The first house opens at the Bekoji Children’s Village

Stand by Me is pleased to announce the opening of a brand new home for orphaned and abandoned children in Bekoiji. The first three children to be welcomed into the home are Miser and her two younger sisters, Meaze and Bogalech. With no parents or relatives to care for them, they had wandered the streets of Bekoiji seeking food, shelter, warmth and the love of an adult, all of which seemed a million miles away.

The great day finally arrived, it was time to move from their temporary home of the last 18 months with its few amenities, no electricity or running water, to their new home. The excitement and joy were overwhelming, the laughter contagious.
A dining room with tables and chairs, bedrooms and bunks, toilets and showers and even running water, glass in the windows and light from a generator. Could this really be home for Miser, Meaze and Bogalech? “Yes”, they were assured by Stand by Me staff and they immediately bounced on their beds.

The three sisters, once so vulnerable, Tilahun, alone in the world, Grace, abandoned on the streets at just three months old and Chaltu along with Corrie, a widow, their loving mum were home at last. Secure, safe and happy. But this is just the beginning, many other homeless and needy children still wander Bekoiji’s streets, vulnerable, desperately seeking care. We are now busy building two more children’s homes to accommodate children like our first Stand by Me family who are now successfully housed in our first home named ‘Jane’s Home’ after Jane Gilchrist, a lady with a big heart for the children of Bekoiji.