Festivities and Awards in Ethiopia

Every culture has a tradition of celebration and everybody knows that Ethiopian traditions are lively, joyous and beautiful events. Filled with colour, dance, food and festivity, our colleagues in Addis Ababa hosted a celebration at the beginning of this year to honour the achievements of the children in school and in life and to thank all of the people who contribute to our Beyond The Orphanage community. We wanted to share a little of their joy with you.

Guests included the BTO children and staff as well as local government officials, local musicians and artists. Everyone enjoyed a hearty meal of kitfo, cheese, minced sauce, injera and kotcho. A generous donor sponsored the gift of some chocolate to the children and a cake which they thoroughly enjoyed.

The children sang and danced. They also received special awards for the efforts and achievements. Some of the students have graduated to third level education and one girl who has featured in our newsletter previously Lilit (March 2013) was awarded a special prize for her dedication and leadership to younger children at the BTO Drop-In Centre.

In the words of our colleague in Ethiopia, “We are very grateful to express our gratitude to the generous family and friends who enabled us to feed vulnerable children who were not privileged to partake in such a celebration. We hope to continue to see an amazing delight and happiness of the children in the coming year too.”

We wanted you to know the difference your help makes.