Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Adigrat (Agenzia Fides) - In northern Ethiopia, in the town of Adigrat and in its vicinity, due to the last border war that ended in 2000 ,many people deported from neighboring Eritrea live, a country that has yet to reach a final peace, with thousands of soldiers on both fronts. This has contributed to the high incidence of HIV / AIDS in the area. For over 40 years the nuns of the Philippine Religious Teachers run a primary school in the city and a center of promotion for women. Both are home to an orphanage with 24 children aged between 4 and 18 years. In a statement of the Catholic Spanish Manos Unidas sent to Fides it states that the house where the orphans live in was built over 40 years ago by the first Bishop of Adigrat, Mgr. Hailemariam Kahsay, from which the centre takes its name. In 2005 the nuns, given the enormous difficulties of survival for children, innocent protagonists of conflict, separated from their families, alone, most of which were abandoned, decided to turn it into a home for orphans. It is estimated that in 2008, worldwide, about 18 million children had to flee their homes as refugees or maladjusted because of conflicts. These children are destined to become the direct victims of violence, disease, malnutrition and death. Many of them have limited access to health services, education or humanitarian assistance. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 05/31/2011)
