Description
Mesganaw is a sweet and shy 5-year-old little boy. His favorite color is green and his favorite animal is a chicken. He lives with his blind father, his mother, two brothers and three sisters. His dad begs to try to earn an income. His mom has the very grueling job of collecting sticks. She leaves very early in the morning to climb the Entoto mountain, she then has to climb up the trees to cut down branches and sticks then bundle up the sticks and branches she collects to sell in the capital city, Addis Ababa (many people still use an open fire for cooking).
Awake & Alive is a champion for educating children in Ethiopia, Africa. The children and families served by Awake & Alive in the Kechene slum (located in the capital of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa) are among the poorest and most marginalized people in Ethiopia.
To further its purpose, Awake & Alive has partnered with Bright Future, a highly reputable Ethiopian nonprofit organization. Together, Awake & Alive and Bright Future opened a school and tutoring center in Kechene for 185 of the poorest and most marginalized children in Ethiopia. Currently, the all-Ethiopian staff provides full educational services for 4 to 7-year-old children, a large majority of which are orphans or half-orphans (one parent deceased). In addition, Bright Future provides medical and general health education for the widows of the half-orphan students.
