Ethiopia – How You Can Help

In addition to providing adoption services, Adoption Advocates International (AAI) believes that the agency — and adoptive parents — have a responsibility to help in the country of the origin of the children by providing supplies and financial assistance to assure that orphan children who may not be adopted are served.

The generosity of donors has enabled AAI to make a difference in the lives of hundreds of children each year through our humanitarian projects. We are always looking for generous people who are able to help with our humanitarian projects – either through monetary donations, donation of supplies or volunteering at our facility in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The majority of our humanitarian projects are in Ethiopia, but we support the China Tomorrow Plan, and are working to set up humanitarian projects in Ghana.

Sponsor An Orphan Child

There are many orphan children in Ethiopia. Years of terrible events, including war, famine and disease – particularly HIV/AIDS – have produced a society where many children have no parents. Often elderly grandparents or other relatives try to raise the children, but many are too old or in such deprived circumstances that they simply cannot provide even basic needs. As a result, there are many children being relinquished to orphanages or fending for themselves in the streets. AAI recognizes that international adoption cannot meet the needs of all the orphaned children in Ethiopia and therefore has developed two sponsorship programs to serve those children who are able to live with extended family members or neighbors while they continue their schooling. One program focuses on the older siblings or family members of children adopted through AAI (the Orphan Student Project) and the other is a sponsorship of students in Nazret, Mukatore & Sheshamone (Orphan Student Education Fund).

GRACE Fund & Adopted Child Assistance Fund

AAI recognizes that adopting a child – especially an older child – can be a financial strain for the family. We have developed two grant programs to help families adopting older or special needs children, and these programs rely on the generosity of our donors to stay afloat.

Other Activities

Donor support is also needed for special activities for the children in our children’s homes (such as a trip to go swimming, or horseback riding or bowling) and for medical and dental expenses above and beyond those that the children receive as part of our medical/dental screening.

Supplies

Many donors want to gather supplies for the orphan children in Ethiopia. We are always in need of children’s shoes and clothing and cloth diapers. For a list of other needed supplies, please contact Susan Holmgren at .

Volunteer

The AAI Volunteer Program places qualified English speaking adults at our children's home – Layla House – in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Volunteers serve together in many capacities where they act as kind mentors and positive role models, and offer glimpses of American life to the orphaned children who are waiting for their adoptions to be processed.

AAI is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and donations are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. Contributions made to AAI are donations and refunds cannot be considered.