Our Projects
Our first two projects are located in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and involve both education and housing. UNICEF estimates that there are as many as 150,000 children living and working on the streets of Ethiopia's capital city. Of that number, maybe 45,000 have families to go home to after their excruciatingly long workday but the rest face a long night on the streets. For those children who have families, they are often the sole provider of the household, many of them also caring for one or more family member who is battling HIV/AIDS. And for those with no shelter the night is spent avoiding rape, robbery or beatings. Education is a luxury very few can afford.
In February 2006, Little Voice Foundation along with local partners established a small primary school with the goal of offering its 200 seats for free to children from poor families and to those living on the streets. In July 2006, Little Voice Home for Children opened its doors to 30 children for whom the streets have been their only home over the years. The children living at our home are provided with food, clothing, education, health care and a wide range of recreational programs.
Our Primary Schools
We currently fund the operation of two primary schools in an impoverished and underserved area of Addis Ababa called Shiromeda. One school offers nursery and KG classes while the other school runs from Grade 1-4. Together our schools support 200 students who were previously unable to afford this luxury. Our schools are staffed with Ethiopian teachers from the community and our curriculum is based on the criteria of the Ethiopian Ministry of Education and involves extensive HIV/AIDS awareness programs.
Our Home for Children
The goal of our home is to provide long-term housing and support for children living on the streets. Our program seeks to remove the stressors of street-life and provide the basic needs of shelter, food, and health care so that the children are able to pursue their goals and learn practical and social skills essential to their future success.
The children are supported by 24-hour caring staff and they are able to enjoy a wide variety of recreational and sports activities. There are also many opportunities for life skills training within our home environment as well as vocational skills training within the larger community. Our home operates based on the five principles of friendship, respect, trust, responsibility and motivation. We encourage co-operation and sharing as we strive to create an environment conducive to the full participation of both the children and staff members with respect to the running of the home.
Most importantly Little Voice Home for Children operates on the principle that every child deserves the chance to create a positive future for themselves and that with support and guidance it is possible. We are hoping to nourish not only the body but the mind as well by allowing the children to grow, discover themselves and appreciate the world around them.
Future Plans
The next step is to create Satellite Youth Homes that will consist of either 5-6 girls or 5-6 boys who have reached adolescence and are currently living in our Home for Children. In order to foster independence and encourage the learning of life skills and household management we are hoping to set up small satellite homes where the youth living there will manage the household with the support of Little Voice staff. The rationale behind this project is to encourage collaboration amongst the youth on how to collectively run their household.
They will continue to receive complete financial support from Little Voice so that they are able to continue with education or skills training but they will be in charge of managing their budget for food and household materials. Despite this independence they will still be involved in activities with the children at the main residence and will receive support and guidance from the staff. As individuals, the youth at these satellite homes will be able to make decisions for themselves and choice about their future. As a group they will learn to manage the household, cooking, cleaning and maintenance and hopefully foster lasting friendships and self-confidence. This addition to our current programs facilitates individual empowerment and the development of relationship skills necessary for future personal growth of each adolescent.
As funding permits we also plan to establish another Home for Children aged 7-12 in order to provide support to a larger number of children in Addis Ababa who are experiencing life on the streets. We plan to limit the number of children in each main home to 30 in order to maintain the intimate atmosphere that is conducive to active participation in the home by all the children.
We also hope to increase the number of primary school compounds in the area of Shiromeda in order to allow for greater access to free education for the children living in that area.