Introduction

A recent United Nations report stated that there are over 14 million children under age 16 worldwide orphaned by AIDS, the majority of whom are in the underdeveloped nations of the world.  There are an estimated one million orphans in Ethiopia.  Many of these orphans are themselves infected with HIV.   
    
AHOPE for Children is an organization that was established to help children orphaned by AIDS, with a special emphasis on those orphans infected with HIV.  AHOPE is an acronym for African HIV Orphans Project Embrace. 

Background and History of AHOPE for Children
   
In 1997, Adoption Advocates International (AAI), based in Port Angeles, Washington, began to provide adoption services for orphaned children in Ethiopia.  There was an obvious need for facilities to care for orphans in that country so AAI established Layla House in Addis Ababa, the capitol of Ethiopia.   
    
One in every 6 children referred to Layla House for adoption tested positive for HIV. In response, AAI established a second home in Addis Ababa that was exclusively for the care of children infected with HIV.  In 2002, Merrily Ripley, the director of AAI asked Kathryn Olsen to establish a non-profit charity to assist in the funding for the home for the HIV positive children. The home, then called ENAT HIV Children’s Center, was turned over to former AAI employees and became an Ethiopian NGO (non-governmental organization) in its own right.  AHOPE for Children was created to support ENAT. 
    
On July 12, 2004, the ENAT HIV Children’s Center was closed and replaced by a new NGO, AHOPE Ethiopia.  The former ENAT children and facilities were turned over to AHOPE Ethiopia. 
    
In September, 2005, the first pediatric program to provide the life saving antiretroviral medications in all Ethiopia was established at AHOPE Ethiopia in partnership with Worldwide Orphans Foundation, administered through WWO’s newly established pediatric AIDS clinic in Addis Ababa.  The focus of care and outreach changed dramatically with the arrival of the ARVs; what was once considered a hospice program which anticipated death now became a program of education and hope for a real adult future for every child.