Where we have come from

In 2000 Miss Catharina van den Bosch (Karin), a nurse manager, came to Shire to work at the newly established hospital. It was while she lived in Shire Town that abandoned children were first brought to her, she was obliged to take them to another agency in Adwa (3 hours drive from Shire), as there was no childcare project nearer for these little ones and from Adwa they were sent on for adoption.

Karin felt that the wealth of the area, its children should stay in the vicinity as this would be beneficial to both the community and the children. By keeping the children in their own communities they would grow having a sense of belonging to their own birth place and in the event that a family member should appear the location would facilitate family reunions, so valuable to the child’s psychological makeup.

In 2005, the local government gave Karin a beautiful tract of land measuring approximately 100 acres, to develop into a village for the twenty two children she then had with her. As funding came in and she was able to build six houses – each home with two large bedrooms, a living room, kitchen, bathroom and veranda that runs the length of the house. The village is called Grace Village.