A Charity Organization That Gives Hope to Many

Because life is full of ups and downs, it has bitter and sweet sides. And in this journey of ups and downs, there are many who have fought the challenges of life, ended the bitter struggle of yesterday and enjoyed the sweet phase of the journey.

The good work done by the founder and director of Life Center, Mulu Girmay, can be mentioned as an example of this kind of life experience. Mulu and her family have had their share of ups and downs. For many years, Mulu's family was in danger, and she faced the challenge of raising her children without a father.

After living in a refugee camp in Kenya for three years, Mulu and her children had the opportunity to cross into the United States. It is not hard to imagine how difficult it would be to raise two children without a father in the midst of migration, being in a new country and being separated from your family. Mulu's struggle and responsibility of raising her children without their father was not easy.

After 12 years of living in America, Mulu went back to Ethiopia to visit her mother. At that time, she had no plans to engage in charity activities. However, what she saw in Ethiopia made her remember the ups and downs of life she went through.

"After I came to Ethiopia and saw children and mothers begging, I had no rest," Mulu said. “There is a double responsibility that a mother carries when raising her children alone. Even so, it is not possible to fill the position of their father," she said.

"I raised my children by sacrificing myself. I have seen the emotional, living, health and physical pressures mothers face when raising their children alone. All these things made me think about mothers and children who raise their children without a father in poverty," she explained.

"I know the brokenness that children face when they grow up without a father, so I started to think that I should start something to help these children and their mothers,” Mulu said. “I didn’t have the money to pay for this dream; I had only the wishes and desires. I decided to establish an institution that would do charity work. I started helping three children on my own side by side while I was going through the permit and licensing process.”

"After I got the license, we also issued a similar license in America to see if we can get philanthropists in America involved in what we were trying to do. The work continued slowly with the funds from the USA supporting the work in Ethiopia.

I believe that Life Center was conceived and born because of the suffering I went through. Life Center was born from my own life. If I hadn't gone through that life, maybe I wouldn't be involved in this kind of work. I think that God used my suffering to give birth to Life Center.”

Founded in 2013, Life Center is a humanitarian institution that focuses on children who have lost their parents, as well as mothers who raise their children alone without a father. It provides monthly financial support for children and business training and start-up money (in the form of loans) for mothers. The financial aid children receive is used for food, health, schooling and other care.

Life Center collaborates with districts and cities to recruit children and mothers who need support and provide financial and training support. Mothers are trained for three days. Through the training, they are given an understanding of how business works, how to save money, be profitable and grow out of poverty.

The purpose of the training is to instill the spirit of possibility by removing the thought of poverty from their minds. After the training, the professionals of the institute identify the field of work in which the mothers want to work and provide them with the necessary resources for the work. Then, Life Center loans them the money they need for their work. This allows the money to be used for the intended purpose. The experts of the organization monitor how the individuals perform their work and in what conditions they live. The initial money the women received from the organization is paid back within 18 months, and is them be used to help other women. Life Center’s advice that "other women will use the money you have returned" encourages the women to work hard and return the money.

According to Mulu, Life Center not only provides support to children and mothers, but also carries out human development activities.

"The financial assistance that children receive through sponsorship helps them with food, health, school and other cares. Others will need additional support. For example, when the children come home from school, there is no one to teach them and help them do their homework. Most of the parents are poor and uneducated and will not help the children, so we hire a teacher and give them tutoring after school. We help them with their education, health and counseling services.”

"There are many trainings that are given to them at every age level to help them change their behavior and grow up to be good citizens. We will make sure that they don't go out on the streets, get into trouble, and make it difficult for them and their families. We also train their parents to support them,” Mulu said. “Through the Family Training Program, we provide training on child rearing. In cases of family conflict, we help to solve the problem. We work not only for the children to eat and sleep, but also for them to have a healthy mind. We strive to mold them into people who fear God, respect their parents and love their people and country.”

“Just throwing money around is pointless. I firmly believe that I have to make a promise to God to love and care for these children as my own and do the work from my heart. Our desire is that the children grow up with good morals and become good citizens and become good leaders tomorrow," Mulu said. “Apart from the training and financial support that the organization provides to mothers, they also monitor how the mothers raise their children, what kind of relationship they have with their neighbors and how they do business.”

Life Center has a family and community oriented approach to the upbringing and support of children who have lost their parents. Mulu believes that it is a better strategy for children to grow up and live with their close families and relatives than to raise them in a child care institution because they need family and community care and supervision.

Mulu says with confidence that this good work of Life Center has yielded results. Life Center has been able to benefit 280 children who have lost their parents so far.

There are also 275 businesses that the women themselves have started and run. Life Center believes that instead of increasing the number, it is better to help the supported children and mothers with quality and at the level they deserve and need.

"We are seeing amazing changes," Mulu said citing the examples of young people like Tsion and Bethlehem who grew up with the help of Life Center and are now working on their own. Tsion is a strong woman who grew up, studied and graduated at Life Center and is now the owner of her own liquid soap brand. Tsion’s business was visited by EFDR President Sahlework Zewde and other ministers. Bethlehem is also the fruit of Life Center’s work and has a well-known clothing business.

Life center is proud of Tsion, Bethlehem and all the other women and children for their dedication and success.