building a future...

one step at a time.

We Have a Big Dream and We Need Your Help!

Blue Nile Children's Organization is run by a small staff and volunteers, both in Seattle and in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Many of our projects can be benefited by additional volunteers or interns. If you are interested in working for BNCO or would like to comment or ask questions please contact us!

 

The mission of the Blue Nile Children’s Organization is focused on the four greatest needs of Ethiopia’s children and their mothers. The first is the sponsorship program that supports orphans in foster care with local families. The second is the Richard Oslund Memorial Clinic whose purpose is to provide pre/post natal care and birthing assistance for mothers and infants in the Kolfe sub-city of Addis Abba. Third is the vaccination program focused on all residents of the Kolfe area to help eradicate those diseases that have ravaged the population of Ethiopia. And finally to cooperate with western universities in their training and research programs that will help train the clinic’s medical personal and enhance the services that are offered to the local population.

 

 

Currently the Blue Nile Children’s Organization is working on meeting its’ four main objectives in the next 18 months. BNCO has reached a point in it’s’ existence where its’ sponsorship program is now supporting over 70 orphans and the clinic’s construction has been completed. Contacts have been made to begin the flow of volunteer medical personnel for the clinic and discussions with the University of Wisconsin have been ongoing to determine where we can best cooperate.

 

Our most pressing goal is to stock the clinic’s lab with equipment and supplies that will meet the Ethiopian government’s regulatory requirement for this type of a clinic. The list of equipment has been compiled and several pieces have already been donated. Once everything has been obtained it will be shipped to Ethiopia in a single container. Our goal is to have the equipment installed and the clinic open by June 30, 2010.

 

Once the clinic is open organizational and supply issues will surely make themselves evident and will be dealt with in a timely manner. Although this will be an ongoing process our goal to be operating at our full capacity of approximately 12,000 patients a year by January 30, 2011.

 

Our greatest intermediate need is the expansion of the sponsored children’s foster care program. The demand is enormous but our limited resources have hampered expansion. Our goal is to expand the program to 1,000 enrolled sponsors and do this through a higher profile web presence and our university based volunteer network by January 1, 2011.

 

Finally for the long term viability of the organization two closely related goals must be met. These are creating and putting in place a professional administrative team including a grant writing/fund raising division capable of supporting a growing organization and a full time, paid, professional staff to run it. The time frame for this is currently not available, but needs serious discussion.

 

There are many other objectives that need discussion, including but not limited to, the vaccination program, the specifics of partnerships with other organizations and educational initiatives.