Where we have come from

In 2000 Miss Catharina van den Bosch (Sr. Karin), a nurse manager, came to Shire to work at the local hospital. She was also asked to help with abandoned / orphaned children that she then took to another agency some three hours drive from Shire, as there was no organization closer to provide assistance for orphans and / or abandoned children (OVC).

Sr. Karin was challenged by the local authority to fill this gap so that the wealth of the area, its children, would stay in the vicinity and would be beneficial to the community; thus giving them a sense of identity within reach of their own birthplaces. Also in the event of a family member wanting to visit them we could facilitate for family meetings and / or even family reunifications that are so valuable to the child’s psychological makeup.

In 2005, the local government gave Sr. Karin a beautiful tract of land measuring 15 hectares that has been developed into village for orphans and vulnerable children; this has been established into a community with space for sixty children. The family-like unit called Grace Village (Tsega Mender).
In order to care for the children women with childbirth injuries were employed to care/cook for the children, thus the union of orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) and women in need (WIN) have come together to create something quite exceptional.