From: Ethiopian Orphan ReliefThe Toukoul Orphanages in Addis Ababa are part of the SOS/EE network of orphanages throughout Ethiopia. Toukoul works with the following American adoption agencies:
Adoption Avenues, AFAA and Dove Adoptions.
Toukoul 1 and Toukoul 2 house and care for children from age 0-14, while proposing them for adoption when fitting. 350 children are admitted per year. Currently there's approximately 200 infants in Toukoul 1 and 2 (which is 4x their comfortable capacity). Toukoul 3 houses and cares for children less than 2 years old who are HIV +. Approximately 25 children are cared for each year.
Other SOS/EE programs include a Vocational Training and Production Center for youth over 14 years old (children live in foster families, attend school and receive job training to help bring them financial independence), Aware Program (sponsors children and families, including job training for mothers and Kindergarten for children), Cereal Production Farm (admits youth after Vocational Training), Horticultural Farm (admits youth after Vocational Training) and the Garage (admits youth after Vocational Training).
SOS/EE also includes 18 satellite orphanages around Ethiopia that each house approximately 50 children who are in the process of being admitted to the main Toukoul orphanages in Addis Ababa. Children usually stay in these satellite orphanages for 3-4 weeks before being transferred to Addis Ababa. HIV + children over the age of 2 currently remain in the satellite orphanages, pending completion of the new, larger Toukoul 3.
***
From Road to Ethiopia
When Ives and Jaqueline Ferez, two french citizens arrived in Ethiopia in 1983, they witnessed the terrible death of parents and children because of drought and famine. After helping in a catholic orphanage before it was destroyed in a fire, the decided to help the children in their own home but they soon were overwhelmed by the magnitude of the problems affecting the country.
In 1990 they founded Toukoul orphanage, first as a small nursery to take care of 50 kids from 0 to 5 years of age, while slowly expanding to provide care to older children as well.
Today the orphanage is well organized in three different buildings: the main one or Toukoul 1 has two wards. Ward A is where the babies and little children are and it also has a kitchen and infirmary. There is another building, or ward B, where the older children up to 14 years old live, separated in three groups according to their age. Children 7 years and older attend school.
The second building or Toukoul 2 is located at about 500 meters from the main building and is a rented facility that is used to receive children from all over the country. Here the first medical check ups are done and also treatments are given if necessary. If the new child is healthy and doesn’t have any contagious disease, then the boy or girl is moved to Toukoul 1.
The third building or Toukoul 3 is located at approximately 2 km and here is where all the babies HIV positive under 2 years old are located, where they get the care they need and if after a while their condition is reverted, as sometimes happens, they are sent to Toukoul 1 to be adopted.
The orphanage takes very good care of the children, giving them not only food and education, but also lots of love and affection, and everything is precisely scheduled to keep things running smoothly. In Toukoul work nurses, baby sitters (24 hour service for the babies), pediatricians and maintenance personnel. The orphanage is funded by several french associations and other beneficiaries.
If you want to see an aerial view of Toukoul Orphanage these are the coordinates you need to copy in Google Earth:
9° 1′9.21"N
38°48′24.34"E
And the videos are in my sidebar.
No comments:
Post a Comment