty, illness (HIV) or children with special needs. They will grow up in orphanages - if they are the lucky ones - and then often become homeless by the time they're 16.

Because fees associated with adoption are no longer supporting these orphanages, they are in great need of financial support. The support allows the orphanage to run and send the children in their care to school (June with one of her nannies).

We will also be bringing soccer balls to the orphanage because all children - regardless of circumstance - love to play!

A PEN FOR A CHILD

A Pen for a Child, run by our dear friend Nega Wedajo, supports impoverished teen girls, giving them school supplies and thus the life-changing opportunity to attend school.

Further, he provides underwear, sanitary pads and education on menstruation to these young women. Many - from shame - do not attend school because of their periods. Without finishing their studies they cannot be freed from the burden of poverty.

On April 8, Tim, August, Julian, June and I will return to Ethiopia. We will be there for two weeks, reveling in the beauty of our adopted homeland, giving thanks for the great blessing of our daughter and providing support to those organizations that are actively fighting to break the cycle of poverty. Like our last trip, we will create a closed Facebook group with all donors to our fund to share our trip, and show your generous contributions at work.

At this time of great abundance and blessing, we hope you might consider making a donation to this fund. Many of you know June, and know that she is the most intelligent, tenacious and joy-filled child. We owe a great debt to the selfless caregivers who provided for her in our absence, and in the absence of biological parents. We feel strongly about supporting those doing work to change the trajectory of girls in Ethiopia, like Nega.