All My Children
One Woman’s Odyssey to Save AIDS Orphans in Ethiopia
By Mimi
Like a pebble dropped in a pool, AIDS sends ripples to the edges of society, affecting first the family, then the community, then the nation as a whole.
Our beloved Ethiopia, according to UNAIDS, is home to over 1, 563, 000 AIDS orphans, the second-highest concentration in the world. Over one and half million heart-broken children that will never know a mother’s unconditional love or a father’s protective heart.
Over 1.5 million lonely little girls & boys that face poverty, stigmatization, isolation, rejection and extreme sadness live in Ethiopia. These voiceless children live ignored in a country that has no national policy to provide care and support for orphaned kids, but so passionate it spent $ 2 million/ day and had $800 million dollars in defense budget during a senseless border dispute. The plight of these poor little souls, as they witness a government so cold-blooded, it rather blow billions of dollars for killing than on AIDS medicine to save their lives
Ethiopia does not have enough HAART . The highly active antiretroviral therapy/the triple drug cocktail that revolutionized the treatment of AIDS patients. The combined drugs decrease a patient’s viral load to below-detectable levels, reducing AIDS from a fatal disease to chronic or manageable disease. Due to the 10-year time lag between HIV infection and death, without the availability of anti-retroviral medications, orphan populations will continue to grow and a whole generation is in danger of being wiped out by AIDS.
A Hope for Children and Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity Orphanage for Babies and Children are the only two houses in Ethiopia for HIV positive children. AHOPE, in recent years, in cooperation with the World Wide Orphan Foundation’s in Addis Ababa Barlow Clinic, has started providing ARV cocktail and kindly provides treatment for the opportunistic infections of AIDS in the children. After that, their role is to provide for as gentle deaths as possible for the children.
Organizations such as, Layla House AHOPE, Wide Horizons for Children’s Orphanage and Pediatric AIDS clinic take in and care for AIDS orphans. These compassionate charity- based places are overwhelmed and overflowing with children, and cannot accommodate the millions orphaned by AIDS. Therefore, AIDS orphans in Ethiopia have no choice but to turn to the streets, where their daily life is battling extreme poverty, malnutrition, lack of safe drinking water and sanitation . These destitute kids instead of food, shelter, love, nurturing, and education are exposed to rape, drugs, and child prostitution making their lives riskier.
Now, meet an angel who is Love and Hope to some of these abandoned children. A remarkable woman who has turned a personal tragedy into a rich generosity changing many lives.
Mrs. Haregewoin Teferra is that angel. A grief-stricken widow that turned her home into a makeshift orphanage to care for hundreds of AIDS orphans, after losing her own daughter to the epidemic. She runs the haven Atetegeb Worku Memorial Orphans Support Association AWMOSA named after the daughter she lost to AIDS. Since it has opened doors to AIDS orphans in 2001, AWMOSA has fostered over 250 kids.
Mrs. Haregewoin Teferra has made it her life mission to house and support children orphaned by AIDS, both HIV-positive and HIV-negative. She provides food, clothing, education, and medical care to the children, all with her own money. She is a selfless woman, who sold her car, jewelry and even the cloth on her back to put food on the table for the orphans. She is a benevolent woman, that sometimes goes to bed hungry doing her very best to nurture and mother the forgotten victims of AIDS.
Mrs. Haregewoin runs a school, a daycare, and a shelter for sick mothers. She operates two houses in Addis Ababa near the Gullele area. Older and healthy children attend neighborhood schools. Children too young or in too-fragile health to leave home attend school within the compound, complete with school uniforms, classrooms, and teachers. Mrs. Haregewoin is also a saint for HIV-positive young women and widows. She assists them in finding food, housing, and work. Yes, all of it at her own expense.
Mrs. Haregewoin also places the orphans with families in North America and Europe. One of them is famed author and journalist, Melissa Fay Greene who was so moved by Mrs. Haregewoin, she adopted two kids from the orphanage and also wrote a book about her called “There is No Me Without You: One Woman’s Odyssey to Rescue Africa’s Children”.
There is No Me Without You tells the powerful story of Mrs. Haregewoin’s courage, service and commitment as she struggles to heal from her personal loss by opening her heart and home to orphaned children with a renewed spirit and purpose. I am grateful for author Melissa Fay Greene for introducing this Ethiopian angel to the world. I was moved beyond words by this powerful and poignant book about Mrs. Haregewoin Teferra, whose life illuminated for me how one human being can make a world of difference.
Today, as we observe World AIDS day, let us consider ways to help these orphans Mrs. Haregewoin desires our help to spread Love and Hope to these needy children.
We can all be angels, if we tried. Let us be angels to the orphans. Please, visit Mrs. Haregewoin http://www.awmosa.org/ or e-mail her at atetegeb@ethionet.et .
The Stephen Lewis Foundation is gathering tax-exempt donations which will be used to benefit Haregewoin’s foster children. Stephen Lewis is the United Nations Special Envoy on AIDS in Africa. You can donate here
Please, support great non-profit organizations that are making a wonderful difference in the fight against AIDS
Worldwide Orphans Foundation
http://www.orphandoctor.com/wwo/index.html
Global AIDS Alliance
http://www.globalaidsalliance.org/
The William J. Clinton Foundation Anti-AIDS Initiative
http://www.clintonfoundation.org/cf-pgm-hs-ai-home.htm
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
http://www.gatesfoundation.org/
Medecins Sans Frontieres/Doctors Without Borders
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org,/
no one really talks about the orphans… there is nothing sadder than to be born with AIDS… mts
Thanks for posting Chereka. Really heartbreaking.
AIDS/HIV,first AIDS case found on French Citizen(flight attendant) not on monkey(GOD CREATURES)Pestilense have been round before france as a Nation.
Thanks zenobia, but all the credit goes to Mimi. I think she did a great job of putting this article together.
Thanks Mimi, for all your work. Great job!
Nolawi, you’re rght. There is absolutely nothing more devastating that being born with AIDS, as if diabetes and al l these other hereditary diseases are not enough.
I hope this article moves people to help these kids. What an angle Mrs Hergewoin is indeed! May she be blessed.
I just like to extend my heartfelt thanks to Woizero Haregewoin. What Ethiopia needs is not a lot of rhetoric but action. In the 1970’s we lost a lot of young potential leader, scientists, teacher through the political uprising. The result of this conflict amongst us led to many to be refugees in the neighboring countries. Certainly we never ever thought of neither the future of the country nor the loss of lives. History in some ways repeat and it did in the way of HIV/AIDS. Over a million children is a lot of innocent children and if nothing is done the number increase by many fold. Sure we need to talk the talk but most importantly we need to walk the walk right now and here. There are many causes that need our attention and financial support and yet we need to prioritize and give this cause a number one spot. Americans are generally generous individuals, talk to your American friends to check these sites. Sharing the pain, the love and the hunger of these children will make you feel better. Please don’t think in a million years the amounts you give to these organizations do not make a difference and/or be optimistic of the destination of your charity. Jack London once said:
A bone to the dog is not charity. Charity is the bone shared with the dog, when you are just as hungry as the dog.
Thanks Mimi for bring the subject to our attention.
Thank You for yet another excellent article Mimi! It was timely and informative. Why is it that people like Wro. Haregwoin never get publicity for their deeds locally? She is an inspiration to all. May God protect her and give her strength. Let us all forward this information to others who might be able to help. that is the least we can do.
Excellent article Mimi,
Thanks for bringing attention to AIDS Orphans. I hope people will be able help either by donating money or thier time to help people like Woizero Haregewoin help these kids who have no one.
Thank you Mimi for singing Wzo. Haregewoin’s much deserved praise.
Our Tensae as a nation and as a people will manifest itself ke-dar eske dar only when we celebrate the good, heartfelt, meaningful, significant, practical, life-affirming and life-changing efforts of our own heroes. Wzo. Haregewoin is such a hero. She is in company with many other crusaders of compassion that have of late re-infiltrated our ravaged psyches.
Tensae lurks around the corner when we see one of our own caring for others that do not belong to her immediate family, idir, mehaber, religion, region, or ethnic group. Tensae waits by the bench when we hear about one of our own believing in his or her own power of transformation. Tensae hovers overhead when we witness the deeds of our compatriots who reflect our essential goodness, as opposed to our alleged meqeNenet, kifat and sher.
Watch out demagogues! Your three-decade grasp inside and outside the country is slipping. Retire in style while you can.
For we believe in our decency. We believe in our humanity. We believe in our future.
Mimi,
Thank you for bringing this outstanding person to our attention. There is a lot to be done and if one person can do this much could you imagine what can be accomplished if all of us pitch in?
mimi,
Thank you for sharing this great story with us. It really is an eye opener and reallity check. This is definitely not a one person job, she definetely need our help as well.
Thank you all for the kind words.
I just want to remind everyone to go RED this Holiday Season. When you are purchasing gifts for your Loved ones, you can also choose to save an AIDS patient’s life in Africa. Bono and Bobby Shriver are raising money and awareness for The Global Fund by teaming up with the world’s most iconic brands to produce RED branded products. A percentage of each RED product sold is given to The Global Fund. The money helps women and children affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa. You can check out their website for more information.
http://www.joinred.com/
http://www.theglobalfund.org/en/
Let’s spread Hope!
Well Mimisha, you are welcome and I believe all the accolades are well deserved for introducing us to this remarkable woman. However, I must say that I feel a little bit uncomfortable about this buy ‘(RED)’ thing. I find it a little self serving or even somewhat profane. Don’t get me wrong, I know some help is better than no help and I don’t want to come across as an ingrate, which, I have no doubt some people would conclude. ( I can just hear some going, ‘ayyyeee, yabesha neger!’ lol) But couldn’t they have found a better way of contributing to this huge cause without giving the slightest of hints that it may be perceived as a self promoting ploy by the companies involved?
I mean God bless Bono and all the people involved who are sincere, and this is probably the only ay they can collect good money and I don’t blame them. I realize this is probably the only way they can get money from these companies. But, I could not help feel strange about th whole thing.
Have you read the ‘Manifesto’ on the web site? I don’t know about you, but to me it sounded somewhat cavalier and so Corporation-like. It sounds like a few companies got together and created this conglomerate to promote their company. How about contributing directly to the cause instead of waiting for people to buy their products and contribute whatever amount they decided on? It’s not like these companies are hurting after all.
I don’t want to sound like I am nitpicking here, but it just sounds like a strange way to promote important issue like AIDS. That’s all. I don’t know, maybe I am taking my frustration on this issue out on these companies because they happen to be out there now and are saying these things.
I guess my point is people do not need to be told to buy things to react to such a dire situation. It just irks me to see poor people in Africa or anywhere whose only fault was being born where they were, and having to wait for someone to buy an IPod from Apple or a T-shirt from Giorgio Armani, in order to be able to live one day longer than their miserable luck has afforded them to. There has to be a better way to make people do the right thing for the right reasons, instead of providing them with a shortcut to ’salvation’. ‘Here, buy this nice Motorola phone for X-Mas and kill 2 birds ( no pun intended) with one stone - buy more things you probably don’t need like you did the last whatever years you’ve been celebrating X-Mas and we will make sure you don’t have to feel guilty about it, because we gonna give some of that money to this cause. Again, I may be too harsh about this, but that’s how I feel.
I’d love to hear other people’s opinion about this and I am willing to be set straight and put in my place, if I am way off.
Chereka,
With our yalteretere-temenetere upbringing, it is natural for one to feel queasy about self-promoting philanthropists (be they individuals or corporations). I used to feel the same way, but, with the advent of [a clearly involuntary] maturity, I got over it. I also wished the world was a little more sensitive, plenty decent and, abundantly selfless.
Gradually, I realized that those were values to which one aspired. In the mean time, it became apparent to me that what was more important (in regards to philanthropy) was the benefit to the recipient and less the intention of the giver.
Here’s my off the cuff guideline to assessing philanthropists.
Anonymous Philanthropy = Ideal
High Profile but no Material Gain Philanthropy = Excellent
Mutually Beneficial Philanthropy = Good
Indifference = Revamp
Misanthropy (referring to those that are critical of generous thoughts, acts and deeds but do nothing themselves) = Ignore
Philanthropy Used as a Cover to Exploit or Plunder = Expose
Chereka,
Fine! Forget RED!… Go Green!! j/k
I understand your skepticism about these companies using charity as another marketing tool. Of course, I understand their strategy “…doing good is good for business…” and some (if not all) of them might be after the public relation side of charity, than the giving part. May be they are only after the positive feedback generated by their charitable outreach and “The Good Company” label they want associated with their brand.
I’ve also heard other (RED) critics like you point out that since most of the money from red products will go toward buying medicine for AIDS victims in Africa, the campaign will help bankroll pharmaceutical companies who are unwilling to distribute their drugs for free.
BUT I still say let it be!! I just blindly choose to focus on the money they give to those in need, no matter their intentions are indeed.
Ra-iye - Thanks for “Assessing Philanthropists 101″! That was great!! You make good points.
In 2004, filmmakers Mark Achbar, Jennifer Abbott & Joel Bakan released a documentary entitled “The Corporation.” It is, in more ways than one, apropos to this discussion about corporate largesse. Check it out if you can.
Thanks Kesete, I will check it out. I saw a couple of trailers online, it definitely is worth checking out. Much appreciated.
This is true something needs to be done about aids its time to find a cure!!!!!!! For Ethiopia