Health Care and Education Charities in Ethiopia

Our charity Ethiopian manager, works with other charities and communities to offer healthcare

We offer health care for Ethiopian patients with a number of different illnesses, including noma (pi

Project Harar is a charity in Ethiopia, Africa's oldest independent country. Fragile and very beautiful, Ethiopia is an ancient and diverse country of 90.9 million people, some 85 percent of whom live in rural and remote areas where many charities do not work. Project Harar works with children from these remote areas, helping them access life-changing health care.

Ethiopia remains one of the poorest countries in the world and the health and education of Ethiopia's children suffers. Poverty deprives young children of adequate education, healthcare, food, clean water, and medicine. One child in every six dies before his or her fifth birthday, almost all of easily preventable diseases or illnesses - despite the efforts of many charities.

Poverty is especially severe in rural areas, where many people work as subsistence or coffee farmers. In Haraghe, the rural area of Ethiopia where we work, less than 25% of all children get the chance of an education. The same injustices exist in healthcare. In rural areas, there is just one doctor for every 70,000 people. This means that many complex conditions, such as facial disabilities, go untreated, and many children go without the healthcare that they need.

The average annual income of a coffee farmer is estimated at 2,500 Ethiopian Birr or $287 (2004 prices), making it impossible for a rural farmer in Ethiopia to send family members and their children to hospital. Because of this inequality, many rural Ethiopians are denied access to health care. Many charities are doing very good work providing healthcare - but often only to urban communities.

We exist to solve this problem. The charities outreach team cover great distances, working with local health workers and other charities to raise awareness of the health treatment available for facial disabilities in Ethiopia. We arrange free transport to the Ethiopian hospital, accommodation and health care. With our support every child – no matter what their background – can get the health care they need.

It costs just £250 to reach a child with facial disabilities and secure the complex treatment and follow-up work which they require to rebuild their lives. If you can help our charity, please click here.

Links and references about Ethiopia, health care, children, and charities:

If you’re interested in our Ethiopia charity or Ethiopia in general, and issues surrounding education, health care, children, and charities or NGOs, read the extensive wikipedia page on Ethiopia, the BBC Ethiopia country profile or the Guardian Ethiopia page. For some of the facts on Ethiopian education, health care, children, and Ethiopian charities that we’ve quoted here (and more), look at the report Health and Health Related Indicators and the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia, produced by the Ethiopian government. You can find thought-provoking comparisons between Ethiopia and the UK here, including statistics on Ethiopian child mortality, access to health care, education, and involvement of the charity sector - both Ethiopian and international charities. For more information on the current Ethiopian drought, which is having a devastating effect on many Ethiopian children and their families, click here. 58,000 Ethiopian children are out of education, and millions more do not have enough food or healthcare. You can watch videos about the children we work with here. There are many videos dealing with education and schooling, which is particularly affected by facial disabilities. If you find any more interesting websites or facts about Ethiopia dealing with health care, education or Ethiopian charities , please post them to our Facebook page or email smile@projectharar.org.