Children's Heaven

I have so many wonderful photos from visiting the girls at Children's Heaven. I can't wait to share them. One of the organizations I am involved in, Ethiopian Orphan Relief, helps support Hanna Fanta and Children's Heaven. You can read a little bit More about them if you go to my previous blog post. They are renting a new facility and it was wonderful to see in person. they have a large area which has a canopy to keep the sun and rain out where they do aerobics and general teaching and play games like basketball. There is a tent (kind of like an army tent) where the girls eat meals and a nice indoor space for teaching and gathering. The purpose of Children's Heaven is to provide a place for girls from age 8-18 to come after school and on Saturdays. If they attend school close by they come for their lunch. If their school is father away- lunch is brought to them. For many of the girls this is their only meal of the day. They provide the uniforms and books needed to attend and stay in school. They provide tutors and scheduled activities. For instance on a Saturday they arrive and are fed breakfast. They then do aerobics, play games, help with certain crafts and some health programs used in the community. They eat lunch and then some are part of a soccer or basketball program. And certain girls are part of a program where they are able to shower and bath and do each other's hair for the week. These girls often have an HIV+ mother or their mother has passed away and they are being cared for by an Auntie or grandma. They are at HIGH risk for ending up on the street, ending up pregnant at a young age, dropping out of school...you name it. Hanna's goal is to help each girl succeed at what they want- and I can tell you after the introductions 9 out of 10 of them want to be a doctor. I believe that many of them will go on to do wonderful things because they have this one woman in their lives who just believes in them, loves them, cares about them, feeds them and tells them that they are important.

Hanna used to live and work in the US. She worked for the United Nations. Later for a bank...one day when her children were grown she felt called to return to Ethiopia to help one girl. Her goal was to help just one young girl. She was sharing this story with us while sitting in front of about 75 girls...it was one of those amazing stories where you know God has a hand in her life. He new goal? 100 girls by 2013. She is at 81 now.

You can imagine the tragedy that each child sitting there has suffered. Not one of them is spared. I asked Hanna what kinds of needs they have and she said "A Counselor" as the girls are aging up they have more and more need for counseling and therapy. She has had girls loose their moms, one girl even took her own life not long ago, and there have been a few pregnancies. It is the ugly stuff that is hard to share - because you want to share the beautiful smiles on these girls faces and the joy they have when singing to us- but it would not be truth if you did not understand why there is even a need for Children's Heaven. We talked about sex education. They provide this- but admittedly she does not feel they are skilled at it. She would like someone to come and train their staff to provide more of this in a more effective way. At one point she leaned over and whispered to Bekah and I "I think some of these girls may have HIV but their moms are refusing to get them tested- is there any way we can test them without them knowing?" Of course coming from an HIV clinic in the US my initial reaction was "Are you (swear word) kidding me?" But instead I explained how that would not work on a variety of levels. The very first one is "What if you did that and found someone to be positive? how do you tell them that they are HIV positive and you test them without their consent?" So we discussed how she could go about providing education to the families as to what kind of help the girls can get who may test positive for HIV. I thought of the World Wide Orphans Clinic. That might be a perfect match because of their experience in pediatrics and with families. I will make the connection as soon as I can. As Hanna said, "We need someone who is skilled at talking about HIV testing and treatment to come and provide the education so the families change their minds."

So what does Children's Heaven need aside from families to sponsor the girls? a landlord who wont raise the rent in 9 months? They need a counselor to provide therapy for the girls ad the staff - who as Hanna says- are exposed to the tragedies every day of helping kids who lead difficult lives and that tragedy builds inside and takes enormous tolls on health and emotional well being. And they need someone to come and do some teaching around safer sex and HIV testing and treatment. These are not pie in the sky goals. These are achievable. Doable and necessary.

The girls sang and dances for us and Michael had a great time- eating the popcorn and enjoying the smells of the coffee ceremony. Hanna has always loved Michael and he has such an affinity to her. (He cuddled with her shortly after they met- at a time when I was lucky to steal a smooch from him) and she gave him an awesome Ethiopian shirt the girls made which I will have to post pictures of- he LOVEd it. I am bringing back some of the crafts the girls and their moms have made for the Lights of Hope event in Portland in May!

Also the DSA Theatre Students will be coming to Children's Heaven in May to meet the girls- I am hoping the girls will teach the DSA kids some of their songs and vice versa. If you want to support the DSA Theatre students travelling to Ethiopia in May- I would encourage you to do so. They are working hard to make a meaningful trip and to really give back. Maybe they can help provide some education on the form of theatre when they come. If you want to help the get here email Shawn Hann at Shawn_Hann@dpsk12.org

Finally- and then its my bed time - If I was able I would post the cutest picture of Michael with two giggling little girls from Children's Heaven- your heart will melt.