Teen, young adult care project – Wubanchi launches a second phase

French charity organization, Bleu Blanc Rouge Foundation launches the second phase of its Wubanchi project named after a girl killed by a drunken man who tried to rape her.

The foundation officially launched the project in a ceremony held March 23, 2023 at the Skylight Hotel in the presence of government officials and partners. As indicated on the launching event, Wubanchi Project is centered on supporting, improving and sustaining the lives of institutionally vulnerable children through community based services and was created directly by Bleu Blanc Rouge Foundation to support young people in and ageing out of the care system.

The project aims to take care of orphans by bringing them together through; building houses with a family setup, education including training, reintegration, and rehabilitation. As a result, the project envisions rebuilding the lives of children into the society by allowing them to become productive citizens with independent lives. As indicated, the project is titled after the name of a girl named Wubanchi who was a victim of a poor care system, who left her orphanage when she was 15 when it got shut down and manage to live by sponsors together with her two friends. Wubanchi’s life tragically came to an end when she raped and brutally killed in Addis Ababa, seven years ago in 2016, at the tender age of 17.

The foundation has budgeted 206 million birr to implement the project which is said to stay for three years from 2023-2025. “Wubanchi provides residential homes and wrap-around support to vulnerable young people who came out from orphanages which shut down due to certain reasons in Ethiopia, and provides physical, social, and psychological assistance, as well as education and training,” said Tsedey Tefera, Country Manager of Bleu Blanc Rouge Foundation.

The project will benefit a total of 750 citizens. Out of those 400 will be directly supported by establishing houses with family contents, and the rest will be youths in fostering centers under government institutions.

Bleu Blanc Rouge Foundation has been working in Ethiopia since 2019 after launching its Wubanchi project which supports teenagers who left orphanages and slowly adjusts and inserts the orphans back into society and assist them to be socially and economically independent.