More about Mercy Ministry’s Efforts

Until very recently, children in Ethiopia were not required to go to school; although attendance is now compulsory, it is not enforced. Many children who may (or may not) have started their education drop out when they’re old enough to beg with their parents or do menial labor for a meager income that nonetheless contributes to the family.

            Another deterrent to education is that even public school costs families money here:

Registration Fee (avg.): 185 Birr (US$10.52)

Uniform, shoes: 350 Birr ($19.90)

Text books: 250 Birr ($14.22)

Composition books, writing utensils: 120 Birr ($6.82)

TOTAL Cost for Schooling per Year: 1,090 Birr ($61.99)

Average annual income in Ethiopia: 5,275 Birr ($300.00)

Further, considering that the fertility rate in Ethiopia is the highest in the world at 5.4 children per mother, the challenge is obvious.

(As a matter of interest, wealthy Ethiopians, who generally value education and can afford to send their children to private schools, spend anywhere between $100 and $170 per 3-month term for registration feed or on average about $500 per year, plus uniforms, books, etc.).

The economic barrier isn’t the only factor keeping children from school: most parents themselves are uneducated, as were their parents before them, and their parents and their parents … “education” hasn’t even been a consideration, let alone a goal. It appears that this ignorance is being addressed, but it will be generations before a child is born and a new parent wonders if “Maybe someday he’ll be a doctor” as opposed to today’s reality: “How will I feed this child?”

Given these daunting challenges, Mercy Ministry’s efforts may seem trifling, but their ambition is sincere, if not noble. The original vision for the program was to take street children out of homeless situations so they could live full-time in the home. Fifty-one children were given that opportunity. Since then, another 51 children have been day students and all but the 15 who are still here preparing for school have entered into the local public school system. Of the 102 total children who have passed through Mercy Ministry’s Happy Children’s Home, 90 are still in school; 4 children moved out of the area when their parents found employment (with Mercy Ministry’s assistance); 2 were adopted out of the country (one who was orphaned and one whose parents chose for him to have a better life outside of Africa); and the other 6 are working or begging to contribute to the family income.

Mercy Ministry’s mission is to stick with these kids throughout their matriculation by providing ongoing academic monitoring; home visits and counseling to address family issues that might be barriers to a child completing his or her education; skill development for parents (many of the parents of the children I teach earn their income through begging on the street); and resources including tuition fees, school expenses, and medical attention. Parents are contractually obligated to keep their child in school; benefits cease if children return to the street to beg or are otherwise put to work.