A few questions answered

Mom emailed me with some questions that family and friends have asked, and perhaps I have not been too clear about certain things in previous posts. So here is a friendly q & a session:

Who exactly are Helen and Steffanie?
Helen is the Kennard's daughter. The Kennard's are the American founders and CEO's of Village of Hope. Helen came to Ethiopia this April with her mother and is staying until July to help at the village and visit her biological family. Helen was adopted by the Kennard's 13 years ago along with her five siblings from the very village where Village of Hope is located.

Steffanie is an American. A very good friend of the Kennard's, she decided to come to Ethiopia nearly two years ago to help set up the Village of Hope and get it running as a non-profit organization, register with the government and all the other details. She is a volunteer, spends money from her own pocket to be out here. She is absolutely amazing and Helen and I are looking for some single 30 something man that has an interest in humanitarian work, has a graduate degree in something, loves children and will cherish Steffanie for the rest of their lives. Please submit potential applicants for Helen and I to review. Steffanie will most likely move back to the States after October or so, once the whole Village of Hope is in the hands of local Ethiopians.


Are they other students, where are they from, how long have they been there, how long will they continue to be there? No, there are no other students out here.


Are there other adults besides? No and Yes. There are many Ethiopians that work for the VOH, but no other volunteers/Americans that are here. The Kennard's bring out expeditions every few months which consist of either Doctor expeditions or just volunteers from the states that come for about a week and help with building/planting/health care projects.


Who takes care of the children when the three of you are away/together? That is left up to a few women that work at the VOH during the day. At night there are three teenage girls that live a the compound that we have left the responsibility up to. Usually there is some clean-up work to do once we return, such as messy diapers that need washing, and making sure that the kids really did eat.


Why are the children so Beautiful? (as opposed to emaciated, starving, children in ill-health).
Ethiopians are just biologically gorgeous people, and in my opinion, some of the most beautiful people on this earth. None of the children at our compound are emaciated, starving, etc. because they live with us and we feed them three square meals a day and address their medical needs as fast as we can.

Do children just get abandoned, or are they removed from their homes because of neglect, or other reasons like in the US?
All of the children that we have at the compound have different reasons for being with us. Examples:
One girl was raped by her father and ran away. She refuses to return home.
One girl was abandoned by her mother and left at a restaurant and raised by the owners until Lon Kennard found her and brought her to the compound.
Three children live with their grandparents as their parent's have died. Their grandparents can't financially afford them and therefore they were not being fed well or sheltered.
There are two families of kids (three kids from one family, three kids from another) where the mother's are just un-fit. They are local prostitutes and have up to six children all from different men. The kids get neglected and left to roam the streets during the day while their mother is away.
And NO, there is no policy like Child Protective Services in Ethiopia. If children are abused, neglected, etc then they are succumb to survive off of the services that the local community or their extended family offer. Police reports can be made on abuse, but rarely are they followed through.

How much funding and/or other support do you get from the Ethiopian government? None. Village of Hope is an NGO meaning Non-Government Organization. It gets its funding strictly from donations, and from sponsors giving money to support the kids education, food and living expenses. If you or someone you know would like to sponsor one of the children please contact me immediately. To sponsor a child it is $50 a month or $600/year. My email is jenelletittelfitz@gmail.com


Are you in any kind of danger from civil unrest, or do you feel threatened by virtue of being American??? Not at all. I am registered with the American Embassy and if there is any sort of terrorist threat or threat to American citizens I will be contacted immediately. There are general threats to myself for a) being a woman and b) being a foreigner
I feel that I am very well informed on how to deal with these matters. The best defense I have is that I speak enough of the language to know what is going on around me and to ask directions and where to go when I need help. I had a few things happen to me last year that I walked away from without a scratch, but those only made me more aware for what I was getting into this year. Also I am in a pretty rural area. There are generally never enough people around to pose any sort of threat. I never travel alone either. Either Steffanie, Helen or one of the employees from the compound is with me at all times when I leave Village of Hope.

How did you get so darn cute? Why is it that you are smiling so much when you are under such primitive conditions?
Well, I guess you could thank good genes for my ridiculously good looks.
About the smiling- A smile is the light in the window of your face that tells people you're at home. All I can say is that I love what I am doing, where I am, and the people I am with. How could I not smile?

Have you grown attached to any particular children? How many are you planning on bringing home with you in August? I love all the children. Helen, Steff and I laugh because we are somewhat like proud parents, and when we are away from the compound we talk about all the children, their little quirks, the fun things they do, and also the annoying things they do. I won't be bringing any of them home, unless an adoption goes through right when I leave and I might be able to travel with the kid(s) to America. That would be fun, but not very realistic as all the kids that are under the adoption process right now will probably take months, if not a year to go through.