Ethiopian Children
There are more than 41,000,000 children living in Ethiopia,
650,000 of them orphaned by AIDS, with a further 92,000 infected
themselves. In total there are a staggering four million
children who are orphans in Ethiopia, and is estimated that a
further 200,000 children are becoming orphaned in Ethiopia every
year. To understand some of these figures it should be noted
that one in four Ethiopian women die during pregnancy or
childbirth, a figure exacerbated by the fact that only 6% of all
births are attended to be a suitably qualified and knowledgeable
health professionals, partly because those who do get educated
move abroad to earn their money. For example, there are more
Ethiopian trained doctors living in Chicago than in the whole of
Ethiopia. This lack of suitably qualified adults in all aspects of
Ethiopian society is reflected in the general
cultural aversion to education by society. Although
children are expected to complete eight years of primary
education, two years in lower secondary school and the same
again in higher secondary school, in reality most people in
Ethiopia would prefer their children to work rather than attend
school and by doing so complete household chores and contribute
to the family income. This is even more true in rural areas when
attendance rates are much lower than in urban areas. This is
reflected in literacy rates of 50% for males dropping to just
35% for females. As such 44% of all Ethiopian children grow up in poverty and
few of them can expect to see their fiftieth birthday. For those
who do manage to survive there are the ongoing issues of food
security with around five million Ethiopians in chronic food
shortage. This video sets out to provide positive images of Ethiopian
children, despite their ongoing needs.


TAGS: Ethiopian Children, Ethiopian Children Video, Ethiopian Children at School, Ethiopian Children at Home, Ethiopian Children in Villages, Heart Warming Ethiopian Children