Help Balin's & Birhanu's Families in Ethiopia

In a month, I will be turning 24 and every year I ask friends and family to donate toward an important cause instead of receiving gifts.

For my fourth year of doing this, I will be doing things a bit differently.

As many of you will know, my younger brother Balin (the apple of my eye, best bud and constant support), was adopted from Ethiopia when he was quite young. He is the best brother anyone could ask for, and it has been the greatest blessing to have him as my family.

I was lucky to travel back to Ethiopia when I was 11 with my family, and spend some time travelling through the country. It was an incredible experience, and one that taught all of us about how privileged we are, and the importance of kindness and generosity. It was certainly a defining experience for all of us, and a big part of that experience was Birhanu, who guided us through Ethiopia. He was insatiably happy, always kind, unwaveringly patient and generous. I don't have a single memory of him without a smile on his face, and to this day he is one of the best and kindest people I have ever met.

Balin and my parents had the privilege of going back to Ethiopia in 2019. After many years of investigation by Mum and some dedicated people in Addis Ababa, we were able to find Balin's family in Ethiopia and then travel to meet them. I was unable to travel with them, but got photos and stories emailed to me from Mum. I remember telling Mum that I thought Balin looked just like his grandfather. We were all quite overwhelmed with the incredible opportunity to meet this part of our family, and to learn about Balin's heritage.

Someone who made this possible was Birhanu, who again took care of everyone and guided them around Ethiopia in 2019. They were also lucky enough to meet Birhanu's family, his wife and three beautiful children, one of whom (Kidus), is paralysed after complications at birth and has to use a wheelchair, and is unable to attend the local school due to intellectual disabilities. Birhanu and his family planned to use money they had saved up to renovate their house, to make a difficult site and building accessible and useable for Kidus, so he not only could access all of the house, but easily access the street and their car, for when he needed to be taken to hospital suddenly.

However, 2020 hit hard, with Covid-19 and civil war in the Tigray region north of Ethiopia creating an incredibly difficult situation for Birhanu's family and Balin's family, with the situation only worsening over time. Without regular income from Birhanu's tourism business and far more difficult circumstances day-to-day due to the pandemic, Birhanu's family started to struggle, with their hopes of creating an accessible home for their children becoming less likely as time continued. Birhanu also contracted Covid-19 in 2021, thankfully recovering, but the family struggled during that period and moving forward from that, Birhanu has little to no way of working to support his family due to the ongoing pandemic and civil unrest threatening his ability to work. With their livelihood and their community greatly impacted, they have had an arduous time managing through the difficulties that 2020, and now 2021, have brought. Balin's family have similarly struggled, with Balin's aunty tragically passing away in 2020. Already starting with only a small space to house several family members, and difficulty with paying for necessities, the past 1-2 years have been incredibly taxing for our extended family in Ethiopia.

In 2020, my family and I, and some close friends, sent some money over for both families. But as their struggles continue, I hope that we can raise more money to help them through an increasingly stressful time. The final amount will be split evenly between the two families. All money donated will be released into my bank account, for me to transfer to Birhanu who will ensure the money gets where it needs to be.

I will start the donations with $200 and will be doing an additional donation at the end of the fundraiser. I have set the goal at $1000 taking into consideration my own donations, so I am hoping we can reach $800 in donations. Every dollar helps, every cent counts. I know this is a difficult time for all of us, but I strongly believe that we are privileged here, with access to high quality education, clean water, healthcare and fresh food, and we have a duty to help anyone we can. The smallest donations make a difference, and will make real, quantifiable change in someone's life. Not only will donating make you feel like a superstar, it will make you a hero! Please donate if you are able to- I know many people are dealing with hardships right now, so I know that supporting this cause financially may not be viable for everyone.

Your kindness and generosity will not go unnoticed, and I thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

Lots of love, Mik x