Creating Safe roads for street kids in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

 

Category: Education/Equity

 

Streets With Needs

Pitch  

We will build a 2000 sq. ft. structure which will provide a safe place for the street children in Addis Ababa. In this building their will be canned food, extra clothing, books, toys and mats to sleep on. I will ask for 5 volunteer doctors, preferably retired so they can devote their time to this need. In addition I will ask for a mass number of volunteers, and 2 translators to support and help the kids with their problems. We will provide the kids with instructional and physical learning of skills they need to survive and thrive in their country. There'll be self-defence, mathematics, English, healthy eating, culture and the basics of being a global citizen. These skills will be taught over a long period of time. Hopefully with these skills the kids can go of and become successful but more importantly, happy. On a monthly basis I will ask one volunteer of a profession to speak to the kids, or send something down to provide information for the kids. The volunteer can be anyone from a doctor, teacher, singer or an athlete, I will especially look for volunteers that started of unfortunate as a child and worked their way up to where they are right now. I want to provide the kids with hope to let them know that they can succeed in life. 

 

This may sound like a homeless shelter, but, it's not. It's simply a place for street children with or without parents, friends, a  job or anything to come to and have a safe night and hopefully gain a little more confidence to become something great the next day. There are no papers to sign just the simple request that they treat everyone in the structure with respect. I plan on calling this structure "HOME" as some kids never had one, and it may make them feel more comfortable.

 

Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, with a population of over 3 million. The literacy rate is an astonishing 83%, the unemployment rate is 23% and the net enrolment rate for school is: primary 73%, junior 35%, and senior 36%. There are over 100,000 street children wondering Addis Ababa, Ethiopia for work, food or anything to make a nickel. The rich and poor live together. Much like our own down town Toronto, as you walk down the street you see a .5 million dollar office and right in front of it on the steps is a person begging for money. The only difference between Toronto and Addis Ababa is that, the people in Toronto are mainly adults who have made a bad decision which concluded in them living on the streets. Street children were never given a chance they were born into the world as a future street child and never given the smallest chance at success.

This project is important to me because, everybody deserves a chance at success no matter what religion, race or environment the child was brought up in. The two main goals of this project is to teach the kids the basic needs of living in their community and being successful, and to give the kids a chance at success and happiness. These two things will be done threw the learning of the skills and through the volunteers.

 

Critical Need

 There are over 100,000 street kids wondering the streets of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia at any time. Why are they there? We don't know. All we know is that these kids need a chance at life, and they can be successful. Malnutrition is the major cause of deaths for street children, if we provide the kids with food and basic needs hopefully they can succeed and do something great.

 

Impact

 If we can demolish the population of street children we can focus more on other needs in our society. We just need to take care of those who are entering the world and are our future. They are the base of our pyramid and with out them our world wouldn't be spinning. If we can take care of this problem we can then devote our time and energy to other projects. This will also help the cities unemployment rate and death rate, because, "knowledge is King".

Feasibility

This project will be built between the dates of January 2015 to December 2017. We will ask for support from: Right To Play, Free the Children, Home Depot, Longos, Canadian Tire, retired teachers, volunteers and translators. IN addition we will ask for any donations to go to the structure, such as soccer balls, or lightly used clothing.

 

We will ask for a starting amount of $25,000 to build the structure and furnish it with mats, clothing and toys.

 

$5,000 - Buy a house in Addis Ababa and add on an extension to make the building 2000 sq.ft.

$4,000 - Buy clothing from donation stores (2000 pieces of clothing)

$4,500 - Buy mats to sleep on from Canadian Tire (300 mats)

$5,000 - Canned foods from Longos yearly (4000 canned foods)

$FREE - DONATED SPORTS EQUIPMENT/ CLOTHING/ BOOKS & PUZZLES/CANNED FOODS

 

 

Last Points

Hi, my name is Megan Mizuyabu and I'm 15 years old. I am half Japanese and half Canadian. I am a hockey player and referee, soccer player and I have a black belt in Tae-Kwon-Do. I finished 3rd in York region for mountain biking and 4th in Ontario. I am adventurous and love being outdoors; camping, boating and hiking. When I grow up I hope to live in British Columbia and travel all around the world. 

 

 

 

"Addis: Putting Food on the Table - Food Insecurity." Tomorrows Crisis Today. ALNAP, 2007. Web. 22 Nov. 2013.

 

 Daly, Susan. "Photo Essay: The Street Children of Addis Ababa." TheJournalie. Child Sponsorship, 3 July 2013. Web. 22 Nov. 2013.

 

Wolf, Marthe Vander. "Needs of Ethiopia's Street Children Not Met, Aid Group Says." VOA. News/ Africa, 1 May 2013. Web. 22 Nov. 2013.