Healthcare system in Africa also needs outside support. High death rate does not only result from armed conflicts, but the lack of proper healthcare system as well. The number of diseases is the same as in Europe or elsewhere, still in the DRC out of 100.000 births the mother dies in 1837 cases. Health care centers can be found 100 km from each other. There are only 5000 doctors for the whole population of 60 million in the DRC, it means 10.000 patients for one doctor. Life expectancy is 47 years.

Ethiopia

On the long term, our aim is to broaden our humanitarian activity in as many places in Africa as possible. Besides our activity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, we are aware of the fact that other countries of the continent are also in dire need of help so we look for the possibilities to enhance our humanitarian activity and to launch development projects. Ethiopia, similarly to the DRC, is one of the poorest countries in the world. The average income per capita is 140 USD per year. The still unresolved border dispute with Eritrea resulted in an armed conflict between 1998 and 2000 during which 70.000 people died and the human suffering was indesrcibable.

According to recent reports of UN humanitarian organizations, severe droughts and the resulting famine are affecting more than 1 million people in the Eastern parts of Ethiopia. Last year the virus of bird flu (Avian influenza, H1N1) was discovered in dead poultry in many cases in Ethiopia which further decreases the scarce sources of food. The conditions of education in Ethiopia is similar to the ones in the DRC: 31% of the Ethiopian children go to school, 43% of them is engaged in child labor. The healthcare system is rudimentary, the number of premature births and infants with a very low birthweight is 40%.

Under these circumstances we do think that it is important to improve living conditions especially of the underprivileged children and their families, provide the chance for making a living and send donations where it is most needed.

In 2007 while visiting our partners and supporters in the US, we established a cooperation with the American humanitarian organization called Reaching Hearts for Kids which operates an orphanage (New Hope Center for Children) in Ethiopia. The leader of our Foundation traveled to Ethiopia to get to know the orphanage built and operated by the American organization and to find out the ways of cooperation with the American partners in order to establish community and educational institutions for the Ethiopian orphans and children in need, maintain the institutions together, construct new buildings for the orphanage, build and operate a hospital, introduce the student support program.

Together with our American partner, we launch the Humanitarian Tourism program too, which hopefully will give us the opportunity to present everyday life in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Ethiopia as well to a growing number of travellers.