Sponsor a Child

Sponsor a Child

According to government estimates, approximately 40 children are abandoned to die each year in Hamar woreda (locals estimate 100+). These children are labeled “mingi,” which means unwanted, not needed, the cause of misfortune, unlucky and associated with bad occurrences. Mingi is carried out by community members but is dictated and managed by ethnic elders who wield absolute control in Hamar society.  In accordance with Hamar social values and norms, parents are forced to abandon or kill their “mingi” child as a prerequisite to stay in the community. 

 

Children are considered Mingi if born before marriage;  born to a married couple who did not fulfill customary rituals; the first born are twins; child’s milk teeth of the upper jaw appear before the lower jaw;  or the child loses his lower jaw teeth by accident. 

Two prominent Hamar government officials, adult Mingi children rescued by a courageous man willing to defy tribal pressure,  Emnet Garsho(former Hamar woreda Chief Administrator) and Sintayehu Garsho (Chief Justice for South Omo zone) designed this project with GTLI. It has  three objectives:  
1) Intervene, care, support and reunify mingi children with birth families;
2) Facilitate eradication of Mingi Harmful Traditional Practice (HTP); and
3) Build capacity of local government to assume management of project with technical backstopping provided by UNICEF.

 

For more detail information on this practice, refer to  http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/05/world/africa/mingi-ethiopia/index.html?hpt=hp_c1. This story talks about the Karo tribe which also believes in Mingi. The article mentions 3,000 children killed/year. The official estimate is 40 children/year.  The discrepancy in numbers is immaterial, one child killed is one too many.

$50/month will care and support a Mingi child and aid our work to eradicate this Harmful Traditional Practice.