Flowers in bloom: support 40 abused kids, Ethiopia

Dear Donors,

In Ethiopia more than five million people based in the Tigray Region live in terrible humanitarian conditions because of the conflict that has been involving the Country for more than two years. After the truce of November 2022, the awful consequences of the war are amplified by famines and drought that hit the Horn of Africa. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was aware of the lost of thousands of soldiers as well as of the uncertain economic situation. Inflation has risen to 37% due to multiple factors: raids, destructions of infrastructures, industrial areas and fields, the internal displacement of people and the war in Ukraine that has led to skyrocketing prices. The costs of staple foods like flour, pasta and milk and school material correspond to the prices in Europe.

The daily life and problems faced by Zerihun (a widower and a father involved in our project) works in the market of Addis Ababa as porter. He does not own a vehicle and every morning he goes out at 4.30 am in order to be present at the market at 6.00 am (when the products arrive) and he comes back to his family during the afternoon. Zerihun earns 5 Biss (0.08 euros / 0.09 USD) for each trunk unloaded and transported from the van to the stands. Every day he earns on average 4-5 euros / 4.40 – 5.50 USD and if he gets sick or if he arrives late he earns nothing. He witnesses: “Food, rent, gasoline, clothes, everything is more expensive but incomes do not have risen. The life of poor people like is always more complicated. Since next month the owner of my house will increase the rent and I don’t know how to pay”. This is the condition of a lot of families of the capital.

Today Ethiopia has to face big challenges: food insecurity and hunger, sectors where the Country had made great progress during the last twenty years. The most affected part of the population is the most vulnerable one: children. Thanks to your help we have supported a great number of children victims of violence in Addis Ababa and we have helped them to build a better future.

Let the children bloom!

Thank you!

Lydia had just 5 years when her childhood had been stolen, but thanks to the project “Flowers in Bloom” she managed to find again serenity and to make her dreams come true. Lydia lived with her mother, er father and her siblings in the suburbs of Addis Ababa. The family could not afford to pay the rent of the home and her father built a shack made of wood and metal sheets in the mountains near the capital. One day Lydia’s mother asked her to go to the well to take water for the meal. Lydia was older than her siblings even if she was just five years old and she had the task to take the water from the well, which was placed far away from her home. While he was going to the well, she met a farmer that lived near there. The man had just been left by his wife; he took the child to his home where he had been segregated her for almost three weeks, abusing her and threatening her of death, till one day Lydia managed to escape.

Her parents reported the crime to the police but the police could not find evidences. Lydia had been immediately contacted by the Center “Flowers in Bloom”, she entered into the program, receiving all the needed medical cares and the started her therapeutical path. The psychological conditions of the child were really serious: she suffered from terrible nightmares, anxiety attacks and she was aggressive with her siblings. With the time, thanks to the psychological support and the cares provided by the center, her conditions started to improve.

Unfortunately, when Lydia was 10 years old her father died, leaving his wife and his four children in serious economic conditions. Thanks to the center, her family has been helped and Lydia’s mother could follow a training course and find a job.

17 years have been passed from that terrible day that changed Lydia’s life and now she is beautiful girl of 22 years old. She has just graduated with good grades in nursing sciences at the University of Woldia.

Thanks to the project “Flowers in Bloom” Lydia has been able to undergo the trauma and she has found again her self-confidence, that’s why your support to our project is so fundamental!

Thank you!