GREETINGS AND THANKS

(Written by Godbless and Neema)

 

In a country where poverty impact is 80% of the population keeping children healthy, educated, giving them greater child right and protection is a daily struggle.


Bethel Home and school is a registered non-profit community organisation (no: 3604 yr. 2008.) devoted to assist children who are living without parents (orphans)/ relatives to take care of them, abandoned children and children from poor and hardship families. Therefore Bethel home and school is mainly established to deal with these 3 groups under the supervision of Rev. Godbless and Neema. (Bethel Home and school is what is called Barneheimen in the blogg – comment from Bjørn) 

 ORPHANS
 Bethel orphans children; are children who the parents have died mostly due to the deadly disease HIV/AIDS . As the HIV/AIDS pandemic take its toll, many children have been left without parents to take care of them. So such children there some of them who have decided to come by themselves to live with other children in Bethel while others were brought to us by close relatives like brothers/sisters (Orphans).

 Normally orphans handed over to Bethel with their full life historical background but sometimes Bethel has to seek and establish vivid historical background of children. In collection of someones' history we do involve local health clinics (doctors), village officials and close relatives. In Bethel orphans get education from nursery to university level, food, clothes and medication and shelter. This provision has been possible through sincere support from compassionate friends.

 There are 21 children in the group Orphans.

 

ABANDONED

   These are the children who were abandoned by parents/ families mostly after the families been involved in conflict, redundancy, unemployment or long time sickness/ incurable diseases. So sometimes such situation tend to form these kind of children. And due to the lack of proper care leads the children to roam around and some become street children. Although, the greatest cause of  existence of this group is poverty.

   Like orphans this come to know Bethel by coming themselves running from their families, grandparents guardians as a way to escape the hardship kind of life. But some of them were brought by grandparents, other close relative who found it difficult to take care of them, or social well being agencies. And like the first group in cooperation with their respective relatives we manage to construct their historical life background which is of great help in providing them with their necessary needs like medication, education , clothes, food  and shelter.

There are 20 children in the group Abandoned.

 HARDSHIP & VULNERABLE CHILDREN

 There are 39 children in the group Hardship and vulnerable children.

 These are children emerged from very poor families whereby can not afford to take care of them, due to different reasons, like;

     - body disabilities

     -unexpected pregnancies (mothers got pregnancy during schooling time, raped)

     -sick families

     -imprisonment

     -unemployment.

But still poverty remained a major causative for the emergence of this group.

 

For this reason, apart from Government school curriculum, Bethel has decided to improve the wellbeing of children by teaching them about children's rights and HIV education, improving access to nutritious food and enterprise culture for self sustainability within a society.

(If you add the numbers in the different groups, 21 + 20 + 39, the result is 80. There are 9 more children living in Bethel Home and School. These are children where their parents live too far away to meet at school on daily basis. Comment from Bjørn)

 

Many greetings to you from Bethel Community.

From your friends Godbless and Neema.