Become a Team Tesfa sponsor and provide a child with shelter, food, clothing, educational supplies, medical care, security and a family. Tesfa's Shelter in Harar, Ethiopia is home to 92 children who were without family or family who could care for them. As a sponsor, you will be changing a life and touching the heart of a child. You will be helping to ensure they have all they need - not only quality of life but also a hope for the future. LEARN MORE…

We invite you to get to know each of the projects we're involved in. We think you'll be as inspired as we are to get involved and make a difference in Ethiopia.

For 15 years my heart longed to adopt a little girl internationally.  Over that time, another prayer was for God to show me what He wanted me to do to serve Him.  My two prayers were answered in June 2010 when my mom and I travelled to Ethiopia to meet and bring home my little girl!

During our two week stay in my daughter’s birth country, we were forever impacted and changed by the abject poverty we saw 360 degrees around us. We quickly learned that over 65,000 people live on the streets in the capital city, Addis Ababa. Many of those people are children living on the streets without parents or any adult to care for them, protect them, or show them love.

The generosity of friends and family back in Canada allowed us to reach out to over 25 children living on the streets and offer meals, clothing, blankets, plastic tarps and shoe shine kits (to provide an opportunity to earn a living). Six boys were sent to boarding school and were off the streets.  Right before our eyes, my mom and I saw how the resources we have in Canada can make life changing differences in the lives of the Ethiopians who have so very, very little.

Ethiopia is beautiful and the people are warm, welcoming, strong - and wanting a better tomorrow.  In Canada, we are so blessed to have access to medical care, clean water, education, transportation, income-generating jobs, affordable food to eat, homes to keep us dry and comfortable, and government programs to care for our most vulnerable.  In Ethiopia, none of the comforts and privileges we so easily take for granted are a certainty. In fact, their reality is very different from ours.

Hearts for Ethiopia was born out of a desire to help others better understand how they can make a difference in the lives of women and children in Ethiopia.  We want to show care and love to women and children through the financial support of programs that will improve quality of life and provide hope.

Our work is a life long journey that has just begun and the blessing of helping women and children in Ethiopia (my daughter’s birthplace) is more than I could ever have imagined. 

Will you journey with us?

The goal of our fundraising efforts is to provide financial resources to programs that assist Ethiopian women and children living in poverty. Hearts for Ethiopia is committed to accomplishing this in a culturally sensitive, effective and appropriate manner.

Fundraising Efforts

Gems & Java, held annually in the spring.

Mini Gems & Java, hosted by volunteers in other cities throughout the year.

Jewelry & Scarves, made by Ethiopian women, providing employment.

Community Partners, finding opportunities to raise funds through creative means.

Monthly Sponsors, committed to supporting Hearts for Ethiopia with donations on a monthly basis.

Hearts for Ethiopia values your gifts and works to ensure all funds sent to Ethiopia are used in a manner that results in culturally sensitive, appropriate, effective and meaningful life-changing projects that lift women and children out of extreme poverty.  

Each of the three projects Hearts for Ethiopia supports is led by a project partner in Ethiopia. We have regular contact with our project partners. Accountability for the activities, progress on goals, and the finances of each project are required of our project partners. Our founder visits the projects once a year to evaluate the effectiveness of the projects, speak with the recipients of the projects, assess needs, meet with our project partners to better understand the realities of life in Ethiopia, develop plans for the coming year, and build relationships.

Hearts for Ethiopia is taking the necessary steps to become a registered charity. We hope to be a registered charity before the end of 2025. Once we are a registered charity in Canada, we will be able to issue tax receipts for donations. In the meantime, we are asking you to join us in our work through your gifts to lift women and children out of extreme poverty in Ethiopia.  

If you would like to change lives in Ethiopia, please click the donate button to get started!