Our agency Adoption Avenues is engaged in facilitating the adoption of Ethiopian orphans from Toukoul Orphanage, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital.

When Ives and Jaqueline Ferez, two french citizens arrived in Ethiopia in 1983, they witnessed the terrible death of parents and children because of drought and famine. After helping in a catholic orphanage before it was destroyed in a fire, the decided to help the children in their own home but they soon were overwhelmed by the magnitude of the problems affecting the country.

In 1990 they founded Toukoul orphanage, first as a small nursery to take care of 50 kids from 0 to 5 years of age, while slowly expanding to provide care to older children as well.

Today the orphanage is well organized in three different buildings: the main one or Toukoul 1 has two wards. Ward A is where the babies and little children are and it also has a kitchen and infirmary. There is another building, or ward B, where the older children up to 14 years old live, separated in three groups according to their age. Children 7 years and older attend school.

The second building or Toukoul 2 is located at about 500 meters from the main building and is a rented facility that is used to receive children from all over the country. Here the first medical check ups are done and also treatments are given if necessary. If the new child is healthy and doesn’t have any contagious disease, then the boy or girl is moved to Toukoul 1.

The third building or Toukoul 3 is located at approximately 2 km and here is where all the babies HIV positive under 2 years old are located, where they get the care they need and if after a while their condition is reverted, as sometimes happens, they are sent to Toukoul 1 to be adopted.

The orphanage takes very good care of the children, giving them not only food and education, but also lots of love and affection, and everything is precisely scheduled to keep things running smoothly. In Toukoul work nurses, baby sitters (24 hour service for the babies), pediatricians and maintenance personnel. The orphanage is funded by several french associations and other beneficiaries.

Adoption Avenues is participating in the Toukoul Program for HIV and handicapped children. They participate in the financing of the construction of the facilities and in financing the running costs of the Toukoul Program.

If you want to see an aerial view of Toukul Orphanage these are the coordinates you need to copy in Google Earth:
9° 1′9.21"N
38°48′24.34"E

Links:
Les amis du Toukoul (in French)
Passerelle, enfants d’Ethiopie (in French)
Tout qui viens d’Ethiopie (Toukoul photos, in French) 
Amis Des Enfants (in French)
Project Underwear (in English)

 Videos:

UPDATE: If you want to read our opinion of the Toukoul Orphanage after our travel to Ethiopia please read this post: The children of Toukoul and this one about the Guest House: Toukoul Guest House

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