Help these Diversity Lottery Winners get here!

LATEST UPDATE (8/27)! Plane tickets have been bought for the entire family from Addis Ababa to Columbus (not a direct flight!) with the help of a friend who got us a good price ($5500) and we've ordered their green cards to be mailed to the U.S. ($1500).

They arrive very soon... Sept. 17th!

Some remaining needs:

Thank you again for all of your donations!

Every bit helps! And we're not there yet.

Please share and donate if you can!

All bests with lots of love and excitiement!

Robert and the Family

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UPDATE!: THEIR VISAS HAVE BEEN APPROVED! And now it's time to pay fees and buy plane tickets! (NOT CHEAP) So, if you can donate (every bit helps) not only can we get them here, we can help them have some "cushion money" for getting set up in their new home in Columbus, OH.

Thank you in advance!

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Hi there! This is my friend Yididya Bekele (top right) from Addis Ababa, and her family (husband, Mikyas and 4 children: Eyosiyas, Zerubabel, Yodahe and Halleluya). They recently won the Diversity Visa Lottery (Green Card Lottery) from the U.S. Government to move to the United States and have an AMAZING opportunity to start a new life here! They have a coupld of sponsor options (one in the Columbus area and one in Chicago). Once they arrive, they will be put up by the sponsor and start looking for jobs, attending school, etc. But the expenses - just to get here - are quite a LOT - especially given the currency exchange between the Ethiopian Birr and the US Dollar.

Here's a short video of them all saying "Hello and Thank you!" in advance:

https://youtu.be/iM6iL6ENcMY

Here's another video of them talking about themselves and their dreams for what could happen in the U.S. as a result of this amazing opportunity:

I've known Yididya for a couple of years now. She was my instructor when I was learning Amharic (one of the main languages of Ethiopia). She's a wonderful, caring, talented, tenacious and hard-working person, as is her husband, Mikyas. Yididya is getting her Masters in Education and Mikyas is a talented artist (painter) and all-around handy guy! They are determined to come to America, get jobs, have their kids go to school here to get a great education and become part of our beautiful and diverse American family! Their goal is to do well and help others - especially children who are in similar circumstances!

Anything you can give will help! This amount is JUST to cover the basic costs to get them all here (flights, passports, etc.) and jump through all of the bureaucratic hoops to make it all happen (which isn't cheap) so that they can take advantage of this lucky chance to start a new life here!

Warth,

Robert

Photo:

Back row: Mikyas Tekle (father), Zerubabel (son, 11), Eyosiyas (son, 12), Yididya (mother).

Front row: Yodahe (son, 5) and Halleluya (daughter, 4).

LET'S HELP THEM GET HERE!

For more info and/or to be helpful in other ways contact me!