Our Projects

Shelter Care

The Shamida Shelter provides a loving home for orphans and vulnerable children. We provide food, shelter, clothing, care and medical care, and transition children into foster-to-adopt placements. We believe that these babies/children deserve to be loved and cared for free from any harm or worries. These children are from all walks of life some as young as a few days old, some 15 years, many with special needs and some without. Currently, there are around 30 children living in this home as we aid in transitioning as many as possible into foster-to-adopt placements.

Collaboration at Government Institutions

Since 2022, Shamida has been collaborating with the Addis Ababa Bureau of Women, Children, and Social Affairs at the government orphanage, Kebebe Tsehay (KT). We signed the first-of-its-kind Public Private Partnership to support the government in three key areas: capacity building for the staff, physical renovations, and digital system implementation. The goal of this strategic partnership is to dramatically improve the health and safety of the approximately 150 children (ages 0-8) being cared for at KT year round and ultimately the deinstitutionalization of the facility turning it into a transition center.

Due to our great success, Shamida has recently amended the project to include the Kechene Girl’s Home where we will partner in similar ways. While we will be taking on renovation works, capacity building for the staff and girls and implement digital systems, our longer term goals are to see the compound deinstitutionalized and become a thriving training centre for these girls and the surrounding community.

In May 2024, we built and inaugurated a new industrial kitchen for the Juvenile Remand Center in an effort to provide more nutritious meals for the incarcerated juveniles. This includes two new storerooms, a dining area for the kids and staff bathrooms. Long term, our staff will be facilitating training for both staff and children, together with sports activities on the compound.

Women Empowerment

Shamida believes strongly in empowering and uplifting vulnerable women. This program aims to educate, train, and provide seed money for single mothers. Shamida provides clothes for the women and their children together with transport to and from the training. The goal of this program is to see these mothers become able to provide for their children. Without this program many of these women might otherwise abandon their children. While abandonment is a criminal offence in Ethiopia, we cannot imagine (especially from a mothers perspective) the grief and despair of being at the point when you felt there was no other option but to abandon your children and therefore try to prevent this through our women empowerment program.

Sponsoring Children

Shamida sponsors children under the age of 18 years. It is important to understand that these children are not orphans and live with their families. However, they live in very impoverished circumstances. Shamida provides basic materials (including school uniforms and shoes), and pays tuition fees and transportation allowance for transport for children. While the school fees for local schools in Ethiopia are not expensive, as compared to the western world, the main problem with many children is that they cannot physically get to the closest school. We understand that schooling is a luxury that most of us take for granted, and here at Shamida we are advocates for and believe that education is the key to ending poverty.