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Children's
Stories Mia lived in Ethiopia and was sponsored through COEEF before being adopted by a family in the United States. Here is her story as written for an English class.
Changing Students’ Lives
There is a really great man who lives here in Utah. He helps kids who don’t have any families or places to live. His name is Norm Purdue. He wears glasses, is in his 50’s, and is kind of loosing his hair. By looking at him you can’t tell much about him. You wouldn’t know what a great person he is, how much he likes kids, or how important he is to so many children’s lives. Norm used to be a professional photographer for the Utah Jazz basketball team. He worked for the Jazz for 18 years and is very talented. One day, Norm and his wife, Ruthann, went to Ethiopia and they met a little girl. They found out that she didn’t have any parents so they decided to help her by paying for her school. In some parts of Ethiopia, the families can’t afford for their kids to go to school because they need them to stay home and work to help earn money for the family. Girls especially need help in Ethiopia. Without a good education, many girls get married too young and don’t live very happy lives. With an education, the girls can make good money to help provide for their families and they can teach their children to read and help to make their lives better. When Norm and Ruthann came back home to America, they told their friends about all of the kids in Ethiopia who needed to go to school and their friends wanted to help too. That is when they started the Children of Ethiopia Education Fund (COEEF). Norm meets with the kids, takes their pictures, and gets their name, age, and grade level to give to their new sponsors and to help him find them the right school. He matches students with sponsors and he helps the girls with school supplies and shoes. Norm is a great person who really loves children. He started COEEF very small but now it is so big that he quit his job and works for COEEF full-time in order to help more kids. He worked with the villagers in a city called Koka where he helped them build their first school ever and now 300 students go to that school. Six years later, COEEF has sponsors that help more than 700 kids go to school in Ethiopia. This program has really made a difference in children’s lives. I know because I was one of them. Five years ago, I met Norm and told him about myself. He came back to America and he found me a great sponsor family. I got a good education in Ethiopia thanks to my sponsors and COEEF. The things that Norm does inspire people to help kids. Many people might want to help but they don’t know how. He helps them by showing the needs of the people in Africa. He shows them pictures of the children that are starving, uneducated, and who need families. When every body starts helping each other we are making changes in the world. Changing the world for the better helps everybody, not only the kids, but also his or her future families. When those kids are parents and need to take care of their families, their education will help them find a job or make orphanages to help others. They might even get the opportunity to come to America, which could change everything.  Norm is extra special to me because he also helped me find my family and come to America. If I had not met Norm, I would have a miserable life. I am sure that I would have quit school for some reason and, without a family to help take care of me, I could have died from disease or starvation. Sometimes bad things happen to children who don’t have families and I am really grateful that he found me a wonderful family. Norm inspires my family and me. I want to get a job like him when I grow up. I try to help now by supporting Norm at fundraisers and helping him translate letters into English. I have been able to meet many of his students and other kids that have been adopted from Ethiopia and I help Norm and their families to communicate with the kids because I know Amharic. My family is sponsoring two girls through Norm’s program right now. I am definitely going to help people throughout my life. I am not saying this because people think I am smart. I am going to help the kids because it’s really nice to help people in any way that we can. When you start traveling to help kids, you will enjoy yourself and learn from the kids. Thanks to Norm, many people know about the children in Ethiopia and now he has this wonderful program that a lot of people are really happy to be part of. Now many girls have a life that they wouldn’t have had before including me. I am here, alive, educated, and happy. Translation of Ethiopian Names The following table lists many of the names of children in the program and their English translation. Bible *: means the name if from the Bible.
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Copyright
© 2005-2008 Children of Ethiopia Education Fund.
Website Designed and Maintained by RedGazelle Design Group. Thank you to the COEEF volunteers who worked on this site.
Website Designed and Maintained by RedGazelle Design Group. Thank you to the COEEF volunteers who worked on this site.