May 28, 2008
No child left behind: Women meet Ethiopian orphans' needs

Eight years ago, a dozen Randolph women each began donating $5 a month to a program benefiting orphans in Ethiopia.

The women recently expanded their efforts, founding a nonprofit organization called Medhen Orphan Relief Effort and raising approximately $72,000 for the children in the past year.

In March, five of the women traveled to Ethiopia to meet the children. Maureen Strenk of Randolph describes the trip as one of the best experiences of her life.

"People are touched by children," she said. "How can you not be? When you see these little faces, they are as special as my kids. They're just not as lucky."

Strenk said all of the funds collected by the relief effort are sent to the Medhen Social Center, which helps place orphans who have lost at least one parent to AIDS with foster families -- often from the nearby leprosy colony. In addition to placing the children with families, the center also provides the children with food, clothing, basic medical care and supplies for school. There are 570 children from the capital city of Addis Ababa in the program.

The center, which is run by Sister Senkenesh G. Miriam, is able to provide the children with these basic items for just $184 per child per year. After the center places the children with foster families, caregivers -- or trained adults from the community -- are sent out to follow up with the families and make sure the children are being cared for properly.

'World away ...'

Barbara Zecca of Randolph said she felt what was initially a personal commitment to the children become a responsibility after visiting them in Ethiopia.

"It was an incredible trip, and it has become this passion for us," she said. "You feel like every little bit you do definitely makes a difference, but you also feel this big responsibility that these children are depending on us."

Zecca said she fell in love with the children she met there. The women purchased doughnuts for the children as a treat, and passed a doughnut out to each child on a square of toilet paper. Zecca was surprised to see that the children stowed away the paper in their bags, she said.

Upon observing how careful they were not to waste the toilet paper, Zecca said one of the women began to cry. A small boy then offered her a piece of his square, Zecca said, so that she could wipe her tears.

"We all came away from (the trip) thinking, 'What more can we do?'" she said. "They are so gracious and so loving. They may have nothing, but that nothing they have, they are willing to share with you."

The women of M.O.R.E. also visited a preschool in Ethiopia. Zecca said that although the school is quite overcrowded and there is mold growing on the floor, the children were singing together. Zecca said the next project for M.O.R.E. will be raising money to purchase much-needed books for the children.

This month, Chris Dziubla, who also traveled to Ethiopia in Marsh, said the members of M.O.R.E. focused their efforts on the children's need for books and collected at least $370 for that project. Dziubla said the members would like to eventually help repair the preschool, but at this time, they must use the funds they collect to help maintain the services already provided by Medhen Social Center.

As it is, Strenk said approximately 40 to 60 percent of the shelves in the Medhen Social Center's library are empty. And yet, the phrase "I cannot live without books" was stenciled on the side of their library door, she said.

"It's a world away and yet it's not that far," Strenk said. "They're not that much different than other children. I look at them, and think they have as much potential as my children did."

Placing the children

Strenk said the children in the program are often matched up with families from the nearby leprosy colony. However, prior to being placed there, the children are inoculated against the disease. Strenk said most of the cases are not active and do not look like what Americans may imagine.

Strenk never felt any fear while she was there, she said, and believes that moving in with a loving family from the colony is beneficial for the children because they will be well cared for.

Strenk said she witnessed such kindness between neighbors in Ethiopia and that it was bittersweet to see Ethiopian children leaving the country to move in with American or European parents.

"It's sad to see them leaving their culture," she said. "They really are a beautiful people."

Loving relationships

Dziubla, a mother of three and a grandmother of five, said she couldn't help comparing the children in Ethiopia with American children.

On one of their bus trips, Dziubla said she watched as one of the teachers passed out lollipops to the children. She said she expected to hear the children ask for specific colors, and perhaps even argue if they didn't get the color they wanted. However, she said she was surprised to see that many times one would defer to the other, offering his or her neighbor a choice before taking a lollipop. In fact, she said she didn't hear the phrase, "I want this one," even once.

Zecca had a similar experience.

On the bus trip, she noticed that one of the girls had fallen asleep and had slumped over on the jacket of the boy next to her. She said she expected the boy to come back and tug the jacket out from under the sleeping girl. Much to her surprise, she said he gently lifted the girl's head, folded the jacket into a pillow, and placed it underneath her head again.

"They don't have anything, but they love each other and they take care of each other," Zecca said.

Strenk said meeting those children and observing the way they took care of one another only intensified the women's commitment to the children of Medhen Social Center.

"It does change you," she said. "It changes the way you look at things. I thought I had seen poverty in parts of the United States, but I never thought anyone could be quite so poor. There is nothing there for them. I will never walk away. You can't change everything, but you can make a change."

Katelyn Farago can be reached at (973) 428-6630 or kfarago@gannett.com.