History of the Organization

Jerusalem Children and Community Development Organization (JeCCDO), previously called Jerusalem Association Children's Homes (JACH), is an indigenous non- governmental organization established in 1985, in response to the needs of children who were left orphaned or lacked proper care and support due to civil war, drought and displacement. It operates in four regions: Amhara, Oromyia, Dire Dawa, and Southern Ethiopia People, Nations and Nationalities. JeCCDO's mission is to reduce the vulnerability of children by creating enabling environment for the community with the community through the promotion of community-based childcare programs in partnership with government, NGOs, private sector and the building of professional JeCCDO organization.

Activities

JeCCDO runs four major programs in Bahir Dar, Debre Berhan, Debre Zeit, Dire Dawa and Awassa towns. More than 500,000 children, women and other members of the communities are directly and indirectly benefiting from these programs. Their goals are to provide support to orphans and street children through integrated education, health and environmental sanitation, income generation, urban agriculture, environmental development, advocacy through raising awareness of children’s rights, networking with NGOs, government entities and religious based organizations in the provision of services for OVC’s, and child-family reunification and reintegration into society through the provision of training in marketable skills.

JeCCDO also provides various health related services, such as HIV/AIDS/STIs prevention and control, and maternal and child health care, to name a few. Furthermore, JeCCDO facilitates the economic enhancement of low-income families so that the families can be able to care for their children.

Serkalem’s Story

A seven-year old little girl, has been orphaned since she was 2 years old. Her old and blind grandmother took the reins to care for her, but conditions worsened and she was not able to take care of Serkalem. The grandmother was tempted to send her grand-daughter to the streets for beggary than for school so she could survive. However, before she could go through with the plan, JeCCDO came into their life and changed it. Now, Serkalem is properly taken care of as she rightly deserves so and is attending school.

Degu Abraham’s Story

Degu lives in Bahir Dar town Keble 12. At the age of nine Degu lost both of his parents. He was then left orphaned and could not stay in school. Later, he became the member of his old and poor grandmother's family who was not capable of providing him with the necessary care and support. His sisters and brothers had also gone to other extended families. In his words, “Light of hope came to me in 1997. JeCCDO took me and made benefit from their orphan support package. What a mercy! The support enabled me to resume my education. After I graduated grade 6, I had a chance to contribute to and benefit from the child-to-child tutoring, assisting other tutorial students on a voluntary basis.”

Contact Information

Ato Mulugeta Gebru
Phone-(251)11-61-10-92
Fax-(251)11-61-10-94

http://www.jeccdoethiopia.org
email- This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

PO Box 1571
Code 1110, 41742
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia