ALEMACHEN REHABILITATION AND CONVALESCENT CENTRE FOR

DISABLED CHILDREN

Address: Fr. Girmay Abraha, Program Coordinator, Gullele Sub city, Kebele 11, House No.
316, P.O. Box: 1010, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Bank Address: Commercial Bank of Ethiopia, Semen Gebeya branch

ECS-CM ALEMACHIN AC. 1000153806245

Our Project:

Alemachen arranges for children from very poor rural and urban areas of Ethiopia to receive
surgery and rehabilitation in order to help them overcome the effects of a significant
disability, disfiguration or a badly repaired fracture and burn contractions. While no surgical
procedures are undertaken in the facility. Alemachen arranges for the children concerned to
travel to Addis, receive an assessment and provides them with pre and post-surgical care.

In order to ensure the best possible outcome, the children stay at the facility for
approximately 12 weeks. Up to 200 children a year benefit from this service. Surgical
interventions are carried out by our partners at Cure Hospital. The Cheshire Ethiopia
Services, offer some assistance to children with a particular disability where they may need to
be fitted with braces, shoes or receive specialized physiotherapy. The main disabilities that
Alemachen offers treatment for involve: clubfeet, burn contractures, osteomyelitis, Bone TB,
harelip/cleft palate.

Our Location:

Alemachen is located in Gullele Sub-city, Kebele 11, Addis Ababa. It is very close to the
hospitals that provide the surgical interventions in the lives of the children. The area is
residential and provides the children with a space that is relatively quiet and calm.

Our Local Realities:

Most of the children residing in Alemachen come from very poor and rural parts of Ethiopia.
The opportunity for the sort of life transforming surgery would not be possible in most areas
where they reside and the financial costs of such an intervention would be impossible for any
of the families of the children.

Staff: We have 17 paid workers and 9 visiting volunteers who are involved in assisting to
give some basic skill for the Children.

Situation and Needs:

Presently Alemachen faces an issue of funding to run this holistic service. Given the
incredible difference the service makes to so many children it was absolute need to do all that
was possible to keep the center open.

While the present director has worked hard to reduce the costs associated with running the
service, it is vital that we continue to provide the highest standard of care for the children
who attend. As such there are some costs, regarding health and safety, nutrition, medical
expenses etc. which cannot be compromised. Presently the director takes no salary for his
particular work.

Our Project Rational:

Alemachen offers up to 200 children a year the chance to overcome a serious disability or
disfigurement. They are assessed, treated, rehabilitated and returned home to their families
(with a care plan) to begin a new phase of their life. We receive children from the age of 5-12
yrs. and have beds for 20 female and 20 male children. Alemachen specifically works to
ensure the children from poor rural and urban areas who would never have the chance of such
an intervention benefit from the service offered. It provides a holistic and curative
environment in which the children can have a full and fast recovery.

The children are referred to us by partners and organizations well known to us throughout
Ethiopia. This allows us to ensure there is some continuity and follow up when the children
return to their communities and we are informed of any setbacks and able to respond
promptly.

Often the children come to Alemachen with a very poor self-image and low self-esteem. A
vital part of the work of the center is to help build up and restore their self-worth. We do this
in a holistic way and not just through the promise held out through surgery. The children are
shown a great deal of love, care and acceptance which is vital to their physical and emotional
recovery.

Many of the children arrive at Alemachen malnourished and require some time in the center
to build up their physical strength in order to face into surgery.

Alemachen places a premium on the care and welfare of the children and on offering them
the best possible outcome with regards to reversing the effects of their disability. Thus we
aim to provide a facility that works to the highest standards and offers the children a home
from home.

We do our best to ensure, where possible that the children in our care do not become isolated
from their families. In some circumstances, given the distance the families live from Addis
and the fact that they are poor and in remote or rural areas, it is not possible for them to come
and visit. However, we always try to establish a connection with family members who may
live in Addis is invited to become the child's guarantor. He/she is involved in the reuniting
the child with his/her family post discharge. While the child is in Alemachen we encourage
the relation to take a caring role during the time the child is with us.
Our Project Beneficiaries: Annually up to 200 children receive a medical intervention and
rehabilitation at Alemachen, giving them the opportunity to overcome a disability which in
the present environment in Ethiopia, not only limits their capacity for engagement within
their communities, their educational facilities and so on, but also often times stigmatizes them
and reduce their capacity to become productive members of society. Some of the children
who come to Alemachen have experienced some exploitation as their disability has been used
for the purposes of begging on the streets.

The families of the children benefit as their child is given a new lease of life and often times
the opportunity to overcome the stigmatizing effects of having a child with a disability. (We
appreciate that there are some children who cannot benefit from the treatment that
Alemachen offers. Such children face a very difficult challenge in finding a place and an
acceptance in both their communities and society in general. Alemachen, while it aims to
reverse the consequences of disability, is also very much committed to advocating for the
right of people with disabilities to be fully integrated in society and have legitimate
expectations for opportunities for work and employment.)

Duration: Alemachen is a long term multi annual project. We intend to operate the service as
long as it is sustainable. We work hard to ensure such sustainability.

Furthermore, as soon as we get the required financial grant, we will begin to implement the
project and bring to completion the maintenance work within three months.

Our Objective: Disabled children regain fullest social integration by limiting or reversing
the impacts of disabilities.

Our Activities:

 Remove economic and information barriers of the poor families with disabled
children in accessing modern curative and rehabilitative health care services.

 Provide holistic curative and rehabilitative health care services for the fast healing and
recovery

 Empower disable children with like skills for full reintegration into social life

The List of Activities we carryout in Alemachen:

 A diagnosis of their disability,

 A prognosis of their disability and the potential for intervention,

 A period of time to help build up the child's physical strength before undergoing,
which can be, intensive surgery. (Many children coming from the countryside are
often malnourished)

 All of the care required to assist the child through his/her surgery, including
transportation to and from all hospital appointments.
 All the times the child requires in Alemachen to make a full recovery,

 The provision of physiotherapy and basic nursing care.

 A program of nutrition to assist the child's recovery

 A conducive and homely environment to ensure the children feel at safe and
secure.

 A teaching program to assist the children keep up with their school work.

 A full briefing with the family before the child returns home to enable them
assist the child in his/her rehabilitation.