Despite considerable progress, there are still nearly a billion people living in extreme poverty. Hundreds of millions of children in the world are blocked from success in school because of poverty, sickness, or malnutrition. And an increasing percentage of the world’s extreme poverty is concentrated in Sub-Saharan Africa. While the Ethiopian government has made some remarkable strides and Ethiopia’s economy continues to boom, income inequality is actually on the rise and numerous citizens still find themselves left behind by the growth.
“In Ethiopia there are almost 5 million orphans and almost 30% of the population lives on less than $2 per day.*”
It's so important to know you belong somewhere. Betasab children love sharing their family photos.
Though life expectancy has improved considerably, the percentage of Ethiopians that will live to 65 years old is still roughly 20-30 percentage points fewer than it is for Americans or Canadians.* And again, despite much progress, it’s still 10x more likely that an Ethiopian baby won’t make it to 5 years old than it is that an American or Canadian baby won’t.*
Most notably, according to the United Nations Human Development Index, a multidimensional poverty/welfare index that incorporates health, education, and income, Ethiopia stands at 174 of 188 ranked countries and is considered to to have very ‘low human development.’* These aren’t statistics! These are all people who aren’t being given the chance to fulfill their potential, to live a full life.
Love in a new family
Despite significant growth in income, there is still so much work to be done.This motivates our project. We want to be a part of the dedicated cadre of people who help level the playing field.
We focus on the most vulnerable populations, orphaned and vulnerable children and marginalized women, because we know that with support, they too can reach their goals, and live productive, self-sufficient, and fully realized lives.
*SOURCE: World Development Indicators