Why SafeHouse Ethiopia?

Safe House Ethiopia was founded in 2006 by Victor Ozeri, an American citizen. For four years prior to that, Mr. Ozeri had been traveling to Ethiopia regularly in order to lend assistance to children (mostly girls), for the purposes of continuing their education. Children in countryside villages are kept out of school in order to assist their parents in subsistence farming so there may be enough food for one or two meager meals for their family each day.

The children living in the city of Addis Ababa fare much worse. While boys are kept in school, it is traditional for the girls to be sent out to the streets to beg (girls get more sympathy than the boys) therefore, it is not uncommon for a girl to quit school as early as the second grade and be sent out to beg or engage in child labor for her family. A good month will bring in approximately $12.00 from a child’s labors on the streets. That $12 dollars per month is often the difference between a family eating one meal or two meals a day.

Watching these “beggar children” on the streets of the Ethiopian capital is a gut wrenching experience, and yet with their dignity and their complete willingness to help their families, these young girls must face unimaginable dangers in their every day lives…from the 6 year old begging in the middle of a street with heavy traffic to the 12 year old that is told she will be given extra money for engaging in sexual acts with a man…the message is very clear. What is considered small money in the United States can actually save a girl’s life. Please read on.