Carrying out relief efforts in the country for a long time, IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation has so far included 1,048 orphans in Ethiopia into its Sponsor Family System. The Sponsor Family System was launched by the IHH in 2007. The foundation supports 23,401 orphans as part of this system as of January 2012. The Sponsor Family System does not only change the lives of orphans who stay either with their families or relatives but also the lives of their families. The story of Ethiopian girl Turtu is one of the best examples of this.

Dream of Bulbule Fitora is a new house

Bulbule Fitora lives in Hula Bara village in Ethiopia’s Kofele region. Life became very difficult for her when she lost her husband in 2008. From then on, she was not only a mother for her kids, Abdo, Abduraman, Mustafa and Turtu, but also a father. But when Turtu was included in the IHH’s Sponsor Family System in 2009, not only Turtu’s life but also her entire family’s life changed. Ms. Fitora can send her children to school now thanks to support from the IHH and she repairs her house which is in a poor condition. Dreaming a new house, Ms. Fitora wishes the continuation of the support of the charity givers.

Thanks to the studies conducted by the Charity Development Association in March 2011, a partner of the IHH which has been carrying out orphan relief in Ethiopia since 2006, a list of 1,208 needy children from 10 villages was made. While 1,048 of these children were included in the IHH’s Sponsor Family System, 160 orphans still wait a hand of compassion to be extended to them.