How to sponsor a child in Ethiopia

We wrote a post on June 29 from Ethiopia regarding our visit to the town of Asela to visit Almaze who is the child we sponsor through Compassion International. http://braaschfamily.blogspot.com/2005/06/visit-with-almaze_29.html
In that post, we promised to write more about the Compassion project when we returned home and now, 6 months later, we finally are! We were very impressed by Compassion’s work in Asela so we want to explain in more detail Compassion’s mission and encourage others to sponsor a child in this project or elsewhere in Ethiopia.

Compassion International is a Christian child development organization dedicated to releasing children from poverty. One way this is achieved is by partnering with local churches around the world to provide child development programs that give children opportunities in education, medical care and life experiences they would not otherwise have the means to experience.

Compassion finds a Christian church in an area with whom to partner for a project. They choose children to participate in their program based on the level of poverty as well as choosing a mix of children from Christian homes and non-Christian homes. Children who are accepted into the program typically begin at a young age (5 – 8 years of age) and are sponsored through their 18th birthday.

The kids come to the project a couple of times a week after school and on Saturday. At the project they receive additional help as needed in academic subjects in which they struggle. They also come for “Sunday School” (on Saturday) where they regularly are presented with the Gospel message and Christian training. If they have medical or nutritional needs, Compassion provides help in these areas. The kids are given two new sets of clothes each year as well. For the kids who are in the upper grades of elementary school, the Compassion project provides for one experience each year similar to camp. This annual trip takes the kids out of the village where they have likely been their entire lives and exposes them to new places and new experiences.

The project in Asela just opened in the fall of 2004. In fact, Anna and I were the first sponsors to make a site visit. When we visited Asela there were still a large number of children who had not yet been sponsored. Anna called Compassion International today and found out that all but 3 children have sponsors. The picture at the top of this post is of several curious kids who were looking on when we visited in June.

If you are interested in sponsoring a child at the project in Asela or elsewhere in Ethiopia through Compassion International, we would encourage you to do so. What a great way to give to some kids who are truly in need during the Holiday season! The cost is $32/month or $384/year. You can go to the Compassion website www.compassion.com to select a child, but you can also call Compassion directly and ask to sponsor a child in Addis Ababa (the capital) or Asela (where we visited) or anywhere else throughout Ethiopia or the world.
Phone # 1-800-336-7676
Asela project # - ET328
Addis Ababa project # - ET604

We had exchanged a few letters with Almaze prior to our meeting in June and had sent money for Christmas and birthday gifts but it was great to actually see Almaze in person, to meet her family and to see what was really happening with our contributions. It clearly isn’t possible for most sponsors to actually visit the sites but you can take our word that we saw first hand the great work that is being done.

No guarantees, but if/when we do travel back to Ethiopia we would love to be able to bring gifts with us to give to your sponsored child!

Merry Christmas -
Grant