In 2000, when local teacher, Muday Mitiku started the Fresh and Green Academy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, she never thought the plight of these needy children would touch so many people—all she knew was that if she did nothing, nothing would change for them.

Since then, 125 children’s lives have been improved beyond recognition.

However, in 2008, the school had run out of funding and was in danger of closing. Fortunately, three flight attendants were on a mission trip to… Our story continued here…

The project was launched in November 2011 with two volunteers. Veronika from Czech republic is teaching theatre  and Sandra from Kenya is teaching English lessons.

We are expecting two more interns from The Netherlands and Estonia to come in January to teach English and basic IT.

Thank you AIESEC and Microsoft for making a difference in the lives of the impoverished students of Fresh and Green Academy.

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I would like to thank Fresh and Green Academy for an amazing life experience in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. My husband, a school teacher and myself a Chiropractor, set out the summer of 2011 to climb Mt Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. While in Africa, I wanted to utilize my skills and passion for chiropractic and volunteer for those who do not have the luxury choosing chiropractic. After meeting Dr Salem Aklilu, the first chiropractor in Ethiopia, at a Parker seminar we were put in contact with Dr Greg Rubinstein of New York who has brought chiropractic to a primary school in Addis Ababa.

Our experience there was terrific. Muday, a wonderful Ethiopian woman who started Fresh and Green, came and picked us up at the airport and treated us like royalty. We stayed at a hotel and were picked up daily to head to the school to adjust the children. My first day at the school, I adjusted the kids and some of the moms. Spencer, my husband, spent some time in the classrooms teaching the kids the basic principles of chiropractic and health.

I was amazed by what Muday has done. She has 111 children at the school all of which come from families that can not afford for them to go to school. They are fed a healthy well balanced diet of 3 meals a day, they

get clothes, showers, teeth brushed and naps for the young ones. They learn English and all the core subjects, they even get music and art. All of this is done through donations, she unfortunately has to turn families away daily as she can not help anymore at this time. Muday’s vision is big, she has many plans for fresh and green and the children in that community.

A lot of the moms are involved with the school as well. Many coming from the streets were they have had to beg or prostitute themselves in order to feed their children. Muday has the moms cook the meals, do laundry, make crafts and learn how to support their families.

The children were so excited for their adjustments, lining up and looking through the window with anticipation. I loved that Dr Gregg had been at the school 3 times in the past few years and I was continuing on his work. The more the people in the community see the Chiropractor as someone that can help their body heal themselves, the healthier they will become. The children are so fortunate to be receiving

great nutrition, clothing, chiropractic and education. These children could be the ones who help Ethiopia become a better country to live in. As BJ Palmer once said, “You never know how something you may say think or do may affect the lives of millions tomorrow”.

My experience at Fresh and Green Academy will always be remembered. Many of my patients donated spare change in their pockets before I left and we ended up collecting enough to help Muday buy uniforms for the children in September. We are also sponsoring a child to continue her schooling. I would recommend for anyone to volunteer at Fresh and Green Academy, you won’t regret it.

Dr. Christie MacDonald
www.whitemudchiro.com

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The children received new uniforms this school year.

Help us spread the word about the good that is happening at Fresh and Green Academy in Ethiopia!

Thanks to the generous donations of many, we have been able to add more children and extra curricular activities such as, art, music, physical education, morals classes and computer classes. The children are eating three meals a day and are able to obtain medical care when needed. The school has expanded to now employ 14 staff and teachers and four classrooms have been added. The children have also been planting in the garden that is supplying some of the food they eat.

None of this would be possible without the hard work of Muday, the school director, the volunteers and board of Friends of Fresh and Green Academy, and most importantly your donations.

As we move forward, we in vision a large school, on our own, land that can accommodate pre K through twelfth grade and have boarding facilities for the children who become orphaned and who currently live in compromised situations.

You can help the children continue on their road of hope by donating today.

You can make a difference.



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During the month of April the school expenses were as follows:

Rent-$313.00

Salaries-$250.00

Utilities-$70.00

Food for 111 children three times a day-$1380.00

For $25.00 a month, the price of a dinner out, you will help all 111 students of Fresh and Green Academy eat three nutritious meals a day, have access to medical care, and continue to thrive in a loving and caring learning environment.  You will receive periodic updates on the specific child you have sponsored but will be helping all the children.

Use the “Sponsor A Student” link to start helping today!
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Since this was written we lost another very bright young student. Goday (pictured here) is the mother of one of our students, who recently went to Beirut to work.  Her daughter, Kalkidan, has gone to the countryside to live with her Grandmother and is no longer attending school.

We work hard to help the mothers earn a livable income by selling their crafts but sometimes do fall short.

With your help we can prevent more children from having to leave the school and deter their mothers from falling prey to the allure of a better life that 8 times out of 10 turns out to be a life of slavery and abuse.

You can help by making a donation directly to the mothers cooperative today.

Thank you.

Kalkidan

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2011

Human Trafficking Hits Home
Being an international flight attendant brings me many opportunities. One being my calling in Ethiopia. Another perk of my job is the exposure I have to a multitude of hotel rooms around the world and in those rooms I often watch CNN International. Currently CNN is running a campaign on stopping human trafficking. I have to admit, I was not aware of the many means humans are trafficked. I was under the impression it was mainly women and children being kidnapped and forced into the sex trade. I have learned that it is so much more than that and that some of our mothers in the “Friends of Fresh and Green Mothers Cooperative” have fallen prey to trafficking.
We work very hard to sell the Mother’s goods and we send the group, which consists of fifty women, 100% of the money made but it is still not enough for them to feed their children who do not attend Fresh and Green and themselves and pay the $20-$25 a month rent. So a few of them have gone to work in Yemen and other Gulf countries to work as live in domestic help. They feel this is the only way to provide a better life for their children, who are left behind in Ethiopia.
Unfortunately four such children have had to leave Fresh and Green to stay with family outside the area of the school. These children may not be attending school or eating regularly the way they were while with us.
The other major issue with these women leaving is the abuse many suffer.

While I was told stories of abuse I thought they were isolated situations, I did not understand how wide spread and severe the situation really is. Human trafficking is hitting very close to home!

If you would like to donate to the Mothers Cooperative visit our website. We will also be featuring some of the items the mothers create on our site very soon.

www.friendsoffreshandgreen.org

Below is an excerpt from a story by Marina de Regt of the Netherlands, that explains the situation well.

Ethiopian women increasingly trafficked to Yemen
by Marina de Regt

Few know about the large numbers of Ethiopian women who migrate to the Middle East to take up domestic work.

“May what happened to me not happen to you,” begins a letter sent to Gebetta, a magazine for Ethiopians in Yemen. Many women have written to Gebetta with testimony of how they were trafficked to Yemen to be employed as domestic workers. They speak of deception, isolation, maltreatment, heavy workloads, unpaid salaries, confiscated passports and physical and psychological abuse. Many regret ever deciding to leave and advise other women not to follow in their footsteps. But the flow of young Ethiopian women desperate to improve their lives and those of their families continues to grow.

Until the early 1990s few Ethiopians – except those of Muslim/Arab origin – were interested in going to the Middle East. After the overthrow of the authoritarian regime of Mengistu Haile Meriam in 1991, Ethiopians were given the right to free movement. Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States have subsequently become major destinations for Ethiopian women in search of a better future.

Even a relatively poor country such as Yemen attracts many female Ethiopian migrants who take up paid domestic work. Changing family structures, the increased educational levels of Yemeni women, the growing number of employed women and changing attitudes towards domestic work explain the increased demand for domestic labour in Yemen. Socio-cultural constraints prevent Yemeni women from working as domestics – so migrant women meet the demand. Wealthier Yemenis prefer to employ Asian women but middle-class families predominantly employ Ethiopians because they are available and seen as good domestic workers. Somali refugee women also work as domestics but, unlike Ethiopians, do not generally ‘live in’.

Many Ethiopian women come to Yemen on tourist visas and find work via relatives and friends. Those illegally recruited by agents and employed on a contract basis are particularly vulnerable. All of the many recruitment agencies that arrange Ethiopian women’s employment as domestic workers to the Middle East are non-registered, they can be considered traffickers. Women are approached by the traffickers themselves or are introduced to traffickers through friends, neighbours and relatives. Trafficked women themselves are sometimes even involved in recruiting other migrants. Traffickers are often either of mixed descent – having a Yemeni father and an Ethiopian mother ­– or areYemenis born or brought up in Ethiopia. The Yemeni authorities lack the capacity to control the activities of illegal recruitment agents and it is often the case that traffickers are able to use influence with people in power to ensure that any legal actions against them are halted.

Women who have borrowed money from the agent or broker may end up in debt bondage, required to work long periods before they are able to pay off their debts. Many women have great difficulty leaving their employers and agents and physical abuse is common. Employers and agents often confiscate the women’s passports and forbid them to leave their place of employment unaccompanied. This makes it impossible for women to look for better jobs, to escape or to have contact with other Ethiopians. Trafficked women may, however, become aware of their rights and decide to run away and find better jobs. Some families therefore prefer to employ young rural Ethiopian women as they are thought to be more malleable and less likely to leave. As a result, traffickers in Ethiopia are purposely recruiting young uneducated women from poor families in rural areas, convincing them with stories about high salaries and educational opportunities.

Please spread the word, tweet and post to your Face Book page. We can not ignore what happens to our fellow humans, we are more connected than we realize.
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This race is always fantastic and not only do we learn a great deal about each other from spending 27 hours together in the standard white van, but we learn how strong we are ourselves.I personally use the strength I have seen from the people of Ethiopia to keep my heart and mind strong when my body no longer wants to preform.

A special “Thank You” goes out to team captain Bill Davis, for his tireless dedication to our team. Without him, we all would just be running a stray.

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You can still donate on behalf of the “Proud Bird Runners”.  It only takes a little to do a lot.

Thank you all.                                                                                                                                                                                                             Trish

FoFaGA Poker Fundraiser 2011

Our “Third Annual Poker/Casino Night” fundraiser was a huge success. Over 100 people were in attendance at Connolly’s Pub NYC and a great time was had by all. The top three poker players and top two blackjack players took home thousands of dollars worth of prizes which included, Broadway show tickets, 2012 US Open tickets, Mets VIP tickets, year long house cleaning service, gym memberships, a private wine tasting party and helicopter rides to name a few. We raffled off a Marc Jacobs handbag, wine, and vacation packages. We also sold the Mothers Cooperative crafts and raised awareness of the need to insure Fresh and Green Academy continues to grow and thrive.

A special Thanks goes out to the committee members, volunteers and sponsors, without them the event would not have been possible.

Sponsors: Fitch Group, United Print Group, Marc Jacobs, Van Cleef and Arpels, 57th Street Chiropractic and Wellness, Dirty 2 Purdy, Robert Essel Photography, Mr. Dana Matthow, Jeff King LMT, Americana Tickets, Laurie Towers, Lloyd Goldsmith Fine Art, Harvey Luckman – Sport and Classic Auto Repair, Gold’s Gym, Christine Zona, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Boqueria Tapas Bar and Restaurant, Carnegie Hall, McGee’s Pub, Big Daddy’s, City Crab, Dukes, Georgette Williams LMT, Stacey Rosenberger, Ashok Sinha Photography, Kennedy’s, Natural History Museum, Dr. Rich Goldstein, Dara Manuel – Young Living, Crema, Dyker Beach Golf Course, Kate Hildebrandt – Structural Integration Rolfing

Volunteers and Committee Members: Charity Baker, Antoinette Bates, Dana Burnell, Pryor Callaway, Vivi Chestnut, Kati Curtis, Clarissa Feldman, Conner Hafner, Sojourner McBride, Mike Parng, Elyse Pasquale, Dr. Jason Piken, Craig Rosen, Jason Rubinstein, Peggy Shaw, Ed Soh, Jennifer Thai, John Winter, Jo Ann Wood

View Photos Here!

Thank you to all who were in attendance.

We look forward to an event next year!

It is not too late to donate!



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121 W. 45th st., NY, NY 10036.

Register now and pay only $200 for $2,500.00 in chips, 3 hours premium open bar, and 3 hours of passed hors d’oeuvres!  And remember, we are a 501(c)(3) organization so your donations are tax deductible!
Friends of Fresh and Green Academy will be hosting its Third Annual Poker/Casino Night Fundraiser on September 12th, 2011. This year promises to be our most spectacular event yet.

Play will be for prizes such as Mets VIP seats and parking, year long gym memberships, helicopter rides, Broadway tickets, wellness services, dinners and more!
We have professional dealers & tables.
Not a pro? No worries, beginner tables and instruction are available and remember it is all for charity and a whole lot of fun!

Bring your friends!

Don’t want to play? For $75.00, receive open bar and hors d’oeuvres while helping the children of Fresh and Green Academy!

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The students will remain at the academy but advance to the first grade and continue to benefit from the food and care they currently receive.

Next year grade 4 will be added and all 111 students will have the opportunity to thrive and one day make a difference in their world. This is only possible though because of the help they receive from our generous supporters.

Thank you and congratulations to all the students!

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