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In 1984, Ethiopia was hard hit by drought, natural calamities, famine, starvation, sickness and war.
As a result of these devastating times and ever-deepening crises or rather an epidemic that threatened the whole country of Ethiopia, approximately 6.4 million people had been displaced and became homeless and helpless. Of these, 2.7 million or roughly 42% were children whose ages ranged from 0 - 14 years.
It was during this time of crisis that Kidest Mulugetta W., a devoted Ethiopian woman, a resident of York, Pennsylvania, USA., began to shed her tears when seeing the starving and dying children of Ethiopia on television. Wanting to do more than shed her tears. , Kidest heartily felt that she should do everything possible to help the orphaned children.
In 1985 she went to Ethiopia, leaving a four-month old baby boy behind. After arriving in Addis Ababa, she got in touch with the World Vision of Ethiopia and made arrangements to visit Ajaibar and Lalibella Relief Camps in the Wollo Region. There she witnessed thousands of orphaned children and dying people due to famine and disease. During her stay at the Relief Camps, she fed her breasts to the orphaned babies and took care of the sick and invalid persons.
Kidest, who has a sympathetic heart for the poor and for people less fortunate than we are, upon her return home, came up with a vision to open an orphanage in Ethiopia.
In 1989 her vision came into reality, and she returned to Addis Ababa to establish an orphanage. Through her continued and hard endeavor, after a year she established an orphanage named “Moses Children’s Home” in Addis Ababa, by obtaining an agreement along with 148 acres of land from the National Children’s Commission of Ethiopia, signed on January 14th, 1989.
The Home was officially opened and became operational in September 1990 with 28 orphaned children who lost their parents in a war in Assoca in 1989.
At present the Home is raising 32 orphaned children by providing food, accommodations, clothing, education, medical care, etc.
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