AHOPE, Ethiopia

BACKGROUND AND HISTORY OF AHOPE FOR CHILDREN

      In 1997, Adoption Advocates International (AAI), based in Port Angeles, Washington, began to provide adoption services for orphaned children in Ethiopia.  It was obvious from the first that there were huge numbers of orphans in that country and that there were not enough orphanages to care for them all.    In response to this need, Adoption Advocates established Layla House in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia.  Layla House is a model of care for orphaned children, described by some visitors as an “oasis” in a desperately impoverished city.

     Every child referred to Layla House is tested for HIV/AIDS upon arrival at the children’s home.  ONE IN EVERY SIX HAS TESTED POSITIVE FOR HIV. So Adoption Advocates established a second home in Addis Ababa, this time one that was exclusively for the care of children orphaned by AIDS who tested positive for HIV.  In 2002, Merrily Ripley, the director of AAI, asked me (Kathryn Olsen), to establish a non-profit corporation to assist in the funding the home for HIV positive children, a local NGO called ENAT HIV Children’s Center. The result was AHOPE for Children, now licensed by the State of Washington as a non-profit corporation and recognized as a tax-exempt charity by the United States Treasury Department.

     In July of 2004, ENAT HIV Children’s Center was replaced by a new NGO, AHOPE Ethiopia.  The former ENAT HIV Children’s Center children and facilities were turned over to AHOPE Ethiopia on July 12, 2004.