JDC - Ethiopia, "This Is a Soul"

View Trailer - Dr. Hodes lifesaving work in Ethiopia.

Ethiopia is considered a low-income country-less than half of the country can read and write and almost a quarter of the population lives on less than $1/day.

The 1984 Operation Moses and 1991 Operation Solomon massive airlifts transported Ethiopia’s Jews to Israel. Following Operation Solomon, JDC started to take care of approximately 2,800 Felas Mora left behind in Addis Ababa. Some years later, JDC developed an emergency assistance program using medical clinics in Addis Ababa and Gondar, implementing a nutrition program for malnourished children as well as other health-related initiatives. As of December 2009, JDC’s clinic in Gondar is tending to the medical needs of the more than 9,000 Felas Mora awaiting emigration from Gondar to Israel.

Need
Poor sanitation and a lack of access to modern medical treatments and education are among the crippling challenges facing Ethiopia.

Response
JDC—through its global non-sectarian arm, JDC-IDP—lends its expertise in public health and education. Efforts include:

- Raising sanitation standards by building water wells, latrines, and irrigation systems.
- Life-saving medical programs, including heart and spinal surgeries as well as treatment for Hodgkin’s disease.
- Construction of 6 schools in rural Ethiopia and launching of a university scholarship program for young women.

Impact
JDC’s humanitarian initiatives have reached many people in the communities of Addis Ababa and Gondar with critical help:

- Thousands of individuals are receiving medical care through JDC’s newly opened clinic in Gondar.
- Dozens of children have successfully undergone spinal surgeries or cancer treatment through JDC’s partnership with the Mother Teresa Care Center
- Nine wells have been built and are providing clean drinking water for villages in the Gondar region.
- Hundreds of children now study in comfortable conditions in the rural schools recently built by JDC.
- 30 needy students have received scholarships to complete their university studies; 24 for completion of their nursing studies.

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Check Out New Book: This Is a Soul: The Mission of Rick Hodes, by Marilyn Berger.