28 Jun Allowing pain and tragedy to transform your life and the life of others – In and around Addis Ababa, Ethiopia with Adera Foundation

Wednesday, June 10th – Part of our group with The Adera Foundation worked at the 1st-8th grade Charisma School today and it was an honer to accompany them, documenting the day with photographs and stories.

I had the privilege accompany Elias Adugna, the director of The Adera Foundation here in Addis Ababa, and spending part of our day with Tadiyos, owner of The Charisma School. It did not take long to see that his role as owner is for reasons other than financial. The way Tadiyos interacted with the students and the way they responded to him, gave clues that his participation was more from the heart than for financial gain. He was born and raised in Ethiopia and holds a masters degree in theology from a university in Kenya, he has a business background in economics. I asked this soft spoken and intelligent man if there was a specific time in his life that God touched his heart for helping children who are at risk, the kind whose needs are met at his school.

Leaning back in his chair Tadiyos carefully formed his words, recollecting a time when he worked at a school himself as a teacher and was deeply moved by the pain that was part of the the students everyday life here in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. There was one particular student that placed a passion in his heart to help. This little 10 year old girl not only lost her mother who was murdered, but witnessed this tragic act carried out by her father. With her father behind bars for the crime, she was left alone with her 14 year old brother as her sole caretaker. Needless to say, her life situation made studying difficult, taking a back seat to simply surviving. These kind of experiences moved his heart to open the schools he now runs.

Adera partners with these schools though the sponsorship of students, enabling them to get a good education in an environment where there is love and compassion. This is where our team taught and played with children today.

But when adults speak up for the vulnerable and the weak, working and demanding that safety and respect prevail, God’s little lambs are protected and nourished. They know they are not abandoned; they are loved. And the world becomes a little more like heaven as a result. – Wess Stafford, Too Small to Ignore