HOPEthiopia News and Updates

SPRINGS OF LIVING WATER !!!

Let the blessings continue to flow for Hopethiopia/Rwanda and all her neighbours! We were very blessed to drill our first water well…

on the new project land in Rwanda. We hit a very large aquifer and now have lots of water for future projects, and for distribution to the people living in the local project community. Water truly is the gift of life and we have been very blessed to be able to provide millions of litres of free drinking water over the years.

HOPEthiopia brings High School to Harbu Chulule

Top school in the region!

HOPEthiopia built buildings, science and computer labs, libraries and desks to bring high school to Harbu Chulule. Today this school is #1 in the district of 40 schools. Ten percent of it’s graduates are now heading off to university.

Lives saved in rural Ethiopia!

Rabies vaccination program is saving human lives!

Jan 2023 – Veterinarian Dr. Arynne Robinson has been treating animals in rural Ethiopia since 2018 for rabies. Before this program began it was reported that there were approx 500 cases…

of human post rabies vaccinations issued per year in this region and rabies is suspect in the deaths of 13-17 human lives each year. In 2022 there were zero reported cases of rabies in animals, a 100% program success. In 2022 there were also no reported cases of post rabies vaccination requests and there were zero reported cases of human death attributed to rabies according to the human health officer for this region.

Rwanda's new tailering students!

We want to introduce to our new Tailoring class for 2023.

This group of beautiful ladies will graduate in June of 2023

NOV 2022

Hopethiopia/Rwanda Hosts Dental Outreach in Rwanda

Pain alleviated and smiles restored!

Our mission to serve those who struggle to get dental care in Rwanda has been wonderfully successful!

WATCH VIDEO

Graduates from HOPE’s Kelly Drader Longview Training Centre were busy producing stunning, vibrant, unique masks for the Paul Hardy Mask Project. Over 3,000 masks created out of joyful, colourful African kitenge have been shipped to Canada for sale internationally! And as promised, for every mask made, a mask was created to be given to a local, as all Rwandans required are by law to wear a mask in public. So, our ladies made over 6,000 masks in just 5 weeks.

This has proven to be the most fabulous opportunity for our ladies to learn production line assembly and advanced textile skills! Confidence has grown as they acquired new skills and became more proficient tailors. And when it finally sunk in that their products were being exported to and sold in Canada, they were so proud of themselves! The ladies began to believe there was nothing they couldn’t do.

Hope has been restored and the ladies are dreaming again! Some imagined returning to school, while others saw investing in their own businesses. Saving has become a new habit – they now have money to save and they have something to save for!

Truly these women have been empowered through this opportunity.

SHARING THE BLESSING WITH OUR NEIGHBOURS

In response to hunger in urban Kigali exacerbated by COVID-19, HOPE offered a feeding program in its neighbourhood of Gahanga. For the 12 consecutive days, graduates of Iwacu HOPE Home served their neighbours and have come to know them more intimately than ever before. For not only did the feed 100 hungry children per day, but they also engaged with and encouraged their parents.

As it is mandatory to wear masks in Rwanda, outside the home, and many cannot afford such a luxury, our HOPE Home graduates also presented masks to participants, both parents and children. These beautiful masks were created by the graduates of HOPE’s Kelly Drader Longview Training Centre for Paul Hardy’s “Buy One; Give One!” project. Needless to say, these masks will grant them much more freedom of movement and permit easier engagement in every aspect of daily life.

OCT 2022

School feeding program in Ethiopia

Hopethiopia joins the Ethiopian government request for NGO’s to assist in the Elementary School Feeding program. All kids across the country will be fed in grades 1 to 4.

WATCH VIDEO

NOV 2022

Teaching opportunity in Kigali, Rwanda

The dental team had a great opportunity to teach the dental students and faculty at the Kigali Dental school. Dr. Colin Wiebe taught the basics of Periodontal treatment. The 3 hygienists provided education on topics of hygiene instrumentation etc. and Dr. Ralph Dubienski taught on “Best kept secrets of Dentistry”. A good time was had by all and the students had lots of excellent questions.

OCT 2022

Amazing forest growing in Ethiopia

Wow… what an amazing result, Hopethiopia is growing a beautiful forest on the Gong river valley where once there was nothing. No useful grass, no bushes, and no trees.

HOPE’S 8th TAILORING CLASS GRADUATES IN RWANDA

The exquisite “Ladies of Hope,” the students of Kelly Drader Longview Training Centre in Kigali, have graduated! Though nervous about being paraded before their family and friends, their joy was palpable! Having completed their 10-month program that includes tailoring and embroidery skills, counselling, business training, and life skills, hope has been restored! These lovely ladies have endured much trauma and loss in their lives, but today marks a wondrous gain! Their futures and the futures of their children look so much brighter today.

And these sweet ladies did not claim all the glory. They lavished HOPE’s Dream Team, their teachers and fellow students with words of gratitude and thank you gifts. They are so appreciative for their contribution to their growth!

Thank you to our partners for their support! National Rehabilitation Services of Rwanda, Duhumurizanye Iwacu Rwanda, Love and Hands, and all of you HOPE supports … the success of these graduates is also your success. Turikumwe. Hobe cyane

SEPT 2022

Time for Grass Harvest

This year at Hopethiopia we had a great harvest of grass. One of the very significant issues in the rural communities of Ethiopia is severe overgrazing by animals that are left to graze in open areas. A much better practice that is used at Hopethiopia is rotational grazing which helps to protect the lands and allow them to heal properly.

Watch Video

Team visits the Koshe Garbage dump in Addis Ababa.

The mission team of Dr. Asrat (Ethiopian cataract surgeon), Kevin (permaculture specialist and blockchain expert), Rick (Engineer and agricultural expert), Zerihun (Hopethiopia national director), Dan (South Sudan horticulture specialist), and Ralph spent some time on a few visits at the Koshe dump. This is one of the biggest urban garbage sites in Africa and it borders the home of 6,500 leprosy victims.

There is massive opportunity in this area and Hopethiopia will be starting an 18 month pilot project to provide Eye surgeries, dental surgeries, psychiatric assistance, urban gardening and economic opportunities. While this is going on we hope to conduct a detailed 18 month research project, involving a team of Canadian and Ethiopia senior scientists to study the impact of Covid-19 on female leprosy victims.

April 19, 2022

The activity at the Reforestation nursery was very busy as we are into the height of the growing season. Hundreds of thousands of seedlings are being produced and we are getting ready for the installation of one of the very first solar irrigation systems in the country. At the moment, our 17 staff workers water the trees twice a day with watering cans for an hour at a time. The solar system will eliminate this need and they will be able to concentrate on more productive activities that will enhance our environmental program.

We have now been operating this reforestation program for 11 years and the impact has been very great on the community with small forests growing everywhere, a huge uptick in biodiversity with many birds and plants returning, and springs of water that have popped out of the ground as the water table rises.

March 23, 2022

Agricultural Implements soon to be on the way to Ethiopia.

For over 1 year we have been gathering farming implements to send over to assist with the Hopethiopia Agricultural training and restoration programs in Ethiopia. Most agriculture in the area is done with ox and plough on small subsistence farms and we are hoping to be able to restore the soils to a much healthier and more productive situation.

The 40′ container is being loaded onto the ship and contains over 22 implements of every kind to assist us with our efforts. The ship should arrive in Djibouti in 1 1/2 months and then be shipped to Addis Ababa and then the the Hopethiopia project site in Harbu Chulule. This will be a very exciting and transformative time for the community.

Feb, 2022

Volunteer Mission team arrives in Ethiopia

Finally after 2 years of delay, due to the Covid pandemic, we are very excited to welcome our first Volunteer mission team back to Ethiopia. Dave, Luwii, Dr. Arynne, arrived from the Canada and the USA. The team was greeted with much enthusiasm by the kids and house mom’s of the Hopethiopia Children’s Village. Now we are on the move and welcoming back the many teams that will be joining us in the coming months.

Feb 2022

HOPEthiopia/Rwanda receives it’s first mission team in 2 years.

The World Race Team, “The Golden Girls,” have joined us to serve the disenfranchised youth of Rwanda. As with every team, we start by visiting the memorials and honouring Rwanda’s losses. This made for a heavy-hearted day, but it was a blessed reminder of our connectedness and the truth that “if one part suffers, every part suffers with it.”

Feb, 2022

Gold Status achieved

Graduates of the very first Hopethiopia Trades Training program have now received Gold Certification as a “Days For Girls” Social Enterprise.

After graduating their 1 year tailoring, leather craft, and jewelry program, Fantu, Meskerem, and a few other women set up a women’s business cooperative “The Abdi women’s business cooperative” allowing them to produce their own goods and to become independently successful entrepreneurs. However, this was also the time that the Covid pandemic hit the world, shutting down all volunteer mission teams, and caused great economic challenges in Ethiopia. These times of great challenge are also potential great opportunities and the Hopethiopia team stepped up to meet the need.

JoAnne Molnar Etienne, who has pioneered the Days for Girls program at the Hopethiopia/Rwanda projects in Rwanda, put in an application in December 2020 with Days for Girls for the Abdi Cooperative to enter the training program in order to receive Gold status and to become a registered DfG Social Enterprise in Ethiopia. Our local team of Redwan Abdella (Hopethiopia women’s trainer), Megersa Wysa (Hopethiopia Children’s Village Director), and Mengistu Bedada (Hopethiopia Social worker) all worked very hard to help JoAnne in the training and certification program.

After 1 year of very hard work in a unique internet based training program, numerous online connection challenges in rural Ethiopia, and the Covid pandemic, the women have finally received their Gold Certification as a DfG Social Enterprise.

This Enterprise will be the very first DfG Social Enterprise in Ethiopia with a population of almost 120 million people. This is a massive opportunity for the women as they will now be able to produce certified reusable and washable feminine hygiene kits. In the words of JoAnne

“There are so many girls and women to serve, teach and celebrate the beauty of menstruation and womanhood. No more shame and days lost to unmanaged periods. Days for Girls washable feminine hygiene kits will change that allowing girls to attend school and women to work when they have their period. Did you know that girls/women menstruate on average for 3000 days, over 8 years of their life?”

We are very grateful for all the hard work, passion, and enthusiasm that JoAnne put in to make this become a reality. She is a wonderful individual with a huge heart and we will be very excited for her to finally come to Ethiopia and to meet the women that she has worked so hard with.

In just over 2 weeks a volunteer team from Canada and the USA will be finally back in Ethiopia to provide the women with the official certificate of Gold certification. The future is looking very bright for the women in both Ethiopia and Rwanda and we are thrilled that they have received this recognition and such a wonderful opportunity to improve their lives. The future is looking very bright

www.hopethiopia.com

www.daysforgirls.org

October 04, 2021

Dear Hopethiopia friends and encouragers,

One of the main purposes of our trip to Rwanda and Ethiopia was for Glenda and myself to get a feel for what the situation is actually like on the ground, what it takes to get around during COVID, and what protocols we need to put into place before mission and volunteer teams can return.

Overall we found the situation to be quite safe. The number of COVID cases and deaths in both Rwanda and Ethiopia seem to be far less than in Canada, although it is unclear what the testing rates are really like and how accurate the stats are. Moving around was very open and we just needed to follow most of the same procedures as in Canada such as social distancing and wearing masks etc. Most local people abided by these rules as penalties can be very high. Also the vaccine rates are increasing and most people in the urban areas can get a vaccine if they want one. It will take some time for this to filter down to the rural populations

After a very busy two weeks in Rwanda, we flew to Ethiopia and it was a very interesting time as the Addis Ababa city administration was established for the next five years. Our Hopethiopia close friend and supporter, Adanech, was voted to stay on as mayor and she is a great representative for the country. For sure she is one of the top officials in the country and very highly respected.

The first few days in Addis were very busy with meetings. It is the end of the rainy season in Ethiopia (July to September) so the climate was very nice and moderate with temperatures in the mid 20’s.

Not having been back to Ethiopia for 18 months it is amazing to see the changes that have occurred. The country is becoming more “green” as the reforestation and environmental programs are increasing with a vision to plant billions of trees in the next few years. Many parks have been built in Addis Ababa, and the skyline is changing dramatically. I have always appreciated the beauty of Kigali, Rwanda as they have paid great attention to detail and the beautification of the city. It now appears to be the turn of Addis as it is becoming a jewel in Africa showing what can be done when there is vision and commitment.

Since Hopethiopia’s vision is to help bring transformation to the lives of orphaned children, abandoned and widowed women, we were invited to visit the state-run regional orphan and child care centre. This facility was previously run by a US-based NGO that was involved in the international adoption of children. Due to very significant problems in the overall process, the Ethiopian government totally shut down these adoptions and now orphans must stay in the country and either go back to their relatives (if there are any), go into programs and facilities like Hopethiopia, enter a state-run Regional centre, or be adopted locally. Our good friend Minase now runs the regional facility. I had a wonderful time visiting with the children and staff as they were very sweet and interested to learn about Canada and what we do at Hopethiopia. They really need prayer as they face very challenging conditions. We would be happy to help this Regional centre. God does hear the prayers of the marginalized and disadvantaged, and I am sure that together great progress can be made. The facility has huge potential and a large compound for their operations. There is a great opportunity to make the lands productive and we will help them to become a bit more self-sufficient which will help them practically as well as teach the kids some great skills for their future.

We are also planning on bringing the Hopethiopia kids (of the Children’s Village) and the house moms and staff on a mission trip to play sports, do crafts, sing songs and just have a great time of sharing with the kids at the Regional centre. This will be sure to bring hope and love to the kids that are in desperate need of encouragement. We try to take our kids on regular mission trips as they must also be involved in serving the poor and disadvantaged. Scripture tells us that True religion is to take care of (visit) the widows and the orphans… James 1:27. Also Luke 10:27 tells us that we must love the Lord… love our neighbors… and love ourselves. So that is what we do and the kids are super excited to serve.

Speaking of our kids, after more than 1 ½ years it was time to return to our Project site in Ethiopia. No mission team has been there for over 18 months and much has changed in the local community and with the kids at the Children’s village.

The first huge change is that the extremely rough road that we used to travel on for the last 12 years has been graded and asphalted. https://youtu.be/HwmvVSYsMEw This 25 km stretch of road between the main road to Addis and our community has always been difficult to travel on and has caused much punishment to our Hilux truck. Usually we have to replace the tires 3 to 4 times a year due to severe wear, not to mention all the constant damage to every other part of the vehicle. Now we have one of the best roads in Ethiopia. It was a joy to experience the improvement which has cut down the travel time for this part of the journey significantly.

When we arrived at the Hopethiopia project site the kids were ready to greet us at the volunteer home. https://youtu.be/4_nOzRdYTSc It was a very exciting and emotional time with the kids all dressed up with signs, banners, singing, and a sense of relief that things might be returning to normal. The other obvious change was that the kids had all grown so much since the last time we had seen them!

After a time of greeting and catching up on life, we had a small welcoming party and passed along all the sponsor letters to the kids. They were all thrilled to get their individual treasures and we are very grateful to all of the sponsors that took the time to communicate.

A few important items were brought in our luggage such as soccer balls and crafts. The kids immediately went out to play soccer and had a great rest of the day. Since no mission teams have been visiting for so long the kids have not really had to use the English language much and they are looking forward to the return of teams.

Thank you for all the prayers and encouragement to the kids and house moms, they really appreciate it. And a great many thanks to all of you that have been supporting us in so many ways. It is very much appreciated. If you feel prompted to support our work financially, you can do so through CanadaHelps.orgat https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/hopethiopia/ .

Certainly things are looking very promising in the world as we get the vaccines out to the global population and the situation in Ethiopia and Rwanda is stabilizing. We are hoping to see the return of many mission teams in the future and Hopethiopia will do this in the right way.

June 20th, 2021

The new enterprise of the grads of the first tailoring graduating class is up and running. Some of the girls are already wearing their new skirts to school!

May 18th, 2021

Dear friends and encouragers of Hopethiopia, Hope abounds all around us and certainly there are lots of positive opportunities on the horizon. Summer is getting closer to us in the northern hemisphere, leaves and flowers are appearing everywhere, and days are getting longer. Many more people are receiving their COVID-19 vaccines and one can sense the situation seems to be easing in many places around the world. That will mean that once we receive our second vaccines, Glenda and I will hopefully soon after be travelling back to Ethiopia and Rwanda. Once we give the “all clear” then mission teams will resume.

I know that for many of you this will be a great relief as you have been waiting so long to return to the places that you love. The kids and staff in Ethiopia cannot wait since they have not seen anyone for about 15 months.
Many things are also getting going in both of our project locations. In Rwanda, the Women’s Trades Training Program will soon resume and the Men’s Hope Home has received new men from Iwawa island.
In Ethiopia, we will also soon be starting our Women’s Trades Training Program. There is tremendous progress at our reforestation nursery and we are getting ready for the planting time of mid-July until mid-September.

Also we will be drilling two shallow water wells for the nearby communities. These communities are desperate for water and we have committed to help them out with 60 m deep wells that will use a hand pump to draw the water. We are planning to start drilling the wells later this coming week. Please join us in prayer with our global community that the process will go smoothly, that the equipment and weather will cooperate, and that the gift of life, fresh pure drinking water, will be released to these communities. We will keep you updated with the progress of these wonderful opportunities.

As was the case with the “Faith Well”, our very first well that we drilled in September 2011, “Faith is being sure of what you hope for and being certain of what you cannot see”. (Hebrews 11:1) When we drill a well we have no idea what is actually below the ground, however, with faith we are certain about what we cannot see. This is always a great adventure of faith and expectation for so many people. So once again we ask you, our friends and partners around the world, to join us in praying for the same outcome, a successful water well.
Hopefully later this year we will also start our first water project in Rwanda. That will be an amazing blessing to our land and to the local community who is also in great need of water.
Many thanks for all the prayers and encouragement and we continue to give all the Glory to God.