CEF Goes to Africa - Partners in the Horn of Africa
By Leah Yee, Social Media Coordinator
On July 3rd, our board members visited two remarkable projects that Partners in the Horn of Africa is helping to sponsor – a prosthetics and rehabilitation facility and a self employment organization for women. Dan Rogers, chairperson of the CEF board, writes about his experience:
“POC is a prosthetics facility which has become much more than that. It is now also a treatment facility, an orthotics facility, a customized wheelchair facility and a fitting/rehab clinic. It is all run without any government or foreign investment money. In the end, it is a wonderful example of how hundreds of adults and kids have been given a better life due to the skills and dedication of a group of amazing people. Partners in the Horn of Africa (PIHA) has provided hard to get raw material in return for POC agreeing to fit 200+ rural kids with prosthetic devices. This is a success story amongst so much poverty!
Later, our afternoon was spent visiting WISE which is another outstanding organization. WISE stand for "Women in Self Employment". Since 1998 this remarkable, home-developed organization comprised of Ethiopian women, has provided training for women in a variety of business and life skills. They have set up dozens of micro-finance cooperatives around Ethiopia that have changed the lives of thousands of families.
PIHA has been supporting WISE since they helped originate and finance a project whereby sixteen women manufactured reusable feminine napkins that PIHA then bought for distribution to other rural women so that they can go to school for the 3 or 4 days they used to stay at home. This is a far more affordable option for these girls who used to drop out of school because they couldn't afford disposable napkins. It’s a remarkable program that is a win/win on both ends.”
The CEF community is amazed to hear about how such innovate work is making a difference in Ethiopia! Many thanks to Partners in the Horn of Africa for all the work they are doing!