by Shannon Abelson

Created on: February 01, 2011   Last Updated: March 10, 2011

 In today’s society, it is seldom that we hear of people who readily sacrifice their own well-being to assist others. With the heavy focus on individual success, less and less attention is given to humanitarian projects and needy peoples. Yet when we do hear of such benevolent persons, we would do well to step back and admire their courage and selflessness. Abebech Gobena is one such woman, living in underdeveloped Ethiopia who has managed to open eyes and hearts around the world. Founder of Ethiopia’s oldest orphanage, she has devoted a substantial portion of her life in order to benefit the lives of those around her. She has been called “Africa’s Mother Teresa,” and through her limitless kindness and altruism, it is not difficult to find her deserving of the title.

Abebech Gobena began her crusade to improve the lives of disadvantaged children in the wake of a famine in 1980 that devastated the Wollo region of Ethiopia. Originally in the area for a spiritual pilgrimage, Gobena was struck by the desolation in the area. After stumbling upon the scene of a baby girl futilely sucking at the breast of her dead mother, Gobena elected to save the child from the horrors of the situation and brought her home. She subsequently saved another child and continued her rescues until she had eventually plucked 21 children from the grip of death.

This rescue mission came at no small cost to Gobena, whose marriage dissolved as a result. She was undeterred however, and continued saving endangered children, eventually moving into a tiny poultry building so she could raise the children. She resorted to selling her own personal belongings in order to afford to care for the children. The number grew to 200, and in 1988 she received legal permission to raise the children as orphans.

Nowadays, her organization is known as Abebech Gobena Yehtsnant Kebekabena Limatt Dirijit (Abebech Gobena Children’s Care and Development Organization), or AGOHELD and is 12,000 children-strong with six separate branches. AGOHELD is now one of the most successful orphanages in East Africa. The orphanage provides security, vocational training, healthcare, food and boarding for the children under its care. In addition to its goals of improving the lives of children by encouraging them to grow into well-rounded and self-sufficient individuals, AGOHELD also contributes to its neighbors by assisting in community development, doing its part in the fight against HIV/AIDS and providing vocational training for disadvantaged women.

Abebech Gobena is considered one of the most compassionate humanitarians currently living. Through her humanitarian pursuits in rescuing impoverished and deprived children, Gobena is a beacon of hope for the type of generosity our world so badly needs. For that reason, she fully deserves her title of “Africa’s Mother Teresa.”

Sources:

http://www.telecom.net.et/~agos/index.html

http://www.worldvolunteerweb.org/browse/sectors/chil dren/doc/abebech-gobena-a-profile.html

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