Why Ethiopia?
In addition to Ryan and I hearing God's clear call to Ethiopia, it came down to the lack of basic human need. Every day the 75 million people of Ethiopia face challenges of famine and disease. While nearly every Ethiopian feels the impact, the orphaned children are the most vulnerable. It is a nation that has also been severely afflicted by the worldwide AIDS epidemic. An entire generation has been decimated in the child-raising years, leaving hundreds of thousands of orphans. It is estimated that there are nearly 5 MILLION orphans in this country less than twice the size of Texas. One of the largest orphan populations in the world. The staggering statistics speak for themselves.
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| photo courtesy of Steven Gunter |
*Street children are continuously exposed to various forms of exploitation, including sexual exploitation. They do not have access to basic rights such as access to proper care, education, psychological support and supervision.
*Often orphans and other vulnerable children are forced to work to earn an income. They are also exposed to various forms of exploitation, including sexual exploitation.
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| photo courtesy of Steven Gunter |
*Street violence among girls ages 10-24 in Addis Ababa found that 15% of the respondents had been raped and during their first sexual activity 43% had been coerced.
*Half the children in Ethiopia will never attend school, 88% will never attend secondary school
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| photo courtesy of Steven Gunter |
*1 in 6 children die before the age 5
*Over 50% of children are stunted
*malnutrition is the underlying cause of more than half of all child deaths
*1 physician for every 35,000 people
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| photo courtesy of Steven Gunter |
*Average life expectancy is 53 for men, 58 for women
*Only 24% of households have access to safe drinking water
*Only 13% of the population has access to adequate sanitation facilities
*Ethiopia is ranked as one of the four poorest countries in the world
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| photo courtesy of Steven Gunter |
*Annual per-capita income is less than $1000
*Over 65% of the population lives below the poverty rate
* Sub-Saharan Africa is more heavily affected by HIV and AIDS than any other region of the world. An estimated 22.5 million people are living with HIV, around two thirds of the global total. In 2009, around 1.3 million people died from AIDS and 1.8 million people became infected with HIV. Since the beginning of the epidemic, 14.8 million children have lost one or both parents to HIV/AIDS.
BUT, There is HOPE!
You CAN change the world…For ONE!
Steven Gunter had the opportunity to travel on mission with Water to Thrive to a rural Ethiopian village. You can see more of his AMAZING pictures from Ethiopia on his website. You don't want to miss them, they are beautiful! http://pearlsnap.wordpress.com/ethiopia/
*All photos courtesy of Steven Gunter, http://pearlsnap.wordpress.com
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