NEF 2004 Annual Report - Near East Foundation

PAGE 1 | PAGE 2
...another brother could take computer training,
and all remaining children went back to school as
well. Things seemed to be going very well...for a
while. First, Girma became very sick, missed his
exams twice in a row and had to drop out of
college. He was infested with tapeworms in a
country with a serious parasitic problem and no
available drugs. These had to be sent from Cairo,
but by then his condition had worsened, now
surgery was required. That cost $1,000—double
the annual income of most Ethiopians. At around
the same time, his younger brother, who
graduated at the top of his local high school
class, contracted tuberculosis and had to be
treated. His father, already paralyzed in his upper
limbs and from the waist down, developed
malaria and also needed medical care. The
younger brother enrolled in the computer school
struggled on to complete his course, barely
managing on $25 per month.
“Out of their own pockets and kind hearts, NEF staff contributed to the cost of Girma’s
operation and helped the younger brother with his tuition and living costs while Girma
recovered. The boy with TB and the father also recovered after extensive treatment. This is
not a story about one poor family, who were lucky enough to make it because of our help.
What I want to emphasize is that despite the best intentions on the part of the helpers and the
hard work on the part of the beneficiaries, things just didn’t go right. And the reason is
because people like this around the world are embedded in poor communities without
resources and services. They live in environments that contribute to poor health through
unsanitary conditions, bad drinking water, disease and parasites, etc. And often magical beliefs
promoted by traditional religious leaders are the only hope most have of getting well.”
- Roger Hardister
Regional Director, Near East Foundation