19th September 2008

A blog actually about the orphanage!! That makes a change, doesn't it?!

You will probably have seen on the TV – and experienced yourself – the economic situation: the rise in inflation and the rise in food prices and other day to day items. I don't pretend to totally understand the situation (despite being glued to BBC World most evenings!) but I do know that the price increase has really affected the orphanage. Due to cautious use of resources over the last few years, they are not in dire straits yet, but they are starting to struggle to find money to pay the increasing costs.

Because of this, we have decided that the rest of the money we raised in the last year (around £1500) will be put towards paying rent. It leaves the Hanna's Orphanage bank account rather depleted, but we have decided that it's best that the money is helping the orphanage rather than simply sitting in our bank account 'just in case'.

So the money you've generously given will ensure that 25 children have stable homes for at least a year by paying the rent on 3 houses for the orphanage. This ensures the children have a safe place to live, and don't have to keep moving around while the orphanage looks to find cheaper places for them to stay. Also, money people have raised by running half marathons (rather them than us!) will be used to pay the rent on one house which will house children who are HIV+.

Paying rent is not exciting and it doesn't make a good picture, but it's really what the orphanage desperately needs right now. So that is what we will provide. Of course, we have brought some fun stuff too (particularly a 'swing ball set' which Colin Mckenna donated … a lot of fun putting that up at Shiro Meda!!) – for a full breakdown of what we have bought, you can see our newsletter, coming to an inbox near you soon …!!

On a happier note, plans for 'Make a Difference Day Ethiopia 2008' are underway! Make a Difference Day is run by charity CSV (www.csv.org.uk) and is one day a year where as many people as possible are encouraged to volunteer to make their communities a better place. I've brought the concept with me to Ethiopia, and 18^th October 2008 will be our Make a Difference Day!

The concept of volunteering is not big in Ethiopia, although it is arguably more a way of life than it is in the UK or America. The generosity of Ethiopian people never fails to amaze me – no matter how little someone has, they are always ready to help someone worse off than them, and they are very willing to give their time to help you.

Our Make a Difference Day will involve the children of the orphanage as well as many expats and family members I have roped in, and we will paint the orphanage's main compound, including the offices, library and classrooms. This compound is used by the orphanage children, of course, but it is also used by the local community, including many older students studying to get a place at university.

The outside of the offices will all be painted green (so I am off to the famous 'Mega Paints' Factory to buy 6 gallons of green paint next week!) and some of the boys who are studying technical drawing will design a mural to go on the classroom walls. They will draw it on with chalk, while the less artistic among us will 'colour it in' with paint. Even the babies will be able to wield a paintbrush and help!

One last thing – Hanna's Orphanage is desperate for a volunteer to help us do all our IT stuff (updating myspace, maintaining our soon-to-be-unveiled website, sending out our newsletters etc). Could you give around 2 hours a week to do it? Do you know anyone who could? If you do, please email me at honeyjenny@gmail.com, cc'ing anthonyh007@gmail.com and I will send you some more details. Thank you