Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Kolfe Orphanage

The radiant faces of the boys and young men at the Kolfe Orphanage, ages 12-18, would never reveal that they are the poorest of the poor and have lost their parents and families. These orphans haven’t been absorbed by friends of relatives and now the only family they know is the one comprised of the 185 other kids at the orphanage. Unfortunately, this kind of thing is all too common throughout Africa. Poverty, AIDS, and malnutrition has left a devastating wake of 4.7 million orphans in Ethiopia alone.

The one affected most by the orphan crisis are the older kids that don’t have a chance to be adopted and are forced to spend the majority of their life in poorly funded and understaffed orphanages like Kolfe.

These young men have been placed in this facility with the hopes of attaining food, medical care, shelter, and an education. Unfortunately, budget constraints have severely limited the capacity to which Kolfe can provide these basic needs. The clinic is void of proper medical equipment, the recreational facilities are limited to one dirt patch used for soccer, and the basic structure of the majority of the buildings are completely dilapidated.

Gladney is trying to help by bettering the conditions in which they live. Others are giving of their resources to raise funds to help these boys. Here is a video of the boys and their situation:



"And the King will answer and say to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to me." Matt. 25-40

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