The first half of 2021 has flown by…it’s hard to believe it’s August! As we look back at 2021 so far, it’s clear that God has been good to Addis Jemari. We want to pause and acknowledge that and give thanks for all He has done!
Thanks to all the support we get from our amazing AJ donors and champions, we are continuously empowering families through our Family Empowerment Program (FEP) in the areas of education, economic support, social support, and discipleship. Access to health and nutrition has also been a huge area of emphasis as well.
Together with our donors and champions, so far in 2021 we have:
- Provided 50 families in our program with monthly financial support. Mothers saved 20 percent of their monthly stipends in saving accounts.
- Fifteen families received counseling services at the FEP center. Counseling is an essential component of FEP where we give direction to families facing challenges in everyday life, as well as in their family relationships.
- An average of twenty families each month are utilizing the hygiene facilities at the FEP Center. Our FEP Center is equipped with hygiene facilities to allow families wash clothes and take showers without worrying about shortage of water.
- FEP children are participating every month in cleaning the FEP compound and its surroundings. This activity is allowing opportunities for our children to experience community participation, in addition to the benefit they get from a clean environment.
- All five of the 8th grade students in our program passed their national exam this year. We are grateful to our FEP tutor who tirelessly helped these children work hard during the pandemic to achieve this milestone.
- Covid-19 forced schools to create new school schedules based on the number of students that a given class can accommodate to maintain social distance. Our Ethiopian staff diligently supported FEP children adjust to this new schedule and also accommodate tutoring sessions three times a week at the FEP Center.
- Children came to the FEP Center not only for tutoring, but also to spend some time with their peers. Our two social workers are helping children spend planned time at the center and have time that will allow them explore new talents through new clubs such as mathematics club, art club, and communications skills club. Children are enjoying these peer-to-peer interactions!
- Our FEP runs literacy training for mothers. We have currently six mothers who are attending adult literacy class on a once-a-week schedule. It is encouraging to see the progress they are making in reading skills.
- Fifteen vulnerable mothers received vitamins and protein powder; six of them are HIV positive. Giving vitamins and protein powder to vulnerable mothers is essential to keep them healthy.
- We hired one additional social worker for Family Empowerment Program. This allowed us to expand the opportunity each of the 50 families gets touched by a social worker.
- Our social workers carried out house visits during the pandemic. The house visits allowed us get updated household data essential for the support that each mother needs in planning IGA.
- We are training mothers on Income Generating Activities (IGA). This training is critical to pave the way for helping mothers start own business with a clear plan in place.
- Ethiopian Christmas falls in January. We gave children small gifts and a mattress to each family. Through our FEP house visits, we noticed that most families needed mattresses.
- For Easter holiday, we provided mothers with five kilograms of onion and five kilograms of flours. These gifts made the holiday complete for our FEP families. Ethiopian families enjoy having bread on the table and chicken stew for Easter holiday that require a lot of onions.
Thank you for partnering with us to invest in our Family Empowerment Program families. We are always better together!
The AJ team is always grateful for your support, and we are blessed beyond measure that you are part of the AJ family.