Account info:
SWIFT = AASPNO22    Sparebanken Sør, 3770 Kragerø , Norway.
IBAN = NO1828011723251  Adama-prosjektet, v/Karin Rønning, Rønningvn. 13, 3770 Kragerø. _____

About the Project:

The picture above was taken Nov. 2008.  Part one is finished!!

Vision:

Our vision is creating and sustaining Childrens home for orphans in Adama, (Nazareth) Ethiopia. The project is twofold.  Part one is to create a continual and sustainable income source for the Childrens home. This is a Conference hotel that contains three buildings a cafeteria, hotel and conference hall. When the project is ready to begin service, all profit will be reinvested into the construction of the Children’s home. The project will serve as sustainable income to run the Childrens home indefinately, thus making it as independant as possible.
I would like to thank all of you who have been so generous both in terms of funds and concrete acts of service from the moment I forwarded the letter of financial support for the assembling of Adama project till now. Surely, we could never have done all this without your help and we continue to need your help! Thank you.

 The official name of the project in Norway is the Adama-prosjektet, Norge.

The Adama project in Norway is registered in Brønnøysundregisteret and has obtained an
official organization nr. - 991758895.

VVS Bømle is sponsoring the projects homepage: http://www.adamaprosjektet.no. Currently the homepage is under construction but it will be continually improved and updated. We hope that the homepage will be a more current representation of the second part of the project’s progress in the near future. We are also working on sponsors that are willing to pay for links to their web sites. We also want to dedicate this webpage to express our gratitude to all of those who are permanent contributors to the Childrens home. But if you don’t have access to internet we can send you newsletter updates twice a year. If you would like to receive the newsletters by post please send me your address and I will add you to our mailing list.

Latest news: updated 24.11.08.

The latest is that we have taken a bankloan, 3.5mill NOK, to finish the first of the twofold.                          A lot has happened since the container left Norway in September 2007. The container arrived in Adama via Djibouti port. The container includes 89 doors that have already been installed. The cafeteria is open to provide service and so on. We were amazed. After mang tears, long meetings and prayers, the cafeteria is now opened. Delicious Ethiopian coffee will be served from the coffee machine that is bought from seamen’s home in Kristiansand and serving cups from the chapel, chairs and tables were sent from a cafeteria in Haugesund and Kopervik. Jars were sent from Sagavoll, a gas cooker from Sør Tre Bruk and so on. Many have been extremely generous and the project is now well on its way. 

Progress

We hope that we will begin construction of the orphanage home by May 2009 if not, we are optimistic it will be soon there after.

Who started the project?

GENET JOSEPH – an Ethiopia, who for the time being is in Adama (Nazareth), Ethiopia. Genet came to Norway in 1986 as refugee. The Oslo city government applied for her to study in Valdres folk high school and she was accepted as a student while I, Karin Rønning, was director of the school. We have been in contact since the time I met her at the school. After she went back and visited her home country she came to me and asked if I could help her to make possible the creation of a Children’s home in Ethiopia. She said, “I cannot sleep and live here with comfort while children are without parents, starving and naked”. Meanwhile, I gave her my promise to assist her. Genet is now following the daily progress of the project. She is very responsible guardian of the prosjekt. Genet and her husband, Yidnekachew Bekele Fantaye, are responsible for all progress that is occurred with the prosject in Ethiopia.

KARIN RØNNING - I myself tried to give help and find others to support creation and completion of our vision concerning the establishment of the childrens’ home. I have been a teacher in Kragerø, Nittedal, Stord and Bømlo and director in Valdres and Sagavoll folk high schools. I have also been in the group Youth with a Mission (YWAM) for 3-4 years. I have always worked with children and youth. I was therefore very enthusiastic about helping children and especially those who have the most need. For that reason, it was difficult for me to say “NO” when Genet asked me for help. As a teacher and a leader I like to have control and a clear view of all aspects of a prosject but it was impossible to do this alone. After much thought and prayer I realized the children in Ethiopia needed me to step outside my own comfort zone. I gave answer to Genet:  “Okay Genet, I will try to help you as much as I can”. It has been a long road to the point we are now but it has been absolutely the right choice for me, for Genet and for the children in Ethiopia.
Now I have used all my savings and raised a big loan in may name, but the project was started by me paying out of pocket for land outside Addis Ababa. This was a temporary and finite source of funds especially on a retired teacher’s salary. The prosject has gone through ups and downs and the situation in the country and with the prosject has changed directions. However there are an increasing number of children who are in need of home. We will work as fast as the money gives us opportunity.

We are still looking for more help. I hope the children will soon have a roof above their heads and adults that can guide them, love them and take care of their most basic needs..

I hope you will be the next one to support us!

The Orphanage and the Children

We hope to start building the first  Orphanage house in May ’09.   

This might be optimistic, Yes, because of the loan we may have a delay on building the first Orphanage house. But one has got to be an optimist in this trade!  

We need help and support to achieve this!

THE GOAL

Our goal is to give long term help to each child so that it can grow up under safe, predictable conditions and develop into independent persons who can create their own future and participate in the many tasks of local society.

We want to create a home for each child, which is why we want to build family houses where there is room for up to 10-12 persons. The children of each house should be like siblings age-wise.

THE HOME

The house will be the children’s home for better or worse. Here they will learn to take responsibility, take part in the family’s everyday life and learn to share joys and sorrows. They can stay here until it is natural for them to move away from home. Even after moving out, the house will be somewhere to come home to.

CARE

There will be one/two care persons in each house, who will give the children closeness, care, and safety. They are also organizers of the everyday life of the family.

SIBLINGS

Biological siblings will live in the same house. The extended family is the children’s most important social network.

EDUCATION

We want to emphasize that the children should receive basic education linked to the local environment. Further education/occupational training will enable the children to provide for themselves and become resource persons in the local area.

LOCAL SOCIETY

We will cooperate with local authorities and think long term for the children so that they can become independent and contributing individuals.

We hope that you think that our idea is right, important, and so exciting that you would like to join supporting the project!?

Almost daily we are reminded about how HIV/AIDS and other diseases and circumstances leave children orphans.

The need for an orphanage is dire, which is why we want to get started with the building process as soon as possible! For that we need predictability! If we achieve this, the building of the family houses will start immediately after the houses in progress are completed. The orphanage will be built in stages, each house accommodating 10-12 children.

We want to create homes with a family atmosphere in relatively small units.

Go to your bank and Become a regular donor or Become a sponsor!

We hope that you would like to give the project a regular gift every month. 

After all, this is the way to finance help for children today!  

Account infi: SWIFT:  AASPN 22 , IBAN:  NO1828011723241

Everything goes directly to the project, while nothing goes to administration!

The project has a visitor room freely at the disposal of regular donors.

You are always welcome to visit the project in this unique country. 

A visit should be obligatory! 

Contact: Adama-prosjektet, v/Karin Rønning, Rønningvn. 13, 3770 Kragerø. Norway

Phone: +47 35988498 or +47 90695197.

E-mail: vadfoss@hotmail.com

Bank: Sparebanken Sør, 3770 Kragerø, Norway.

Q (uestions) & A(nswers)

Why should I support this project?

The children need our help! This is direct help used for giving to children in need of care and roof over their heads. This is a unique orphanage project combined with a business idea intended to subsidize the orphanage in the long term. Our aim is that this will be a help to make a self-help project, independent of help from Norway when the buildings are paid for. We will of course always follow the development of the project and items like clothing, shoes, toys, etc. will always be appreciated for sending to the children in years ahead. Ethiopians themselves have managed everything happening there from the very beginning, and they have a sense of ownership  of the project necessary for its success. The HIV/AIDS problem has struck Ethiopia like every other country in Africa. The families do their best, but it is not enough. An entire generation is almost gone! The TV-fundraiser does not help Ethiopia, which is why it would be great if you could help directly!

Does the money get there?

Yes, all of the money goes directly to Ethiopia, nothing goes to administration. To make the money last even longer we have for instance bought cement in Pakistan, where it is cheap. What is left over we have sold for Ethiopian prices. This has given us a profit of approximately 50 NOK (9 $) per 100 kilos of cement. We have also sent a car which we have sold with a profit. Do you know of a Toyota HiAce diesel, Carina, or pickup which is okay, but going to be replaced? If so, please contact me. The project could send it and make a profit on it.

What is the money used for?

All the money we have used until now has been used for building a café, a hotel, and a conference center. As of today it is not in debt. However, the price rise on necessary goods has been as high as 30-40 percent since the start of the project. Therefore, Genet will take up a loan in a bank there, so that the project can be finished as fast as possible! The final price will therefore be lower than what it would otherwise have been, despite the paying of inteerest. As soon as the project starts and the buildings are paid for, all of the surplus will go to the orphanage.

Why build a café and hotel with conference building when an orphanage is what is needed?

This is so the project can continue for many years after you and I cannot help anymore. There are already too many projects that die with their creators.

From the first time I was asked to help I thought myself too old to get involved. “The project will die unfinished ‘with me’! There has got to be a way for the Ethiopians themselves to run this!” I asked where there was a way to make money in Ethiopia. For a long time, there was no answer to that question. We had bought a building site, but when Genet was starting the building, she was told that the site was intended for a cafeteria and a hotel. She went home crestfallen, but it was the answer to my question! We decided to try to build the cafeteria free of debt so the orphanage would not be dependent on help from you and me or from Norway all of the time. This is help for self-help. The project is already giving work to a lot of people who are badly in need of a job.

When will the buildings be complete?

It is a bit hard to know, but with a loan the buildings could be finished during March/April.

The Cafeteria is done, and will be put to use when the authorities are done with the rest. Things take time, but they have promised to arrange it as soon as possible. 

The Hotel: In the rooms permanent installation is all that is unfinished. Externally, everything is virtually done. On the ground floor, where kitchen, dining hall and more will be situated, the room partitioning and floors are done, while all interior decoration remains to be done. If you know of any big household appliances we can ship there, that would be superb!

When does the building of the orphanage begin?

It will begin as soon as the other buildings are completed and paid for. We will build relatively small units, houses with room for 10-12 children. Then we can expand as the money comes in. We need predictability and therefore hope to have some sponsors and regular benefactors, so that we can raise a loan that we know we can pay back. The Ethiopians will run this from the very beginning. Feel free to tell your friends about this page!

How are you going to help the children?

These are children from a couple months old and upwards. We want to give them a home, which is why we aim for small units with care persons. The children will attend school, make use of their skills and talents, learn domestic tasks, have hobby clubs with knitting, sewing, and 4-H work. In short they will learn to establish themselves in their own society once they are old enough to leave the orphanage. Read: The orphanage and the children.

Can I contribute in other ways than donating money?

Yes, if you know of somebody who owns a Toyota HiAce, Carina or pickup they would like to replace, please notify me. If it’s in OK shape we can send it and sell it in Ethiopia. It will give us income. We will also need a car for the project in time. As of today we can import 1990 models or later, but we won’t send wrecks. A bit of rust is no big problem and can easily be fixed there, as long as it is not in bearing construction. 

Big household appliances of all kinds in steel, benches, cupboards and more.

Kitchen interior for the orphanage houses can also be of interest, fixtures, light fixtures, lamps for the orphanage, furniture for the orphanage etc.

When the orphanage becomes inhabited, we will need clothes, toys etc.