News and Updates

Ethiopia News 24.02.2025

Dear Supporters and Friends,

Here is a summary of the latest developments and concerns from Addis:

Property

Last autumn we signed a new contract with Aemro, the owner of the property, but only until March 2025, which means that the rent negotiations have entered the next round. Please pray for grace and peaceful discussions to maintain our positive and good communication.

Mission in March 2025

In March, Karsten Stolle plans to come to Addis with a team of construction workers to build 2/3 multipurpose rooms in the back part of the area. We have applied to the German Embassy in Addis Ababa for a small project grant for this construction. We would be grateful if you could pray for favour and approval.

Ruth, Degenet, Degitu, Gete - New houses needed

Ruth, Degenet, Degitu and Gete - our co-workers - received news last year that they have to leave their homes as their neighbourhood is being demolished to make way for new buildings. Let's pray that they will find beautiful, affordable new homes.

The team

At the beginning of 2025 we went on our annual staff retreat to Lake Langano, just like three years ago. This time, however, we camped and catered for ourselves. It was a great and refreshing time for all team members. We are now in the second semester. As an aside, it's worth mentioning that the government unexpectedly changed the national curriculum again in the middle of the first semester. Children are now expected to have a basic knowledge of English and Amharic before they start first grade. Therefore they have to learn letters and numbers with us again.

Team changes

Miheret and Mekedes left the team in 2024. Miheret has found a job much closer to home, and Mekedes has to look after her teenage sons, whose school  results have dropped. With her husband earning enough, she can stay at home. They have been replaced by Tbark (who was laid off in June 2024 due to budget cuts, but has now been rehired) and Mekedes, one of the office assistants. Yospeh, who had been employed since January 2024, also had to go. Unfortunately, he took money from the cash register and lent it out, but the money was not paid back. Raji, the former assistant of one of the groups, is now officially our new cashier.

Merck Foundation Application

Our project for children with severe multiple disabilities may continue to receive support from the Merck Foundation. We submitted a new application in mid-October 2024. Unfortunately, the application was rejected, but the board of the foundation encouraged us to apply again this year. We have done so and are waiting for a response by mid-March.

Sam

Please pray for Sam and his vision as well. It has always been his plan to eventually hand over the leadership here in Addis to Ethiopian hands. He is still pursuing this goal and is actively looking for the right people. Please pray for clarity, wisdom and God's guidance.

Ethiopia News 19.09.23

We have wonderful news concerning the property of the kindergarten and our landlord. We can stay on our property another 6 months without an increase in rent.

Ethiopia News 20.12.22

Project

On Monday this week we had the Christmas party in the project: a day full of fun, with good food, prayer, carol singing and gift giving. We do Secret Santa every year, it's always a lot of fun!

Ethiopia News 30.11.22

News from Ethiopia

The exchange rate ETB - € is finally moving in the direction that the loss of value of the Birr no longer feels so dire. There is no further word of peace negotiations, at least not in Addis. In Addis, everything feels completely normal and peaceful again, which is wonderful.

Ethiopia News 17.11.22

News from Ethiopia
 
Peace has finally returned to the country. As far as the reports are correct, there is now a ceasefire in the north and the central government is conducting peace negotiations.

Ethiopia News 23.09.22

News from Ethiopia
 
The government seems to have regained a firm grip on Tigray. If I understand the news correctly, (please do not put my exact words on a gold scale) the government has put a lot of effort into holding peace negotiations during the ceasefire in the last 6 months. Now these have not materialized and the government has entered Tigray in mid-August after an attack by the TPLF and has dealt a heavy blow to the TPLF. Nobody really expected that. In Addis, everything is normal and we have opened our project. However, the circumstances in which we are working here and living in Ethiopia are not normal. With all the potential that Ethiopia holds, it is so painful to see so much of it broken and lost to war.

Ethiopia News 30.08.22

The project has been closed for 4 weeks now. The only ones working are our hardworking chickens laying eggs. When the project starts, we will be able to eat most of our own eggs and fresh vegetables from our garden. We would like to take this opportunity to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the generous additional donations that have been given for our chicken project and the garden project!