ICA's team returned this past weekend from an incredible trip to Ethiopia and want to express their gratitude to all the people who supported their trips and made the work possible!  You are an invaluable part of the work that God is doing in Ethiopia and we are thankful for your generosity in making this trip a possibility.  

Ethiopia is the oldest independent country in Africa, one of the oldest civilizations in the world, and has an incredibly interesting history of development.  We won't bore you with that for now, but if you are interested in expanding your horizons a bit, the US State Department provides a thorough, but brief breakdown of Ethiopian history and culture HERE.

The trip consisted of constructing a playground at the orphanage, building a fence around the facility to keep the girls who are permanent residents safe, visiting the Red Light District where thousands of women and children are forced into the sex trafficking industry in Ethiopia, and spending time with the women whom ICA has successfully rescued from a life of trafficking with the SAFE program.  Here are a few brief reports and a video from Jennifer Jones, Program Director for International Crisis Aid:

"We spent most of the time Wednesday and Thursday working at our Orphanage. ICA currently has 17 little girls ages 5 to 12 that are all total orphans, meaning they have lost both mom and dad to HIV-AIDS.The team built a playground for the girls. They now have two slides and four swings. What was amazing was many of them had to be taught how to “play” as they had never seen these things before coming to ICA’s orphanage. 

The team also started building the fence that will protect these little girls. Until now, we have had a temporary fence, but now, we have begun constructing the metal fence which will have sharp points on the top. The team worked great with the local Ethiopians. Some passersby saw us working and stopped to help."  

"On Tuesday night, after the long drive back from Angacha, we took the team to visit the girls in one of our SAFE Homes. I was able to share with the team about sex trafficking and ICA’s SAFE Program. They met the girls, toured the home and vocational training rooms, and gave gifts to the girls. The girls also set up a table and sold some of the items they had been learning to make through vocational training. They were so proud!

We wanted the team to see the Red Light District, but didn’t feel it was safe enough to take them inside. Instead, we just drove along the perimeter of one of the outer streets late Wednesday night. That alone was enough for them to see more than they could handle. We spent maybe 10-15 minutes driving and in that time saw hundreds of young girls forced into the sex slave industry. It was a cold night and these girls were half naked, standing in doorways and all along the streets—just waiting for their next “client”. The “red lights” shone down on their faces, revealing the reflection of brokenness." 

Thank you for taking the time to support the work of International Crisis Aid!