On the Road
Getting to Know Africa
Facts and statistics about a diverse continent
As an incredibly diverse continent, it is difficult to sum up Africa as a whole. Each of the 54 countries that Africa comprises is unique and distinctive in its own way, offering beautiful landscapes, rich histories, and varied cultures and customs. Spanning over 5,000 miles north to south and 4,800 miles east to west, Africa contains a wide array of religions and ethnic groups. Within each country, stark contrasts exist between rural areas and bustling […]
OBEY Awareness
Artist and activist Shepard Fairey creates artwork to support Children Incorporated
In early 2017, I was contacted by international clothing company OBEY Clothing, based out of Los Angeles, California, about a potential partnership with Children Incorporated. I was already familiar with OBEY because the company’s founder, international artist and activist Shepard Fairey, has for many years created and donated artwork in order to promote awareness of social and political issues, while also contributing directly to the causes he believes in. I was thrilled for Children Incorporated […]
Letters from Abel
A veterinarian shares her sponsor story
Let’s get right to it: We would be nowhere without your support. Sponsors make it possible for Children Incorporated to help hundreds of thousands of children around the globe rise above poverty. Kids like Abel, the tenth grader that I and Luis Bourdet visited last June in Ethiopia, depend on sponsors for supplies and flourish because they know someone out there cares about them. Abel is in the top five of his class!
Bearing Fruit
Revisiting Kids Hope Ethiopia’s Gardening Program
When Luis Bourdet and I traveled to Africa earlier this summer, we found ourselves, as always, deeply impressed by the programs and centers we visited and the hard-working people who run them. The beginning of gardening work at Kids Hope. A five-acre compound that schools, houses, and nurtures the disadvantaged children of rural Ethiopia is supported by the child sponsorship organization, Canadian Humanitarian. In the area outside of Shashamane, life is both easier […]
Country Roads and City Slums
Leaving Ethiopia and reflecting on time spent in Africa
We’ve been in Ethiopia for just a few days and we’re already packing up for our next stop in Nairobi, Kenya. As we prepare to hit the road, I am struck by the contrasts between urban and rural poverty. In a way, it’s not unlike America — the rural poor living in run-down trailers off dirt roads in Eastern Kentucky bear little resemblance to the urban poor in housing projects of Detroit. When businesses move […]
Holding up a Mirror to the Hopeful Children of Rural Ethiopia
Visiting our affiliated project Kids Hope Ethiopia in Shashamane
Mirror images Most of us don’t remember the first time we ever saw ourselves. In the West, babies encounter mirrors, camera lenses and video cameras from birth. And the self-imagery just becomes part of our life, for the rest of our lives. But in rural Ethiopia, seeing yourself is a rare experience. We discovered just how magical it is to see your own face when we entered the Kids Hope compound outside Shashamane, Ethiopia. We had […]