April 23rd is St George’s day – we share a patron saint – but there will be few celebrations in Ethiopia this year.
Ethiopia has declared a state of emergency in the face of the corona virus -a pandemic, that is affecting us all.
But we are not all equally affected. In the county where we work, the Ejere Woreda, there is insufficient water for hand-washing, let alone soap. Social distancing is an impossibility, and, if people stay at home, they cannot work and they do not eat. Starvation is more to be feared than the illness. Their medical infrastructure is the most basic – there is no doctor to serve our population of around 100,000.
What are we doing?
- We have given our people the best advice we can – to stay at home, observe scrupulous hand washing and social distancing.
- We have assured them that their pay will not be stopped.
- Most of the girls in Toby’s House have gone back to their villages, as the High School has closed. The house mother remains with orphan children.
- The girls will continue to recieve their monthly allowance.
- As our work is temporarily suspended, we are diverting a large proportion of our Health budget to help support the local Health Office. They have sent out an appeal, so we know what they need.
Pandemic 2020 mixed media painting by glt
Appeal
You, our most loyal supporters, have many claims made upon you. I often hear ‘Charity begins at home’, but, faced with a global problem, the Planet Earth is our home, and the needs of the most disadvantaged are the greatest. Our fund-raising efforts (Coffee at the wonderful Gilou’s in Bradford on Avon for example) are suspended, so I would urge you to help – if you are a regular donor, please consider increasing your subscription and find a friend to do the same; if you are not a regular – make this a one-off – every penny will go out to Ethiopia to help them deal with the same virus that we are facing.
Please donate what you can via VirginMoneyGiving by clicking here:
Thank You.
Dr Sue Thomas
Chair for-ethiopia
