Abel is 4 yrs old, and his sister Alkida is 5, and they live with their mummy, Estelle, in a one room home that doesn't really constitute the title 'house'.
Set in a muddy courtyard, with several other 'homes' also leading off it and a toilet down the way that they all have to pay to use, there is no reliable electricity, or running water, or even glass in the windows. From the outside this appears to be one of those 'basic as it gets' stories. But as we stepped inside the home, I sensed something more, which i can only attribute to the support Estelle has received from Women At Risk.
I visited Estelle and family last week whilst in Addis Ababa with the CRED team. It was the first home visit I did that week, and I wasn't sure what to expect. But as Estelle shared something of her story, it became clear what a positive impact W.A.R has had on her life, and the lives of her children.
Although she didn't share how she got into prostitution, it was through the outreach work of W.A.R that she realised there could be a way to get out of that lifestyle that she had previously felt so trapped in. The W.A.R workers initially offered a listening ear, and friendship, and slowly gained her trust to the point where Estelle started to believe that the opportunities they were talking about could be true. They shared about their faith in a non-threatening way, and Estelle started to go along to the W.A.R centre, and partake of the various services on offer: counselling, access to training for alternative forms of work, provision of fruit and vegetables, access to medical care, access to literacy classes, life skills training and some financial support to enable her to leave her previous lifestyle. W.A.R also provide for the children as well - health care, education fees, school uniforms, and this will continue until they are 18 years.
Estelle is now trained as a hairdresser, and earns some money using this skill. She can't earn as much as she would like, as she doesn't have the energy to work full time due to being HIV+ve, but she is very grateful to have a form of income-generation that she isn't ashamed of, that she is happy for her children to know about, and that brings pleasure to others in a good way.
It was very clear, listening to Estelle, that she does still have many concerns for the future. As a single mum she doesn't know what the future holds for her children if she should die from HIV and AIDS. But at the same time, listening to her, there was definitely hope shining through.
Thanks to W.A.R, she does know she is not alone, that her children are provided for, and that she will always be able to have access to the medical care she needs. Thanks to W.A.R she has a new employable skill and she has a faith that is very precious to her. Thanks to W.A.R she looks forward with her head held high.
Meeting Estelle and her children was a special moment - it helped to clarify what an incredible organisation W.A.R is, through the tireless work it does, and through the holistic approach it brings to all the ladies it comes across.
Sadly there are still many ladies out there in Addis who need the services of W.A.R, and sadly there are thousands of women around the world in need of the services of a local W.A.R equivalent. That could lead to whole new train of thought and frustration about what kind of a world is this etc, but I'll leave that for another day.
For now I'll close with a picture of Abel, and of Estelle, two lovely examples of lives transformed by people who care, people who love, and people who are the outworking of God reaching down to touch the broken, the hurting and the totally down-trodden.
Set in a muddy courtyard, with several other 'homes' also leading off it and a toilet down the way that they all have to pay to use, there is no reliable electricity, or running water, or even glass in the windows. From the outside this appears to be one of those 'basic as it gets' stories. But as we stepped inside the home, I sensed something more, which i can only attribute to the support Estelle has received from Women At Risk.
I visited Estelle and family last week whilst in Addis Ababa with the CRED team. It was the first home visit I did that week, and I wasn't sure what to expect. But as Estelle shared something of her story, it became clear what a positive impact W.A.R has had on her life, and the lives of her children.
Although she didn't share how she got into prostitution, it was through the outreach work of W.A.R that she realised there could be a way to get out of that lifestyle that she had previously felt so trapped in. The W.A.R workers initially offered a listening ear, and friendship, and slowly gained her trust to the point where Estelle started to believe that the opportunities they were talking about could be true. They shared about their faith in a non-threatening way, and Estelle started to go along to the W.A.R centre, and partake of the various services on offer: counselling, access to training for alternative forms of work, provision of fruit and vegetables, access to medical care, access to literacy classes, life skills training and some financial support to enable her to leave her previous lifestyle. W.A.R also provide for the children as well - health care, education fees, school uniforms, and this will continue until they are 18 years.
Estelle is now trained as a hairdresser, and earns some money using this skill. She can't earn as much as she would like, as she doesn't have the energy to work full time due to being HIV+ve, but she is very grateful to have a form of income-generation that she isn't ashamed of, that she is happy for her children to know about, and that brings pleasure to others in a good way.
It was very clear, listening to Estelle, that she does still have many concerns for the future. As a single mum she doesn't know what the future holds for her children if she should die from HIV and AIDS. But at the same time, listening to her, there was definitely hope shining through.
Thanks to W.A.R, she does know she is not alone, that her children are provided for, and that she will always be able to have access to the medical care she needs. Thanks to W.A.R she has a new employable skill and she has a faith that is very precious to her. Thanks to W.A.R she looks forward with her head held high.
Meeting Estelle and her children was a special moment - it helped to clarify what an incredible organisation W.A.R is, through the tireless work it does, and through the holistic approach it brings to all the ladies it comes across.
Sadly there are still many ladies out there in Addis who need the services of W.A.R, and sadly there are thousands of women around the world in need of the services of a local W.A.R equivalent. That could lead to whole new train of thought and frustration about what kind of a world is this etc, but I'll leave that for another day.
For now I'll close with a picture of Abel, and of Estelle, two lovely examples of lives transformed by people who care, people who love, and people who are the outworking of God reaching down to touch the broken, the hurting and the totally down-trodden.
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