The lost generation

The Lost Generation We’ve seen it, heard it and talked about it for years – we know it well. The hard facts are that in Ethiopia alone, more than 12 percent of all children are orphans – in real terms, that is around 4.6 million children.  The magnitude of the problem is overwhelming. They are the Lost Generation - collateral damage of the AIDS epidemic, famine, war, poverty and disease. With no parents or economic resources, these children have nowhere to turn and very little hope for the future. The odds are stacked against them at the outset: suffering emotional and psychological damage, health challenges associated with poverty, malnutrition, and/or HIV/AIDS.  The key to escaping a bleak future is education - lacking the necessary funds to support that, it becomes almost impossible to achieve their born right to an optimistic future.

Education in Crisis

Research has borne out time and again, that education is the critical difference between success and failure – on many levels. 

Education is a powerful vaccine against HIV/AIDS. Several million cases of HIV/AIDS could be prevented in the next decade if every child received an education.  Girls’ education, in particular, makes a difference that extends for generations. 

A 2006 Human Rights Watch report showed that an extra year of a woman’s education has been shown to reduce the risk that her child will die in infancy by 5-10 percent.

Research further indicates that young women’s earnings are typically 10-20 percent higher for every year of school completed.

Girls’ education is the best single policy for reducing reproduction rates - achieving smaller and more sustainable families.  A child born to a literate mother is 50 percent more likely to survive past the age of 5, and children with educated mothers are twice as likely to go to school and are less malnourished.

In Ethiopia today, education is sadly in crisis. There are approximately 2.7 million children out of school, primarily in rural areas and among pastoralist communities.  According to UNICEF, only 25 percent of orphaned children attend school, compared with 58 percent of non-orphaned kids.   UNESCO reports that direct education costs to households, such as school fees, textbooks, uniforms, and supplies, are serious barriers. Other barriers include distance to school and children being put to work. 

The BTO Difference It is easy to forget the day-to-day reality of these children.  It’s hard to watch, and easy to turn away from.  But there is a way to help. Beyond the Orphanage cares for destitute and at-risk children regardless of their race, religion, and physical or mental challenges.  In partnership with the local community and government, we place the children in loving, secure homes, with family whenever possible.  Our model is unique in many ways because it focuses on supporting the children within their own communities.  This reduces the disruptions in previously chaotic lives and provides the best chance for the children to thrive.  BTO supports the child financially in whatever way necessary—paying rent, school fees, food, and medical costs.  We bolster their psychological development with regular meetings with social workers, psychologists, and trained educators.

BTOs innovative program is dedicated to overcoming barriers to education so that the children in our care can reap the enormous benefits an education provides.  Because teacher-student ratios in Ethiopia range from 1:60-1:90, we provide programming that augments classroom education, as well as making sure that all our children are able to attend school. We provide an extensive program, with 24-hour-a-day access to a drop-in centre, library, computer lab, after-school and summer school classes, all designed for each individual child to flourish and reach their individual potential. 

Our programs are focused on individual children, but the effects may be much farther-reaching.  One of the long-term consequences of the AIDS epidemic is the decimation of a productive generation of working adults—the parents of the children we serve.  By helping these children every step of the way along their journey to a productive adulthood, the damages wrought by the AIDS epidemic will be mitigated as these children take their place in a healthier Ethiopia. 

How can you help?

You can make a difference to a child's life by donating today.

Warning: Some of the below images are disturbing