Mitu's Story

In 2005 Mitu was a small 9 year old girl living alone on the streets of Addis Ababa. Her story is typical of many of the city's street children. Her father died when she was young and Mitu's mother brought her to the city to make a living. The two of them lived off and on with friends, often begging in the street to make ends meet.

Mitu's mother died very suddenly. But before passing away she left Mitu with a friend who was able to return Mitu to her grandmother's village.

Sadly, shortly after being placed in her home, Mitu's grandmother returned her to Addis Ababa, unable to care for her in her village. According to Mitu her grandmother told her "Mitu, Addis knows you well - better than I do. So you must grow up in Addis." She left Mitu back on the city streets with no way to support herself.

It is unclear why Mitu's grandmother would do this. Mitu does not remember much about this woman or where the village was. It could be that she was not a biological grandmother or she could have been simply overburdened by other caregiving duties.

Either way, Mitu was left in Addis Ababa at age 10 and quickly learned that the streets are a dangerous place to live alone. Mitu found a friend that she had known previously and stayed in a tiny tarp tent set up in the street median with her friend and her mother. Mitu begged every day to earn the 3 birr (30 cents) that her friend's mother charged her in "rent." After a nine year old friend was raped, Mitu lived in fear of not raising enough money and being forced to sleep outside of the tarp's protection.

In order to survive, Mitu begged at the back door of several Addis hotels and was given leftovers from an aquaintance who worked in the hotel kitchen. She lived like this for two years.

Children's Home Ethiopia (CHE) director, Nega Meaza, met Mitu during this period of her life. CHE was in the process of making relationships with several street children and inviting them to enroll in the drop in center. Unfortunately in those early days CHE did not have the funding to enroll more than 6 children and Mitu was not chosen for this group. Nega kept in touch with Mitu, visiting her in the street and keeping track of her story. Mitu's situation began to worsten. She was no longer able to stay with her friend and her mother and had to begin living at a room in the train station. She spent a lot of her time begging and selling gum to foreigners to earn enough money for rent.

In May of 2008 Children's Home Ethiopia opened its drop-in center and invited a larger group of children to enroll. Mitu was invited and happily accepted.

The transition from spending her days on the street to following the rules of the drop-in center was not easy for Mitu or the rest of the children. Nega explains that the street children are used to doing whatever they want, they think they are always right, and they have a hard time accepting authority. Street children often crave freedom and while some have families to stay with they may choose the street due to abuse, neglect, or desire for freedom.

By September of 2008 Children's Home Ethiopia had over 20 children enrolled in their program. Each child was off the street during the day-either in school or participating in the drop in center school preparation program. Each child was sleeping at night with his/her family or a relative.

Mitu was the exception. She was still living at the train station and struggling to balance the drop in center with begging for her rent.

Nega and his wife decided to take Mitu home to live with them as a foster daughter. They recognized the need she had for family and stability. Nega's wife Emu described Mitu as difficult at first. She didn't know how to cook, clean, help in the house, wash her feet, or take care of her clothes. Most Ethiopian girls, by age 13, would have been taught these skills in their home and these are skills they will need in order to marry and raise a family.

Nega could have taken Mitu to an orphanage. He did not have to take on the personal burden of caring for a teenager. But as an Ethiopian he values family and community. He feels that it is essential to create more family-based programs where street children without safe family can live with foster families. He wants to see more counseling and prevention of street child programs where staff and volunteers visit the homes of children who are not in school. He believes that while caring for individual children is important, it is more important to deal with the family as a whole. Nega and Emu decided to live these values by taking Mitu into their home.

Another child from the CHE drop-in center, Ephraim, has recently been placed with another staff member as a foster child. Ephraim was taken from his village as a young child and sent to Addis to work. He can no longer remember his family or where he is from. Ephraim's story is a good example of why child trafficking prevention and education programs are needed in rural Ethiopia.

Mitu is an amazing little girl. She has come a long way from the wild and dirty street child that Nega found initially. Without his intervention, by age 13 she would probably have been assaulted, forced into labor, or be working as a prostitute. But instead she is living in a home, much loved. She has accepted Christ, is in school, and looks forward to the future. When asked her last name Mitu responds with a huge smile "Mitu Nega" which indicates that Mitu is now Nega and Emu's daughter.

My Thoughts:

Mitu's story is special. But it is not out of the ordinary. I have met many kind-hearted African families that have taken in children from the street or from their community. Nega and his wife have a very simple house and get by on less than $100/month. Mitu sleeps on a mattress on the living room floor. This isn't the story of a wealthy Ethiopian family taking in a child. This is a poor family making room for one more person. That is the story of family and community-based care and these are the families and programs that need support so that they can continue to offer homes and love to orphaned and vulnerable children.