To the friends and supporters of ECF,

I am delighted to update you on the progress of The Ethiopian Children's Fund and the ECF Village in Aleltu during 2008, its tenth year of operation. During this past year, we enrolled more destitute children into the program, increasing their numbers to 382.

In 2008 we saw the completion of phase four, which includes the high school block, completion and furnishing of the library, computer and science lab. Currently in the last phase of development, we are raising funds to build and operationalize a vocational training center, expand our income generating programs and expansion of facilities to accommodate the growing number of children.

ECF Village's Education and Development Program (ECF-EDP) in Aleltu continues to inspire us. The children's resilience in the face of grinding poverty and distress, including HIV/AIDS related problems, is truly remarkable. Their spirit of hope and optimism re-enforces our determination to reach out to more children on the brink and in great need. Our goal is to reach 500 children by the end 2010. In September 2009, we expect to enroll more children and to continue our community outreach programs to the surrounding communities.

We owe much of our progress to the fruitful partnerships with dedicated individuals, businesses, development organizations and indeed the communities themselves. Our international structure remains 100% pro-bono.

We are most thankful to Gelila Assefa Puck, a member of the ECF Advisory Board, who has recently started the Gelila Assefa Sponsorship Program, and is committed to helping ECF reach a broader group of supporters and achieve our goal to find each child a sponsor.

We are also excited about our new partnership with AMADE (Association Mondiale des Amis de L'Enfance, Monaco), who are currently sponsoring the 40 new children since September 2008 and uniforms for all the children.

As much progress as we have made, however, ECF Village does not have a secure future without an Endowment Fund and child sponsors for all the children. I appeal to all friends and supporters, individuals, organizations and businesses to come on board and help sustain ECF Village.

The ECF team looks forward to continuing this joint journey of giving back and rediscovering our common good in this inter-dependant and fragile world and for those who are only now learning about ECF, we invite you to visit us on the ground or virtually and for those who are already making a difference, the board and staff of ECF are deeply appreciative and grateful for having chosen to reach out and help make a difference the ECF way.

Sincerely yours,

Anna Getaneh