Why Ethiopia?

Over the last couple days, a lot of people have asked us the same question: Why Ethiopia? We thought we'd give you guys some basic information about the difficulties facing this country.

• There are an estimated 6 million orphans in Ethiopia, a country of 82 million.
• One in ten children die before their first birthday.
• One in six children die before their fifth birthday.
• More than half of those deaths are attributed to malnutrition.
• 44% of the population of Ethiopia is under 15 years old.
• 60% of children in Ethiopia are stunted because of malnutrition.
• The median age in Ethiopia is 17.8 years.
• 1.5 million people are infected with AIDS (6th highest in the world).
• Per capita, Ethiopia receives less aid than any other country in Africa.
• Half the children in Ethiopia will never attend school. 88% will never attend secondary school.
• Ethiopia’s doctor to child ratio is 1 to 24,000.

These facts hurt our hearts. When we learned about what was happening in Ethiopia, it only helped to clarify exactly where God was leading us to adopt. 6 million orphans is a staggering number. But we feel so blessed that God has provided a way to make it 6 million minus 1.