News from Ethiopia

Can you imagine day after day, sitting in school with wet clothes? This is the reality for our children during the rainy season. They get cold to their bones and struggle to concentrate in class. 

But this rainy season is different. A wonderful team donated money to buy raincoats for all our children. Our children now arrive at school with dry clothes, warm hearts and big smiles.

Our Abdi Academy School, in Ethiopia, recently ran a health drive. We want our children to make the most of every opportunity and thrive because we believe that no child should miss out on an education due to ill-health.

Here at Stand by Me we want the best for our children, but we know many of our kids go home to sleep on the cold ground every night. This year 85 individuals, families, schools and youth groups took part in our February on the floor challenge to provide beds for our children. 

Since reopening our Bethany School, the children have resumed their classes with added measures to reduce the spread of Covid. Unfortunately some cases of Covid have been found amongst the staff at the Bethany School and the school has been closed to ensure there is no further spread of the virus. As we monitor the sitaution carefully, we are pleased to report that so far, none of our children have experienced any Covid symptoms.

In Ethiopia we care for over 1,000 children at our Bethany School and Abdi Academy and when they reach Grade 8 they sit an important national exam to determine whether they can go on to High School. We are absolutely delighted to share with you that every Grade 8 student at our schools in Ethiopia passed their national exams.

Seven year old Aster is a confident, smart and playful student at our Bethany School in Ethiopia.But Aster’s progress was hiding the struggle of her home situation which was revealed to our staff when Aster’s mum, Bekelu, arrived at our project office; distressed and starving.

We’re doing everything we can to make a difference in our kids' lives. Yet many return home after school to go to sleep on the hard, cold ground alongside their parents and siblings. But a bed can change all that.

15 year old Sena is kind and thoughtful, full of potential and, just like every child, deserving of a bright future. But Sena is living with HIV, causing her to worry. Today Sena is healthy thanks to the life-changing HIV Food Programme. She tells us how the programme has taken away her worries and helped her feel happy again.