Girl, 6, embodies Cambodia's sex industry

By Dan Rivers (CNN)

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (CNN) -- At an age when most children might be preparing for their first day of school, Srey, 6, already has undergone trauma that is almost unspeakable. She was sold to a brothel by her parents when she was 5. It is not known how much her family got for Srey, but other girls talk of being sold for $100; one was sold for $10.

Before she was rescued, Srey endured months of abuse at the hands of pimps and sex tourists. (Watch where freed girl is found upon reunion with reporter )
Passed from man to man, often drugged to make her compliant, Srey was a commodity at the heart of a massive, multimillion-dollar sex industry in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. "It is huge," said Mu Sochua, a former minister of women's and veteran's affairs who is an anti-sex trade activist.

The precise scale of Cambodia's sex trade is difficult to quantify. International organizations -- such as UNICEF, ECPAT and Save the Children -- say that anywhere from from 50,000 to 100,000 women and children are involved. An estimated 30 percent of the sex workers in Phnom Penh are under the age of 18, according to the United Nations. The actual figure may be much higher, activists say.

Global sex industry
Around the world, more than 1 million children are exploited in the global commercial sex trade each year, according to the U.S. State Department. The State Department believes Cambodia is a key transit and destination point in this trade.

Sochua said that with millions of Cambodians struggling to live on less than 50 cents a day, many women turn to the sex industry. Poverty is also often what drives parents to sell their child or themselves on the streets.
"Always a child is left behind, often a girl, who is preyed on by traffickers," Sochua added.

Click here to read entire article!

The Audacity of Hope

The Audacity of Hope
by: Nasir Al-Amin
Photo by: Menen Hailu

Recently, I purchased Senator Barack Obama’s book entitled “The Audacity of Hope.” Although I’m intrigued and admittedly inspired by Senator Obama’s ability to be a lawyer, professor, member of Congress and father, it was the allure of the title that made me purchase his text. As the phrase, “the audacity of hope,” reminds me of why I created Alif, rather it reminds me of the children who inspired me to create Alif.

The plight of orphans and vulnerable children is unacceptable by any standards: increased risk of physical and sexual exploitation, malnutrition, limited medical attention, loss of parental protection, an environment of chronic poverty and hopelessness, high rates of school dropouts and child labor. However, the children I met represent the 4 million plus orphans and vulnerable children in Ethiopia that are driven by this brazen and unmitigated optimism in themselves and their future, which I liken to Senator Obama’s phrase “the audacity of hope.”

Such children dare to dream. If you ask them what they want, most will tell you: “I want to go to school to become a teacher…I want to help my country.” These are children who have a vision and the drive. Thus through Alif, I want to match that resolve by affording orphans and vulnerable children with an opportunity to actualize their dream: to be able to attend school and disengage from child labor. For me this is my minute contribution to children who have “the audacity of hope.”

Short Video: The Plight of an Impoverished boy from the Oromo Region

Via: Global Goals

This film conveys the life of 13-year old Gezahegn, who due to his impoverished status has difficulties obtaining a basic education.

Click here to view this short film!

Video: A short film about life in Addis for the impoverished

Via: Global Goals

This film depicts the plight of an impoverished girl, Elene, and her obstacles to education and a healthy, vibrant childhood.

Click here to view this short film!

SUCCESS STORY: Providing hope and support for HIV-affected women

Via: USAID
Battling the Stigma of HIV/AIDS: Providing hope and support for HIV-affected women

Challenge
Several years ago, a young mother in Ethiopia named Tadeleu contracted HIV from her husband, who later passed away from the disease. Her two children, who are HIV negative, live with her mother. She tells of the stigma she faces, both emotionally and socially. “When I found out I had the disease,” she said, “all I could think about was how much I hated myself, and I kept denying that I had the disease. I do not want to become intimate with people, because I fear they will find out my status.”

Initiative
When Tadeleu discovered she had HIV, she started attending support meetings at the Hope Center, a church-based organization established with help from USAID funding. She found a sense of community and a program that would change her life. The Center provided skills, training, and start-up capital for her to begin a small sewing business.

Now, she is too busy to worry about disapproval from her neighbors. Her buyers are often from markets several towns away, because she does not want to deal with local people. Despite the stigma of living with HIV in Ethiopia, she finds relief in the Hope Center. “I am happy that the church has provided support,” she says. “They keep our secrets.”

Results
Vibrant fabrics grace the wall behind Tadeleu where she spends each day hard at work from sunrise to sunset at her manually powered sewing machine. Orders come in regularly, giving Tadeleu confidence in her work and a sense of security. Amidst her tears, a smile breaks out, and she says, “This program has given me life.” With funding for a small business, Tadeleu keeps busy with orders on her self-powered sewing machine.

“This program has given me life,” said Tadeleu, an HIV-positive mother who now runs her own small business.

Snapsot of the Situation: Orphans and Vulnerable Children in Ethiopia

Via: UNICEF
By: Andrew Heavens

Overwhelming numbers
More than 744,000 of Ethiopia’s {6 million} orphans have lost parents to AIDS. These huge numbers are overwhelming extended families and communities who struggle to help where they can.

As a result, many orphans do not go to school, and many are forced to live on the street. They get caught up in child labour, taking on the drudgery of domestic service and the dangers of sex work.

Many orphans have to become the heads of their own households, taking the place of their deceased parents. These young people often sacrifice their own education to guarantee a better future for their younger siblings.

Click here to read entire article!

Two Brooklyn youths join the fight against AIDS in Ethiopia

Via: UNICEF

By Gerrit Beger
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, 30 November 2006 – Kimberly Canady, 19, and Elias Perez, 20, both from Brooklyn, look tired but have a sparkle in their eyes as they arrive in Ethiopia after the 16-hour flight donated by Ethiopian Airlines. It’s the first time either of them has travelled outside the United States.
Tired or not, there is no time to rest. Kimberly and Elias are youth activists on an important UNICEF mission to see firsthand what AIDS is doing to children and young people in a region that has been hard-hit by the disease.

Click here to read entire article!

AIDS impact on children
HIV-positive children orphaned by AIDS? Isn’t that an African story? Not necessarily. But although their story is similar to many others here in Ethiopia, the impact on their lives is worlds apart.

In Ethiopia, too many mothers are still passing the virus to their newborns, even though it could easily be prevented. Thousands of children wait for HIV treatment that is easily accessible in developed countries but a distant hope for most African children in need. Too many young people are infected because they don’t have the knowledge they need to keep themselves safe. And hundreds of thousands who have lost their parents to AIDS face hardships that challenge their potential to survive and thrive.

Click here to read entire article!

Teacher Training Initiative for sub-Saharan Africa (TTISSA)

UNESCO's Teacher Training Initiative for sub-Saharan Africa (TTISSA) is a 10-year project that spans 46 sub-Saharan countries with the mission to enhance national teacher policy and teacher education. The TTISSA aims to synchronize teacher policies, teacher eduation and labour practices with national development priorities for Education for All and the UN Millennium Development Goals for identified sub-Saharan countries.

What follows is the TTISSA National Report--March 2006:

This report was prepared by the TTISSA National Coordinator for Ethiopia to introduce and analyze teacher status in the country (training, status, living and working conditions, etc.), as well as existing teacher training actions. It was presented on the occasion of the First Meeting of National Coordinators for TTISSA held at UNESCO Dakar from 7 to 9 March 2006.
Click here to read the full report!


(Source: UNESCO)

The Polarity between Poverty and Privileged Induced Decisions: Sell myself or Die

by: Nasir Al-Amin

Me: Conjit…Endemensh? (Beautiful…How are you?)
Her: {She smiles at my broken Amharic}
Me: Denanish? (How are you?)
Her: {In her soft barely audible voice she says:}Dena. (Fine)
Me: Ta-faish? (Where have you been?)
Her: {She begins to look down}
Me: What’s going on? Lately no one knows where you are? I send people to your house to check on you and not even your sister knows where you are?
Her: {She continues to stare at the floor}
Me: Talk to me… what’s up?
Me: Conjit…
Her: yes…
--Moments of silence--
Me: Something is going on? And maybe it’s my fault; you told me about your sister’s work {prostitution}, I came to your mother’s funeral, but….
--Moments of silence--
Me: Are you receiving the money I sent?
Me: Did your sister get you into this?
Her: {She continues to stare at the floor}
Me: What happened?
--Moments of silence--
Me: Tell me something. Everyone knew but me…it got to a point that I kept asking about you, but everyone was mute or fumbled on their words. No one wanted to tell me you’re doing this…

As I sit comfortably in the West faced with decisions of either Macchiato or Cappuccino; slacks from Banana Republic or H & M; Indian food, Ethiopian or Thai; during that same breath she made the decision… sell myself or die!


*I wrote this in response to finding out that a girl I met in Ethiopia, who lost both of her parents is now selling her body for cash as a means to secure her basic necessities!

Mulu's Story

Via: UNICEF
Thirteen-year-old Mulu Melka’s soft voice and shy demeanour hide a character marked by courage, determination and steady nerves. When she was 11 years old, Mulu was abducted by a man who locked her up in his house for the night.

Click here to read Mulu's Story as well as the story of ther women!

State of the World's Children 2007 Report

Click here to read this report!

Violence Against Girls in Africa

Violence Against Girls in Africa: A Retrospective Survey in Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda
Via:CRIN

Summary:
On average, eight out of every ten girls surveyed in these reports are being physically abused by the people who they are supposed to trust most. Almost every girl will be psychologically abused in one way or another. And the majority of girls will be sexually abused (95% in Uganda, 85.2% in Kenya and 68.5% in Ethiopia).

Their mothers are tying them up. Their girlfriends are driving them into prostitution. Their teachers are psychologically abusing them. Their boyfriends are forcing them to have sex. Their brothers are kicking them. They witness their loved ones being beaten and even killed. In short, the girls representing the East African countries of Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda are being denied their fundamental right to be a child.

Multimedia: Africa's Children and Sexual Abuse

Via: NYtimes
Click here to watch a clip on Sexual Abuse of girls: Africa’s Children

Sex Abuse of Girls Is Stubborn Scourge in Africa

Via: NYtimes
SAMBAVA, Madagascar — Thirty miles outside this down-at-the-heels seaside town, Justin Betombo tends his vanilla plants and cheers the local soccer team as if he had not a care in the world. And in fact, what was once his greatest worry has been almost magically lifted from his shoulders. In the local prosecutor’s office, a file filled with accusations that he had sodomized his 9-year-old niece has vanished.

Mr. Betombo was arrested in 2003 after the girl, Kenia, said he had savagely assaulted her. The police obtained his confession, which he later recanted, and a doctor’s certificate that Kenia had been sexually violated, rendering her incontinent and anorexic. Twice they sent the case file to the prosecutor.

There matters ended. Mr. Betombo attended one hearing in the prosecutor’s office, but Kenia’s parents say they were not told about it. The records are nowhere to be found. And Mr. Betombo walked away a free man. Kenia’s parents, distressed by what they saw as a travesty of justice, asked that her name be published, hoping that her case would set an example.

Among sub-Saharan Africa’s children, such stories are disturbingly common. Even as this region races to adopt many of the developed world’s norms for children, including universal education and limits on child labor, one problem — child sexual abuse — remains stubbornly resistant to change.

Click here to read the entire article!

CIVIC ACTION FORUM MEETING & CAF DISCUSSION BOARD

CIVIC ACTION FORUM MEETING & CAF DISCUSSION BOARD: GET INVOLVED TODAY!
Alif would like to invite you to its Civic Action Forum (CAF) that will convene this Friday, December 8th at 7PM. CAF is an action-oriented initiative that convenes monthly with the aim to move beyond mere dialogue and debate and into the development of tangible interventions to address critical issues faced by Ethiopia’s underserved and marginalized populations.

The location for the CAF meeting on Dec. 8th is Teachers College (Columbia University Campus) Russell Hall 3rd Floor, room 306.

Additionally, please join Alif online as it launches its online CAF Message Board for the Civic Action Forum (CAF). The six priority areas identified by the group are the following:
A Book Drive
The Hiwot (Life) Campaign
The Awakening Project
The Lalibela Project
Investing in Africa
Girls’ Education

The priority areas are not limited to these 6, thus your input is welcomed.

I hope to see each of you on both the CAF Discussion Board and at this weeks CAF meeting. Feel free to invite anyone you think might be interested in either of these action-oriented endeavors.

Click here to join the CAF Discussion Board

THE AURA OF A PESSIMIST

The Aura of a Pessimist
by: Nasir Al-Amin

"The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty....” (Winston Churchill)
In times of difficulty, the optimist will spend his or her time thinking of ways to be an agent of change and the pessimist will spend his or her time talking! They both have a right to exist, but I also have the right to shield my soul and intellect from the aura of a pessimist, which siphons creativity, misguides the mind and cultivates a state of inertia.

“The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing....” (Albert Einstein)

A SINCERE COMMITMENT

A SINCERE COMMITMENT ON WORLD AIDS Day

As we wind down from the arduous demands of this work week—appointments, assignments, travel and deadlines—let’s take a moment to reflect on what also occurred, albeit clandestinely:

This week in Ethiopia, approximately 5,000 new HIV infections will have been recorded, exacerbating an already dire situation marked by an estimated 2.8 million people infected and close to a million children orphaned by AIDS.

Twenty-five years after the first case of AIDS was recorded, let’s make World AIDS Day a day of commitment: a sincere commitment both in time and resources, to these 5,000 new HIV infections and a commitment to the 2.8 million people infected, as well as the children orphaned by AIDS. Ethiopia has one of the largest HIV/AIDS-affected populations in the world. The time to act is now!

Join Alif in its efforts to address the plight of orphans and vulnerable children in Ethiopia!

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
(Martin Luther King Jr.)

Click here to make the Commitment Today!

A Moment of Reflection on Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving & the Hiwot (Life) Campaign:
by: Nasir Al-Amin

“Investing In Our Shared Future”

A Moment of Reflection on Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving offers not only a time for families and friends to gather, but also a time to remember and reflect on the vital possessions that we have such as food, shelter, health and physical security. Thus, as we end this day of gathering and reflection, lets take a moment to reflect on the plight of the 4.6 million orphans in Ethiopia; on the 30 percent of girls in Addis Ababa aged 10-14 that are not living with their parents, who were forced to run away from child marriages; lets reflect on the 8,000 sex workers that extreme poverty has forced into the sex trade; on the widowed mothers that earn $7.50 a month collecting trash, which is not enough to pay for food, rent and school fees. Make this Thanksgiving different, help Alif in its effort to contribute to a family’s effort to secure food, shelter and an education for their child.

Hiwot (Life) Campaign
Is an initiative to disengage 50 children from child labor, while simultaneously affording these 50 children with the opportunity to go to school and contribute financially to their family’s survival. Additionally, the cost of school fees, uniforms and school supplies are covered through the Hiwot Campaign, as well as each family is provided with $20 a month in an effort to aid them in securing their basic necessities: food, clothing and shelter.

Click here to join the Hiwot (Life) Campaign!

A Night of Networking and Purpose

I would like to thank you all for joining Alif at Queen of Sheba Ethiopian Restaurant, for "A Night of Networking and Purpose,” on Saturday, November 18th in Alif's effort to raise awareness and funds for its Hiwot (Life) Campaign. The Hiwot (Life) Campaign is an initiative to send 50 orphans and vulnerable children to school in Ethiopia.

Through your support Alif was able to raise enough funds to educate 4 children next year! Your contribution/investment to the Hiwot Campaign will have both an immediate and long-term effect on the life of a child and Ethiopia. The immediate effect of your contribution is actualized by a poor family’s ability to secure food, shelter and other basic necessities. The long-term effect, is seen in affording a child an education, which enhances a child’s and Ethiopia’s human capital, thus aiding in breaking the intergenerational transmission of poverty.

Again, I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to all of you for attending and investing in a child’s life—Our Shared Future!

Sincerely,
Nasir

*Additionally, Alif would like to thank the owner of the Queen of Sheba Ethiopian Restaurant for affording Alif the opportunity to facilitate this event at the restaurant. For more information about Queen of Sheba click here!

Ethiopia: Steady increase in street children orphaned by AIDS

Via: UNICEF
“I have not seen one good thing about living on the street. Everything is horrible,”
(Mandefro Kassa, 14-year-old street child)

Ethiopia counts one of the largest populations of orphans in the world: 13 per cent of children throughout the country are missing one or both parents. This represents an estimated 4.6 million children – 800,000 of whom were orphaned by HIV/AIDS. The country has seen a steady increase in the number of children becoming orphaned because of AIDS. In the past, famine, conflict and other diseases were the main factors that claimed the lives of parents

Grim statistics
Many street children like Mandefro don’t have access to basic rights such as proper care, education, psychological support and supervision. Often, orphans and other vulnerable children are forced to work to earn an income. They are exposed to various forms of exploitation, including sexual exploitation.
In Addis Ababa more than 30 per cent of girls aged 10-14 are not living with their parents. Twenty per cent of these 30 per cent have run away from child marriages.

Twelve per cent of adolescents aged 10-14 – of the 30 per cent not living with their parents – surveyed in two areas of Addis Ababa were domestic workers. They are very young, very vulnerable to exploitation and abuse, and typically have no legal or social support.

In the Amhara region, the average age of marriage for girls is 14, while at the national level the mean age for marriage is 17. There are about 2.5 million children with disabilities.

No social net for vulnerable children
Very few government services help orphans. The primary coping strategy for communities has therefore been the extended family. Increasingly, however, the capacity of the extended family to support the growing numbers of orphans is declining.

“As more and more parents die, the capacity of the extended family to take care of orphans becomes smaller and smaller,” says Björn Ljungqvist, UNICEF Representative in Ethiopia. “In all countries where you have a big HIV/AIDS epidemic, at first you don’t see any orphans at all, as they are absorbed by the traditional systems. And then all of a sudden you seem to reach some type of breaking point and you start finding these children in the streets, you start finding them working in difficult conditions, you start finding even child-headed households.”

Click here to read entire article!