Fundraiser for Kidane Mehret Children's Home

Addis Ababa

With the help of my family, I'm organising a fundraiser to support the Kidane Mehret Orphanage and Children's Home.

The Sisters need sewing machines and 2 computers to teach employable skills.

Can you help me raise the funds they need?

I'D LIKE TO HELP

Good leadership changes lives.

The Kidane Mehret Children's Home is a long-established institution in Addis Ababa. Run by Maltese Franciscan Sisters, headed up for the last 55 years by the inimitable Sister Lutgarda Camilleri with the help of sister Camilla. They have around 160 orphaned or abandoned children ranging from small infants to 16-year-olds (sometimes 20 year-olds) and of varying degrees of health and ability. They provide the children with a very caring, safe home, medical care and a strong educational environment.

They also assist children in finding new families in many countries around the world, including Ireland. There are a large number of adopted Ethiopian children now living in Ireland who were originally from Kidane Mehret.

I'D LIKE TO HELP

Creating brighter futures

Although I'm an Artist now, in the early 2000's I worked with an Irish adoption agency for six years. So it was really something for me to visit the orphanage for the first time in 2021.

My partner, Ron, who is Maltese, has had a relationship with this orphanage and with the Maltese Sisters who run it, for over a decade now. So he knows the character of these women and the work they have dedicated their lives to.

The home is well run, organised and holds laughter and fun, alongside the struggles of meeting children's needs in sometimes difficult circumstances.

A lifetime's commitment

Most of the children go on to Kedane Mehret School, also founded by the nuns. With the support of the sisters and other staff, many find work (I've bumped into past pupils in Addis), and some of their children have gone on to university education.

Sister Lutgarda plans to teach the older children computer skills and sewing skills to help them find employment when the time comes.

How can we help?

The immediate need is for...

Sewing Machines

Cost - €400 each

Computers

Cost - €1,500 each

Any additional funds will go toward the costs of ongoing care and education for the children.

Choose how you can help get what they need.

Or.. Buy this painting

'Whisper Me This'

Oil on canvas

70x50cm canvas size

Framed in white timber

I'm donating this painting.

The gallery price is €3,750

I'm selling it for a reduced rate of €2,750 (plus shipping)

So you save, get a painting, and I donate all the proceeds.

Buy this painting

Some other ways you can help

A family gift

Get the wider family to join together and donate the cost of a computer or sewing machine in their name or the name of a loved one.

A bookclub, art group or sports club donation

Ask your bookclub, painting group or sports group to put their donations together to contribute.

A corporate donation

Would your business or the company you work for make a donation?

A coffee morning or 5k run, or private event?

Get a few friends together and pass around the hat. If you live in Ireland, ask me for a framed print to offer as a draw.

Be acknowledged or give anonymously

We would be honoured to acknowledge donations here on this page and on my social media, or if you prefer, they can be made anonymously.

Every donor is entered to WIN a framed print

Everyone who donates will be entered to WIN a framed print of mine.

In addition, there will be a separate draw for organisers of fundraisers or those who donate €400 or more.

Accountability

All funds raised go into a dedicated PayPal account, separate from my own accounts. Then, All funds are transferred from there to a bank account dedicated to this fundraiser in Kidane Mehret's Bank in Addis Ababa.

The fundraiser bank account is overseen by independent accountants from the KMCH board of trustees.

I have no access to the fundraiser bank account and take no percentage of any funds raised.

 Daniel Habtamu, Henoke Adan and Brooke Melcame play checkers between lessons. Photo credit Abigail Bekele