Busajo NGO ETS

Busajo NGO ETS, founded in 2009, is an independent non-profit organisation primarily committed to supporting younger generations: resources are directed in particular towards the education and vocational training of girls and boys living on the streets in the city of Soddo, Ethiopia.

 

Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in the world, ranking 173rd out of 189 countries according to the Human Development Index, with a life expectancy of less than 63 years. Busajo NGO ETS’s projects are concentrated in rural areas around Soddo, a town of about 200,000 inhabitants located 330 km from the capital Addis Ababa. Although the Ethiopian government has invested in infrastructure, including roads, schools and offices, rapid urbanisation has led to an increase in the phenomenon of ‘street children’. Many children leave the countryside in search of better opportunities in the urban environment of the city, but often become victims of violence, ending up at the centre of problems such as micro-crime, exploitation, school drop-out and child prostitution. The phenomenon has taken a worrying turn in recent years and, to date, it is estimated that in the city of Soddo alone, there are around 3,000 children roaming the streets without access to healthcare and often struggling to find food and water to survive.

 

Through the Busajo Campus project, the association supports and welcomes these minors, also offering opportunities for rehabilitation and professional training for older children who are not included in the few projects that exist at national level. The desire to build a residence for these children was welcomed by the local authorities, who provided a plot of land of approximately 37,000 m², on which the Busajo Campus was built, which accommodates around 80 children on a quarterly rotation in its recovery programme.

Busajo, which means ‘he who sees far’ in the local language, therefore believes that cultural, workshop and professional training is the only way out of social marginalisation and degradation. Only in this way is it possible to pursue the self-sufficiency that is essential for a better future.