Our Partnership | Funding Partners
About SMCF
 SMCF Ethiopia was established in 1985 as St Matthew's Children's Fund Ethiopia to help care for some of the many children orphaned or abandoned following devastating famine and civil war. It continues this work today together with its Ethiopian partner organisation, JeCCDO, (the Jerusalem Children and Community Development Organisation) although the emphasis is no longer on providing institutional care, but on caring for children in their own communities.
To ensure that children in poor urban slum communities are brought up in a healthy and thriving environment, SMCF Ethiopia and JeCCDO set up and resource community development associations (CDAs). We encourage these local organisations to decide their priorities and select the beneficiaries from the poorest households. Typical activities include orphan support - providing uniform and equipment for school - tutorial classes, and providing training in income generating skills for carers. Community members also learn skills such as urban agriculture or animal husbandry; women come together to save money, receive business training and set up small businesses; and the community is mobilised to clean the streets, and build and manage communal toilets and showers.
The provision of training and guidance for CDAs is central to the process – this includes training on how to chair meetings, keep accounts and how to fundraise. Importantly for the long term future of the CDAs, committee members receive training and guidance on setting up and managing income-generating projects so that their organisation can become financially independent within 5 years. This has been successfully achieved with 10 community development organisations to date. |
