Elnet Foundation together with Diakonia ministry of Biftu Bole church celebrated the Ethiopian New Year by sharing a delicious meal and providing clothes, shoes and soap to about 200 people who otherwise would not be able to enjoy the festive season. The atmosphere was joyful and with a lot of excitement among the children, youth and adults as new clothes were tried on after a refreshing shower at the church premises. For those that wanted prayer support, extra time was dedicated to provide spiritual and emotional support to people in extremely vulnerable situations.
One person stated; “today I’m standing in front of you giving my praise, whilst yesterday I was chased by the police and considered a mentally ill person. You have treated me like a dignified human being.”
This is what our work is all about – bringing a sense of dignity, fellowship and joy to our fellow brothers and sisters. People end up in hardship situations for various reasons, and to be able to bring back a feeling of being loved and cared for is our utmost joy as Elnet Foundation! We are grateful for this day and for the great arrangements by Diakonia and Biftu Bole church.
May this New Year bring peace and blessings to all of our fellow Ethiopian brothers and sisters. May we see and treat each other as one family so that we may contribute to Life in Fullness for All!
Homelessness – Causes and ways of intervening
Our theme for this New Year states; “Let us Celebrate the New Year as One family”. More than just giving food and clothing, we wanted to approach the people we serve as our friends. A majority are women and children, and also a considerable amount of youth and elders. Some of the youth we talked to have expressed that they ended up on the street as they left home to look for job in Addis Ababa. Most of the women with children mentioned that their husbands are not with them; strikingly similar reason given is that husbands become mentally ill, and a few times abusive. This has caused them to end up on the street. There are also others who are taking care of children of their relatives as mothers died while giving birth.
Talking and sharing time and food has helped us to further assess the needs amongst these most vulnerable people, which might not necessarily require a big investment to change their lives for the better. Majority of the teenage girls are in desperate need of going to school. A school registration fee for the public schools is not very expensive. However, such endeavors have a big impact in the lives of these teenage girls. There are also others with needs that requires an urgent action (such as a person with cancerous like wound who takes care of small child of few months old). Identifying these needs, we have provided accommodations for few within this dire situation which required an immediate intervention. We are providing simple inputs for starting small-scale businesses to help them earning an income instead of begging on the street. We have also listed the teenage girls to ensure they are registered in school for the new school year.
Many of the people that were served during the New Year’s event have given their testimonies on the spot that they feel hopeful – and hope is one of those forces that can help people going and to get motivation to change their lives. Our ambition is that we will all work together to touch as many souls as possible, to share hope and do what we can to enable people to live life to the fullest. Your contribution to such noble initiatives will help us to serve more people at our next event, which is planned to be held at the Ethiopian Christmas.
