Hello, hello! It’s day four in Ethiopia, and with Aanne as our lead, we’ve got another day to focus on youth.
Ethiopia has over two million internally displaced persons, or people who have been forced to leave their home but remain in their home country. Many of these people are children, and many often don’t get to experience the same things that others their age do. Aanne wanted to change that and spark some joy with a group of youth in Bishoftu.
She set out to get a group of 3-15 year-olds a new set of clothes — sports jerseys and shorts — and take them out for dinner. At dinner, sitting in a fresh new set of clothes, all 70 of them tasted French fries for the very first time, and many of them had their first sip of soda. “Being served like this was something special for them,” Aanne said after the meal. “People feel like a ghost in their own country, so bringing joy to them even for just a day meant a lot.”