Meet Abdissa

Aged 6, Ethiopia

Abdissa lives with his parents and his little brother Dawit. They live in a rented mud house. His father works at a woodwork company. Life is challenging for the family and they cannot afford to meet all of the children’s daily needs.  

Abdissa has been accepted onto the Stand By Me programme. With sponsorship support, Abdissa can now receive regular meals, a good quality education, clothes, shoes and medical care.  

Abdissa enjoys learning new things. He is a bright and lovable boy. Pasta with local bread is his favourite food. He likes to play football and draw pictures and play games with his friends. When he grows up he wants to be a teacher.

Where Abdissa lives

Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in the world. Famine, HIV/Aids and extreme poverty have resulted in millions of orphans and a life of hardship for the majority of its population. Nearly one million children are orphaned as a result of HIV/Aids. A lack of investment in education and a high dependency on child labour has left five million children without access to an education. Educational opportunities for girls are lower than boys as they are expected to do domestic work or marry at an early age.

Our two schools, the Bethany School and the Abdi Academy are today providing the poorest children with a quality education, daily food, health care and family support. Our Children’s Village has two family homes which care for orphaned and at risk children. 

How your donation is used

92% of your donation will be used to directly provide the best care possible for Abdissa. We’ll use the remaining 8% to support the work of Stand by Me and find a sponsor for the next child.

What you receive

When you sponsor Abdissa you will receive a pack in the post with his story and photo. Every year you will receive an update about his/her progress, a new photo and at least one communication from him/her.

Real relationship

We know our kids love to receive your letters and write back so we encourage you to write as many letters as you like, along with photos and birthday gifts to develop a genuine relationship.

Stand by... almost there...