Stories of Hope

Moses

Moses' father died when he was very young. His mother tried to provide for him, but she died a few short years later from AIDS. Moses still remembers the morning he found his mother's lifeless body in bed. Nothing could have prepared the young boy for this shock. Around the same time, his baby sister died from malnutrition. She was only four years old.

Daphekat

Darkened by the pain of a disease she contracted from her parents, Daphekat was a lonely, defeated little girl. HIV is a deadly enough disease, but added stress and malnutrition made a bad situation much worse. Rarely was there much to eat, and the tiny diet of potatoes she had wouldn't be giving a healthy child enough nutrients, let alone a body with a weak immune system. No one cared, even as they watched the deadly effects of HIV begin to paralyze an entire side of her body.

Joseph

Born in a shabby mud hut, life for Joseph started out bleak and was filled with violence and terror. While still at a tender, very young age, Joseph watched as his father killed his mother in front of him. His father is now sentenced to a life in prison, but nothing will ever be able to erase those gruesome images from Joseph's mind. He won't talk about it, but out of the few things he does share, he said he never ate dinner.

Abeba

Fifteen-year-old Abeba is ashamed of her life, even though she has no control of how she got there. Over a year ago, a friend approached her parents and offered to help Abeba find work in Addis Ababa, the capital. Spurred by a desperate lack of money and the prospects of a better future for their daughter, Abeba's parents sent her out.

Benji