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Children’s Center Goes Solar (we also have our own clean water system)!

Awasa Children Project 2012 Report

Awassa, Ethiopia. July 12, 2011 - Today we are pleased to announce that the Hawassa Children’s Center is 100% solar! This means solar energy powers the houses for the children, compound lights, the 25 computers in the lab and other devices. “This represents a giant leap forward and well use of a very kind donation by many good hearted Germans.” said Girma Melessa, Executive Director of the Children’s Center. “Promoting a truly sustainable approach, we now have clean water from our well, total solar power, large gardens for food, and planted hundreds of trees to help the environment and prevent soil erosion into Lake Awassa.”

 

February 2010 - Dear International Board, I have some good news to report from HCC! After studying hard for their final exams our children have successfully completed their first semester. With the exception of a few children, I can say that all of our children have improved this year and i am very proud of their report cards. I must give special mention to our youngest students, many of whom have ranked first, second and third in their classes. 
In other news, as some of you may know, Stella Heyliger, our volunteer, was married to Fitsum Tsebelu here at the Center last month. Fitsum has been teaching sports and dance to our children on the weekends since this summer. Stella and Fitsum will be going to America for a few months in the coming weeks for the delivery of their baby in July. We will miss them very much. I have attached a photo from their wedding to this email. 

I hope that this email finds you all in good health. I look forward to speaking with you soon. 
Girma Melesse

 

 

Sat, 29 Nov 2008 8:38 pm
Subject: The Awassa Children's Project

Dear Family and Friends,

I hope that this letter finds you well this holiday season! As you may know, Ada and I are on the board of directors for the Awassa Children's Project (ACP). ACP provides support to two organizations in Awassa, Ethiopia: the Awassa Children's Center (the Children's Center) which fully supports 60 children primarily orphaned by AIDS; and the Awassa Youth Campus (the Youth Campus), whose mission includes supporting the acclaimed One Love HIV/AIDS Education Theatre (OLT), a traveling theatrical company that produces and performs educational awareness shows about HIV/AIDS, drug abuse, environmental issues, and women's rights.


This past year, donations were allocated to the Children's Center and applied to the costs of providing housing, food, clothing, school supplies (uniforms, books and tuition), and medical expenses for our 60 children. We were also able=2 0to build two new houses for children at the Center thanks in part to a generous grant from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Our children at the Children's Center continue to excel in school, with thanks to a grant for educational expenses from a fellow non-profit, Educate the Children, and its director, Prem Advani.


In addition to caring for the children at the Children's , the Youth Campus continues to rock the world for literally hundreds of kids in the community each day! This short YouTube video will show you what we mean: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82-FwLDyxiQ (thanks Renee for filming this)! With support from very special donors we were able to build the first regulation hardtop basketball court in Awassa, while One Love Theatre has performed for over 15,000 people this year – bringing critical AIDS Education Awareness Theatre to people around the country. One Love Theatre owes a special thanks to Blue Man Group, which has been one of our strongest supporters from the beginning.

As20we head into 2009, we're asking for your support with the task of raising money for the children as well as for our HIV/AIDS education efforts. As our operations continue to grow, I would like to request that you take a few minutes and follow this link:

http://www.awassachildrensproject.org/donate_monthly.asp

We are a grassroots organization that thrives on donations. It only takes a moment, but by signing up on our website to make a monthly donation of $15, $20, or $25 you would help us plan for the future of these children, and would mean an enormous amount to myself, Ada, and the children at both the Children's Center and Youth Campus. Long-Term planning allows us to help more kids, and offer more programming. That said, we appreciate any donations in any amount, which can also be done at our website or mailed directly (see Contact Us on the website for the mailing address). All donations are tax deductible.

One small note, if you're in Chicago next weekend, please come and join us for our 7th Annual World AIDS Day Event at the Wild Hare. We have an evening of musicians and other performers who donate their talent to help the children. Every year we have a wonderful time! You can read all about it and the One Love Theatre Blog found on our website: www.awassachildrensproject.org . Here are the details:

Sunday December 7th, 2008
7pm - 11pm
The Wild Hare
3530 N. Clark Street, Chicago, IL

Thank you very much for your support for this program and we wish you a very Happy Holiday Season to you and yours! Be on the look out for our 2008 Newsletter, which hit the presses this weekend. It will also be posted on-line!

Sincerely,

Paul and Ada

p.s. Please forward this on to anyone you think might be interested in work like this, we have a wonderful (safe and successful) team of volunteers from all over the United States working in Ethiopia at both the Children's Center and Youth Campus this year, we thank them as well!

--
-- Paul Chadha --
Awassa Children's Project
www.awassachildrensproject.org
Aiding Children ~ Fighting AIDS