Out of the Frying Pan and into the Fire.

To say that Moms living in poverty in the slums sometimes face very difficult decisions would rank as the understatement of the year.  Every day these moms face challenging situations that would challenge any of us to the core.  Yet, day after day Moms make choices, trying to make the best  decisions for the sake of their child and their future.  They love their kids.

Sometimes we don’t agree with the decisions that Moms make, yet that’s okay because they are faced with stark realities that we cannot even begin to try to understand.  The complexities of their situations are not something we can simply process through rationally most of the time.  Much of the time we don’t have answers.  There especially are not any easy answers or trite phrases to offer.

About 3 months ago, one of the Moms in the project faced a gut wrenching decision.  When her rent instantly doubled for the little mud walled and tin roofed room that she rents, she took action.  She moved out of the house and started searching for other rooms.  However, she was faced with the stark reality that all of our Moms face – Inflation stinks.  She found that all the rooms in the area had increased in price  and were unaffordable to her.

Before we could intervene, she had already made her mind up that she needed to move to a different area outside of the city where rents were affordable.  This would mean leaving the project.

So, she moved to an area outside of the city where rent is much less.  It actually is at the rate that most of the Moms living in the slum were paying just 1 ½ years ago – 85 ETB (or about $5 per month).  This was great compared to the 400 ETB ($22 per month) that she was facing in her current house.  Now, life could be affordable again.

But, after moving, a different set of challenges surfaced.  Where could she work now that she was outside of the city where jobs were more difficult to find?  What would she do with her child so that she could work?  Where would her next meal come from?  And slowly life started again taking a toll on her and her daughter.

A few days ago this mom came into our office begging us to let her back into the project.  Both she and her child are not doing well.  They are both malnourished, not having had enough money to eat for some time now.  She knows that she faces challenges living here in the slum, BUT she knows that she doesn’t face them alone.

We welcome her back and are excited to partner with her again.

This is one of those moments where we are so filled with joy to have great partners who help us help moms in these kind of situations.  We are now able to welcome this Mom and her child back into the project and walk with them for as long as the Mom would like us to.  Fortunately, she gets another chance for her family to stay together and for them to see cycles broken…because of people like you.

This Christmas time you can help us intervene in Moms lives like this Mom and her child through family sponsorships.  You help us to be there for them and building relationships so that Moms don’t have to face the seemingly insurmountable circumstances alone.

Thank you for being with us and for continuing to spread the word!  www.EmbracingHopeEthiopia.com/sponsorships/