A Cry for Urgent Humanitarian Emergency Response for the People in Tigray

28 July 2021

Further Thanks to St Anne's Catholic School, Wrexham

Gobaith i Ethiopia wish to thank the children of Year 1 at St Anne’s Catholic School, Wrexham and their families and teachers for their generous donation of £290 and for their continued support to help their fellow pupils in the war torn areas of Tigray in Ethiopia. The children will be very grateful.

Communications are still not good with the Tigray area.

June 2021 - Thanks to all who supported and organised our raffle, donated prizes or funds and helped in any way.  We raised £245.

June 2021 - Update on the crisis in Ethiopia.

Abba Ghebre Michael School Mekele & St Justin de Jacobis House Alitena (Kindergarten)

We have heard that Abba Lukas head teacher of the Abba Ghebre Michael School Mekele is finishing his term of office with the school at the end of the month and that our friend Abba Hagos Hayish who some of you will know from his time at  St Anne’s  will be taking hold of reins for now.  We have been involved with the school, through Abba Hagos and the Vincentians, for nearly 20 years. 

We are still not quite sure about the full situation at the school but believe that one or two blocks of class rooms have been damaged and will need completely rebuilding.  Everyone must be traumatised with what has happened during these last few months. 

The  school in Alitena which is on the border with Eritrea and run by the Daughter’s of Charity, has, along with Mekele, been in the centre of much of the fighting. We have no direct information and  are trying  to catch up with the Sisters in Mekele.

We ask that you keep Fr. Hagos and the Daughters of Charity, and the  people in your prayers at this most difficult time. 

We heard the sad new of Fr. Dormer death in Ireland and the group  would like to thank him for his most  generous support over the many years. May his soul rest in peace. 

The UN warns - Famine imminent in Ethiopia. 

Any support you can give at this difficult time  would also be most welcomed.

 

April 2021 Thanks to St Anne's School, Wrexham

Our thanks to the head Teacher, the children, staff and parents of St Anne’s School for the amazing donation of £182.40 to Gobaith i Ethiopia from your “Own Clothes Day”. It will be used for the relief of children and their families who were caught up in the recent conflict which has made hundreds of people homeless without food and medication. Many were already in need of support before the conflict.
In the schools we normally support, the children are much like the children in St Anne’s and will be very grateful for your support. Please keep them in your prayers.
Thanks again, your support is very much appreciated.
God bless you all for your kindness

March 2021 Update - Humanitarian Emergency Responses for the people in Tigray

We have heard from a number of contacts in Ethiopia and particularly in Tigray about the devastating conflict which has claimed hundreds of lives and left thousands homeless, short of food, water and medication. 

Gobaith i Ethiopia - Hope for Ethiopia has managed to send £2,000 from our funds to help with the humanitarian needs of the people affected and propose to send, in the next few days, another £1,000 collected through the generosity of our supporters in the Wrexham area, specifically for this purpose.

Many of our projects are located in the Tigray region and we have concerns for the safety of the children and their families as well as the staff of the schools in Mekele, which has been heavily bombed, Alitena located in the mountains near to the border with Eritrea, whose troops have crossed the border in the guise of helping the government forces, and in Maichew.

Bishop Tesfaselassie Medhin has managed to send a letter of thanks to Gobaith i Ethiopia for our initial contribution to the fund to help the struggling population.

If you wish to donate anything towards our funds, we can send it directly to the agencies of the Catholic Church’s humanitarian effort to bring relief to the ordinary people of Tigray. Any donations will be hugely appreciated.

To donate please contact Thea Howells or myself via our email: info@gobaith-i-ethiopia.co.uk or telephone 01978 351964 or 01978 291523. 

If you do prefer to pay directly into our account, please let us know your details via email or telephone so that we can acknowledge your kindness.

January 2021 - A Cry for urgent Humanitarian Emergency Responses for the people in Tigray from the Bishop of the Catholic Eparchy (Diocese) of Adigrat, Northern Ethiopia. 

We have received an urgent appeal from Bishop Tesfaselassie Medhin for help with the “terrible humanitarian situation we are experiencing here in Tigray because of the war which began on 4 November 2020”.

He reports people, including Eritrean refugees, as well as the local population, have run out of food, life-saving medicines and water and have no access to shelters, electricity, banking/telephone/internet services, transport and health facilities for their families. People are dying because of the fighting and bombing, lack of food and essential medicines. Millions are displaced from their homes looking for safety, most of whom are women and children.

Aid is requested to help those scattered about the bleak mountainous countryside with little or no food and water. The situation is described as dire and many have fled to neighbouring Sudan.

The Ethiopian Catholic Church and its agencies is ready to work with national and international partners and donors to respond to this war induced humanitarian crisis.

Gobaith i Ethiopia is preparing to send what meagre funds it has available to assist with their efforts to bring some relief to the desperate victims, whilst maintaining their support for two kindergartens which are themselves under pressure because of the current situation.

Many of the projects we are supporting are located in the affected areas, the Province capital and in the mountains close to Eritrea. We know of a number of family members of our friends and partners over there who have been directly affected, fatally in some cases.

If you wish to donate anything towards our funds, we can send it directly to the agencies of the Catholic Church’s humanitarian effort to bring relief to the ordinary people of Tigray. Any donations will be hugely appreciated.

To donate please contact Thea Howells or myself via our email: info@gobaith-i-ethiopia.co.uk or telephone 01978 351964 or 01978 291523. See also our website www.gobaith-i-ethiopia.co.uk

If you prefer to pay directly into our account, please let us know your details via email or telephone so that we can acknowledge your kindness:

2017-18 - Fund Raising

Our thanks to all who attended our fundraising events throughout the year – they raise considerable funds for the projects and supplement the donations made either on a regular or irregular basis by individuals and which form the backbone of the assistance we are able to give to our partners in Ethiopia.

Thanks too to the committee members and volunteers for freely donating their time and preparing for the events.

2017-18 - Fund Raising

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Thanks too to the committee members and volunteers for freely donating their time and preparing for the events.

July 2018 Strawberry Delight Fundraising – in Hope

Blessed again with beautiful weather, we held our two-yearly Strawberry Fundraising event courtesy of John and Josie at Sheppard’s Farm Shop in Holt. Yet again there was a tremendous turnout by our supporters from Wrexham and Holt.

Our thanks to our hosts and to all who attended and a special thanks to all who did anything to make the day go with a swing – those who sold the tickets, erected the marquee, sold the raffle tickets and donated the prizes.

A special thank you to those who picked or bought the strawberries and prepared the delights for us all to enjoy.

A very enjoyable afternoon raised over £965.

April 2018 Quiz

Another successful quiz night was held at St Mary’s Social Club in Wrexham. Supporters of Gobaith, family and friends formed teams and through a combination of intellect, good luck and humour raised over £550, all of which went to fund the projects in Ethiopia.

We thank all who attended and hope to see you again next year. Our special thanks to Gordon, who not only sets the questions but acts as question master with his own inimitable humorous way and to St Mary’s Club for hosting the event.

Spring/Summer 2018 - Tombola St Anne’s and St Mary’s Primary Schools

Volunteers attended the Summer Fayres at the local primary schools and raised over £200.

Spring/Summer 2018 - Bank visits Mold & Wrexham – Our thanks to Nat West Bank for allowing us to have a tombola stall in the foyers of their Wrexham and Mold branches during the year. A total of £700 was raised, which included a donation from the bank’s own Community Fund.

Gobaith i Ethiopia wish to express their thanks for the generous support given by Nat West’s customers, the staff and the managers at the branches.

Christmas 2017

Following a moving Christmas Celebration by the pupils of St Joseph’s, Gobaith i Ethiopia received a very generous donation of the proceeds of the evening. Our thanks to both pupils and staff.

July 2017 - South African Choir 2017

We were again privileged to welcome our friends from the Kwa Zulu Natal Midland Choir from South Africa who this year had with them the Chapel Choir of Michaelhouse School. They gave a tremendous concert at St Joseph’s Catholic and Anglican High School which raised £1,236 after the choirs waived their share of the proceeds.

The packed audience were regally entertained with an outstanding performance of a wide range of music which included traditional Zula songs and dances, performed by the mixed-race choirs who were In Wales to compete at the International Musical Eisteddfod in Llangollen.

It was good to be able to link the choirs from South Africa with projects in Ethiopia - two widely separated countries of the African continent.

Our thanks to William Silk their choirmaster and one-time resident in Wrexham and former pupil of St Joseph’s, the choir members, those who helped on day, preparing food for the choirs and not least to St. Joseph’s for allowing us to use their wonderful facilities.

Beside the concert the choirs sang beautifully during Mass at the cathedral in Wrexham on the Sunday morning.