What We Do
We support programs focused on orphaned and vulnerable children and youth of the Medhen Social Center, located in one of the most impoverished areas in the world outside of city center Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Unlike traditional institutional ‘orphanages’, the structure of Medhen Orphan Relief Effort (M.O.R.E.) -- and the onsite program at the Medhen Social Center (MSC) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia -- is different. The MSC has created a network of home-based care to support the needs of hundreds of orphaned and vulnerable children annually who need parental / caregiver support - somewhat like a foster care system except that both the orphaned and vulnerable children are placed in homes, very often where there is extreme poverty. As such, the orphaned and vulnerable children supported by M.O.R.E. live with families who can care for them as their own family members, and M.O.R.E. -- through the MSC -- provides financial support to a large tight knit group of the caregivers and the children, thus addressing healing an entire community structure and cycle of poverty that is otherwise overlooked.
Children of OVC/OVY
The children that M.O.R.E. supports have been orphaned by the HIV/AIDS pandemic, or other life-ending illnesses, and/or suffer from severe deprivation caused by extreme poverty.
Health Focused
M.O.R.E. supports medical checkups and physicals for children enrolled in the OVC, OVY, and VC programs. Additionally, eyeglass frames have been provided to children needing vision correction.
Zero Fixed Overhead Costs
We are completely run by volunteers with no paid administrative staff and no fixed overhead costs. For every donation that is made, 97.4% goes directly to support the programs and initiatives of M.O.R.E. We rely entirely on donations to support our mission.
Pre-School Building & Playground Initiative
A generous donation through M.O.R.E. enabled the purchase of the property and buildings that currently house the pre-school program and administrative support offices. We also supported the construction of a playground and purchase of playground equipment - the first playground to serve the community!
Irrigation System
Ground level water storage tanks were provided to complete an irrigation system critical to the Urban Agriculture Cooperative - one of the many successful Income Generation Activities (IGA) that M.O.R.E. partially funds through the Economic Empowerment/Livelihood Enhancement Program
Educational Support
Examples of initiatives include purchase of solar lights to provide light for studying given the regular power outages and the purchase of ~100 laptops for the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) program, along with ongoing training and support.
MSC’s model for handling the care of orphaned and vulnerable children in an extremely disadvantaged community is very different and has been globally studied. It illustrates a new approach for remedying the issues of orphaned children and extreme poverty in the communities affected. In the past 25 years, thanks to big-hearted donors’ assistance, M.O.R.E. and MSC have assisted thousands to survive, feel pride, and live better, self-sustaining lives.