ABOUT US
Messert Ethiopia is a non-profit humanitarian organization established by seven Ethiopians in 1999 in New York City, USA. The mission of the organization is to identify currently urgent social problems that affect children in Ethiopia and work towards alleviating them.
The objective of the organization is finding long-term sponsors and raising funds for children programs in Ethiopia while advocating for the overall well-being of undeserved children and by extension their families.
The organization works in partnership with a local NGO, Saint Stephen's Charitable Center; collaborating on fundraising developing and running programs that provide free education, school supplies, school uniform, clothing, medical treatment, after school tutoring that includes hot meal, library service and recreational activities to children from destitute families.
The main focus of the collaboration is on the education of under served children, creating opportunities that would improved their lives; instilling in them a can-do spirit, smoothing out impediments that lie between them and attaining a better life; helping them avoid the pitfalls of becoming a product of their environment. The main mantra of the organization therefore became "making a child's dream, a child's reality."
For the last 19 years the organization in collaboration with its partner organization has been running holistic, child focused programs in Teklehaimanot and Burayu localities.
The Teklehaimanot program caters for children that come from destitute families in the area, where parents are mainly engaged in petty treading and low-paying menial jobs. The origination runs an after school center as part of its program here, where children are provided with a nutritional hot meal, homework assistant and tutoring. The center, above all offers a safe haven for these children whose parents are away from home earning their livelihood when the children get home from school. Center is also used to hold meeting with the families and celebrate holidays and the children's achievements. Currently there are 30 children under this program.
The Burayu program started as a group home for 14 orphaned children, run by a housemother and assisted by a cook. The home that was first opened in 2000 has raised the first 14 children and is now home to 8 orphaned abandoned children from the locality. The program also has a sponsorship program similar to the Teklehaimanot program that serves 20 children from the surrounding villages. After school program is not offered as the children live spread out.