BTO Kids

Life History by Eyoel Tadesse

My name is Eyoel Tadessa and I am living with my grandparents. I felt sorry for myself because I lost my parents. I feel so sorry as I don't even know their names. I've passed through so many life patterns. I used to live on the street, I was a shoe shiner and now, thank God, I am living with my grandparents whom I found after so many searches. Now I can feel a little familyhood and I can get affection which fills some of the gaps of my questions. But I still want to know about my biological parents. I have so many problems as my grandparents are old and are living on a pension. My uncle's child is also living with us and life is very hard. I walked barefoot, no clothes, no schooling materials and because of the questions that I have about my family, I suffer a lot psychologically. But now I am so happy as I got a project that can fill the gaps. If this project didn't exist, I might have to go back to the street life. I am glad to be a member of this family-based project. In the future, I want to play soccer.

Thank you.

BTO Update

Research for Change by Donna Helm-Yost, Ed.D., Lead Investigator

While in Addis, we had the opportunity to discuss our study with our Ethiopian team members to make sure that our western instruments are culturally appropriate, to visit the homes of our wonderful kids, and to share our study and our intentions with them and their guardians. They were all extremely pleased with our efforts and work, and were very grateful for the support that BTO is providing. I wish that each of you could have experienced the depth of their happiness regarding BTO's support.

Because of our research work, we also met with representatives from USAID and the UN. Through these contacts, we also made connections with UNICEF. They seem very interested in our study and BTO's work, and we hope that their interest will lead to a mutually beneficial relationship.

We are in the process of gaining Arizona State University approval for our study and in December, I will return to Ethiopia to work with BTO's social worker, Fikerte to begin data collection. I'm very excited to be a part of this project with BTO and I'll continue to provide updates regarding the progress of our study. It is my hope that we will learn a great deal from our study--and in the process, we will use what we learn to help older orphans in Ethiopia and other developing countries as well. 

Voices from the Team

Filming for Beyond the Orphanage (BTO) and Kidane Mehret Children's Home (KMCH) 
by Tim Handfield

In February, I visited Addis Ababa with filmmaker Oliver Clifton to make two short films; one about Beyond the Orphanage, and a second about the Kidane Mehret Children's Home.

The aim of these two films is to inform a broader audience about the people, aims and activities of these two wonderful organisations. The films are currently in the final stages of editing and when complete, will be available from the BTO website.

During our visit we were inspired to see the work of BTO and KMCH, and the positive impact they have had on the lives of the children supported by these organisations.

Filming and activities included:

- A Saturday morning session where the children learned about nutrition and shared their experiences as orphans. Led by BTO social worker, Fikerte Bekele, they discussed the challenges they face growing up in Addis Ababa, life skills and decision making.
- Visits to most of the children's homes and meeting their guardians.
- Seeing the BTO children helping out with activities for the younger KMCH children, including a chaotic day of biscuit making and decorating.
- A group excursion with the BTO children to the historical site of Emperor Menelik's palace on Entoto Mountain overlooking Addis Ababa.
- A moving interview session with Sister Lutgarda, the head of KMCH, describing the challenges of running an orphanage with more than one hundred and fifty children from newborns to seventeen years of age.

The logistics for the filming project were brilliantly organised by Japi (Mariamawit) Alemu, the BTO program coordinator, who also helped with translations of the interviews.

It was a great experience for all involved and I look forward to showing the films to the BTO children, management team, supporters and friends over the next few months.

Climate Change and Ethiopia

Africa holds the unwelcomed title of the continent that will suffer the most under global warming. While climate change is a global challenge, it is primarily and most immediately a threat to developing countries like Ethiopia.

Sub-Saharan Africa will face drought, food shortages, violent storms and catastrophic flooding driven by climate change. Pandemics threaten to topple governments, and mass migration looms, feeding terrorist movements and destabilising regions.

Ethiopia's prime minister, Meles Zenawi, who will speak for Africa at several global gatherings this year, warns that certain parts of the continent will become uninhabitable and "those who did the damage will have to pay."

The most important forum for his views will be the December summit in Copenhagen, where delegates from 192 countries will meet to agree on a pact to cut greenhouse gas emissions. This pact will succeed the Kyoto Protocal, which expires in 2012. Mr. Zenawi hopes that Africa will "aggressively" demand compensation for environmental damage as well as help with migrants and the mitigation of climate change. He thinks US $40 billion would be reasonable. Compensation is required because increased exposure to droughts, floods and storms is already destroying opportunity and reinforcing inequalities. One in 19 people in developing countries were affected by climate-related disasters between 2000 and 2004 compared with just one in 1,500 in rich countries.

The findings come from the 2008 Human Development Report titled 'Fighting Climate Change: Human Solidarity in a Divided World.' According to this report, while Ethiopia may have one of the lowest carbon footprints, it is one of the biggest sufferers of global warming. Ethiopia is one of the world's most drought-prone countries. Children aged five or less are 36 percent more likely to be malnourished if they were born during a drought. This translates to around 2 million additional malnourished children in 2005.

Agriculture remains easily the most important sector in the Ethiopian economy, supporting 85 percent of the population in terms of employment and contributing to about half of the country's gross domestic product.

Climate change will affect rainfall, temperature and water availability for agriculture in vulnerable areas. For example, drought affected areas in sub-Saharan Africa could expand by 60-90 million hectares, with dry land zones suffering losses of US $26 billion by 2060 (2003 prices), a figure in excess of bilateral aid to the region in 2005.

While climate change mitigation is a global challenge, the starting place for mitigation is with the countries that carry the bulk of historic responsibility and the people that leave the deepest footprints.

In Ethiopia, the average per capita carbon footprint is 0.1 tonnes of carbon dioxide capared with 20 tonnes in Canada. An average dishwasher in Europe emits as much CO2 in a year as three Ethiopians. And the state of New South Wales in Australia (population 6.9 million) has a carbon footprint of 116 Mt CO2. This figure is comparable to the combined total for Bangladesh, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Morocco, Nepal and Sri Lanka.