Filed under: Books, economics, Peace, Politics | Tags: Ethiopia Orphans, Haregwoin Teferra, HIV positive orphans, Melissa Greene, There Is no Me Without You
One of the best books I read all of last year was:
There Is No Me Without You: One Woman’s Odyssey to Rescue Her Country’s Children
Heregewoin Teferra was a woman living in Ethiopia, like most people, living her own life and not too concerned with what was going on outside of her immediate friends and family. That is until her husband had a sudden heart attack, and her oldest daughter died of seemingly no cause (although years of emotional abuse from her husband probably had a lot to do with it.)
When she became a recluse and had withdrawn from her social life, a local priest came to her needing help taking care of a couple of teenage orphans. This first attempt at taking in orphans was not her most successful, but after several years, her house turned from a stopover for an orphan or two, to a major house complex, including its own medical facility and school, for dozens of abandoned children, many of them HIV positive.
Fellow blogger Real Mama recently informed me that Mrs. Teferra has passed away, leaving 59 orphans with no care.
WorldWide Orphans Foundation is taking donations and trying to find these children, again most of them HIV positive, new homes. If you choose to donate, make you sure you check the box indicating the money is for the Heregewoin orphanage.
Pictures from Melissa Greene’s wesite:
1 Comment so far
Leave a comment
Ruby Ramblings 
Oh this is really sad news. I hope enough money will be raised for those once-again orphans.
Comment by Milan March 20, 2009 @ 10:00 pm