Hope for Children in Ethiopia
In the mist of all the terrible things going on around the world: starvation, murder, rape, child soldiering, domestic abuse, and modern day slavery, sometimes we lose sight of the positive and uplifting things individuals are doing all over the world. Today, I came across a news report by CNN on a women who started her own orphanage in Ethiopia.
Some call her 'Africa's Mother Teresa' and she has proven herself to be nothing short of a saint. Abebech Gobena was born in 1938 during the Ethio-Italian war. Her father was killed when she was one month old, therefore by tradition she was raised by her father's parents. At the age of 11, she was married off; however determined not to marry at such a young age, Gobena ran away. She was able to get by as a quality controller and eventually years later she remarried.
In 1980, Gobena, a devout Christian, was on a pilgrimage to a holy site in the north-east region of Ethiopia. At this time the country was facing a horrible famine and in the country side Gobena was facing many dying people. On her way she came across a baby girl suckling on her dead mother's breast. A chauffeur responsible for cleaning up the dead bodies told Gobena that he was waiting for the baby to die because he couldn't bear taking the child alive. Immediately, she grabbed the child and smuggled her across the border.
Haunted by the visions of the starving children and the many dead people she came across, Gobena returned to the countryside to do what she could to help. By the end of 1980, she had 21 children in her care and had moved them out to a land she bought in previous years to raise chickens on. Sadly, Gobena did not have the support of her husband or family, she told reporters that they called her crazy and told her to abandon the children or she will die. Determined to change the fate of the children, Gobena began her own orphanage.
The first 8 years the orphanage struggled because she did not have any government support or funding. However, today after 30 years the orphanage is thriving. Gobena has saved, educated and raised over 700 children and has not slowed down once.
Some call her 'Africa's Mother Teresa' and she has proven herself to be nothing short of a saint. Abebech Gobena was born in 1938 during the Ethio-Italian war. Her father was killed when she was one month old, therefore by tradition she was raised by her father's parents. At the age of 11, she was married off; however determined not to marry at such a young age, Gobena ran away. She was able to get by as a quality controller and eventually years later she remarried.
In 1980, Gobena, a devout Christian, was on a pilgrimage to a holy site in the north-east region of Ethiopia. At this time the country was facing a horrible famine and in the country side Gobena was facing many dying people. On her way she came across a baby girl suckling on her dead mother's breast. A chauffeur responsible for cleaning up the dead bodies told Gobena that he was waiting for the baby to die because he couldn't bear taking the child alive. Immediately, she grabbed the child and smuggled her across the border.
Haunted by the visions of the starving children and the many dead people she came across, Gobena returned to the countryside to do what she could to help. By the end of 1980, she had 21 children in her care and had moved them out to a land she bought in previous years to raise chickens on. Sadly, Gobena did not have the support of her husband or family, she told reporters that they called her crazy and told her to abandon the children or she will die. Determined to change the fate of the children, Gobena began her own orphanage.
The first 8 years the orphanage struggled because she did not have any government support or funding. However, today after 30 years the orphanage is thriving. Gobena has saved, educated and raised over 700 children and has not slowed down once.
Gobena has showed the world the power of one individual and how much one can change with a little risk and effort. I was extremely empowered by this story, it really opened my eyes to the wonderful, brave things many people do everyday that go unnoticed. I often find myself discouraged with my work because of the constant destruction and human crises that occur every day. However, learning of people such as Abebech Gobena, it gives me hope that one day the things I strive to change will happen and can (as proven by Gobena) have great success.
"I have no regrets. God helped me get to this point.. I knew we would survive." -Abebech Gobena.
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