18th September 2009

I am now back in Lalibela, and have found two minutes to write a blog post. I leave Ethiopia fairly soon, so I’m desperately trying to get everything done, plus of course my mum and her partner are here, so it’s all go, go, go!

The main news is the orphanage. After the email I received about their imminent eviction, mum and I wanted to go and talk to Hanna properly to see what we could do. What I was initially told about the situation wasn’t completely accurate, and I think something was lost in translation, but when we started to talk to Hanna it all became clear.

Basically, it’s a tax problem. The orphanage have to pay tax on the house they rent , which is all fine and expected. However, if the landlady doesn’t register her building with the Government, the tax rises from 2% to 30% a month – and the landlady does not want to register with the Government, so the orphanage have to find an extra 3500 birr a month. That’s way beyond the orphanage’s capability, and if they can’t pay the tax, they have to move out.

Apparently, if it was a private tenant, then there would be some breathing space – people wouldn’t be asking about the tax, and they’d probably be able to avoid it. However, as an NGO, the orphanage are audited annually and so it would definitely be picked up. And, of course, they want to follow the law, too.

(There is a dodgy ‘middle man’ involved in all this, too, but I’m not entirely clear how, so we’ll leave that for the minute!)

Long term, paying the 30% tax is not an option; the orphanage already struggle in this economic crisis, and finding an extra 3500 birr a month is impossible for them. However, the urgent thing at the moment is to ensure they can stay in the building for the next few months so that they can concentrate on finding somewhere else.

So, Hanna’s Orphanage UK have given the orphanage the money to pay the extra tax for the next three months, ensuring they are able to stay in the building while they try to search for somewhere else. If we can raise £500 by December (which we will do, I’m sure!), we can then buy them another 3 months. Hanna has somewhere in mind to be able to rent, so we will all keep our fingers crossed that they agree and the rent is reasonable.

The ideal situation would be to find somewhere to buy, so that these situations don’t happen again, but we would need to 1) find a suitable building and 2) raise enough money. Property is very expensive in Ethiopia, as in the rest of the world, and we certainly don’t have that kind of money. However, we’re working on it, and trying to support the orphanage in applying to various other organisations that may be able to help.

So if anyone has a few £100,000 to spare, please contact us!

Ps. I have lots to catch up on - not least New Year - so I will post that as soon as poss!