News

End of project activity in its previous form

23 January 2015
The plans to construct new buildings for Godanaw on newly acquired land on the outskirts of Addis Ababa and to restart the project activity in its previous form have proven not accomplishable due to ethnic issues. Hence there aren't any possibilities left for Godanaw to continue the project activity that has been going on for the last almost 20 years as described on this website. This website will remain unchanged for documentation purposes.

But Mulatu, the programme director, is not the one to just give up: As multifaceted as there are forms of poverty in Addis Ababa are the different possibilities to help. Mulatu started two new personal aid projects:

• In Addis Ababa, there is an institution called Shalom Baby Care Centre. In parts, its goals are similar to those of Godanaw: Providing day care for small children and thus enabling their mothers to go working in order to secure their livelihoods. In order to do so, Shalom Baby Care Centre cooperates directly with a nearby shoe factory where the young mothers go to work during the day. Mulatu contributes his services directly to this project and supports it in many ways.




• Mulatu has contacted as many young mothers who have been rehabilitated at Godanaw as possible and has questioned them about their current living conditions. He learned that many of the children that were babies during their time at Godanaw are now going to school and that the related costs (school fees, school uniforms, studying material) lead to financial problems for many of the young mothers. Mulatu continues to collect donations and uses them to buy the required material and to pay the school fees directly at the respective schools. This way, he enables the children to attend school and at the same time unburdens the young mothers who secure their livelihoods with their daily work.

Please continue to support Mulatu's charitable work financially. By doing so, you contribute directly to helping poor young mothers of Addis Ababa and their children to break free of the vicious circle of poverty and street life. Information on ways to help can be found in the Get Involved section. Thank you!

Slow progress

18 December 2013
Preparations for the construction and provisional project operation:

• Mulatu has organised all necessary official documents for the construction of the new buildings.
• The construction contract has been put out to tender, and construction of the first of a total of seven planned blocks will start soon.
• Since the construction work will probably take a long time, Mulatu has hired an existing building in the vicinity of the new land. Here, provisional project operation is taking place with 20 street girls and their children.

New Land

6 November 2012
Godanaw is starting to realise the plan to move the whole project to new premises:

• The organisation has acquired 10,000 square metres of land outside of Addis Ababa.
• Electricity and water are already there, and a temporary office building has been erected.
• Construction work on the new buildings will start shortly.
• In order to be prepared for the move, no new beneficiaries have been admitted in the near past and all of the street girls who were present in the project have been rehabilitated.
• As soon as possible, new beneficiaries will be admitted on the new premises. There is already a waiting list of 132 street girls waiting to be admitted.
• On the existing premises, a total of 6,500 street girls have been rehabilitated since the establishment of Godanaw.

New challenges

20 January 2012
Godanaw is facing new challenges:

• The Ethiopian government has introduced a new legislation that forces anyone who employs workers (regardless of whether it is a business enterprise or a charity NGO like Godanaw) to pay a percentage of the employees' wages into a providence fund. This is another burden on Godanaw's budget which has always been tight - even before the introduction of this obligation.


• The City Kebele Administration has followed through with its plans to take away the premises of Godanaw's training centre. As a consequence, the computer trainings and Godanaw's vegetable garden had to be given up. In order to be able to keep up the other trainings, the office buildings have been modified with additional divider walls to create training rooms in the office compound. However, due to the limited space, this can only be a temporary solution.
  
  Therefore, Godanaw is currently planning to move to new premises on the outskirts of Addis Ababa. This move is currently in the planning phase and raises a lot of questions about land ownership, permits, licences and the construction of new buildings. Of course, this will require a lot of funds, so Godanaw needs your support more than ever.

New building

16 March 2011
Godanaw is preparing a new central building for all project activities. The size will be approx. 1200 sq.m in a three storey building. The cost will be an estimated 2220 USD; this does not include interior equipment and furnishing.

The new construction will replace the existing container-like buildings. The replacement follows the strategy of the City Administration of Addis Ababa to upgrade the quality of buildings in Kirkos sub-city (the slum area where Godanaw is operating) and is essential for survival and continuation of the project.

Godanaw is now looking for financial support for the project.

Sketches of the construction plan can be viewed and downloaded here and here.

Difficult times at Godanaw

19 November 2010
Godanaw is currently facing difficult times:

• Mulatu had a severe car accident: A bus with defective brakes hit his car. He and his passenger suffered several broken bones and further injuries, but are on the road to recovery after having been hospitalised for several days. The project is facing logistical and financial problems because of the loss of the vehicle.
• The city administration and local Kebele institutions are planning to reclaim one of the sites that have so far been given to Godanaw free of rent. It is the biggest site where Godanaw has undertaken the erection of the training centre by own means. If the plans are realised, this would mean the end of the trainings for the street girls and therewith for one of the most important aspects of their rehabilitation.
• An epidemic broke out in the shelters which led to the death of several babies. Although the sick babies were taken to hospital immediately, they could neither be saved nor could the cause of the epidemic be determined. When the outbreak became known, further problems with representatives of the government and the city administration arose.

This particular strike of bad luck not least causes severe financial problems for the whole organisation. Godanaw - GRIP needs your support more than ever! Information on ways to help can be found in the Get Involved section.

Youtube

22 November 2009
Godanaw is on YouTube! You are invited to take a look at our video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m63i3-p8S90