OVC project

The OVC project (Orphans and Vulnerable Children) is an initiative of the Adigrat Diocesan Catholic Secretariat (ADCS) of the Ethiopian Catholic Eparchy of Adigrat. The project supports young people with micro-scholarships for obtaining a university entrance qualification and at least one bachelor's degree in their own country. It is based in Adigrat, Tigray region, Ethiopia. One of the sponsored students was the AIDS orphan Rahel Hailay, who completed the study of biology and zoology at the universities in Axum and Mek'ele from 2009 to 2014. It is largely funded by donations collected by the Student Initiative Rahel in Germany.

Since 2010 additional finance aid is collected in Germany by the Student Initiative Rahel (SIR) to increase the possible number of scholarships given by the OVC project. The Student Initiative Rahel is a student project of the Institute for World Church and Mission (IWM) (German: Institut für Weltkirche und Mission) which is a part of the Sankt Georgen Graduate School of Philosophy and Theology in Frankfurt-Sachsenhausen. The project is funded mainly by current and former students at the university.

Both projects are connected through the support of the Pontifical Mission Societies (German: missio) in all financial matters, such as account management, the administrative costs or the transfer of money to Ethiopia. In Ethiopia the Student Initiative Rahel is supervised locally by the Adigrat Diocesan Catholic Secretariat (ADCS) of the Ethiopian Catholic Eparchy of Adigrat under the patronage of the diocesan bishop Tesfay Medhin within the framework of the OVC project (Orphans and Vulnerable Children). The OVC project is active in the areas of Adigrat and other areas particularly affected by poverty. The project manager of the ADCS Woldemariam Besirat selects the scholarship holders. The nonprofit organization supports in a scholarship youths – mostly young women – in Adigrat in the north of Ethiopia, who are disadvantaged for various reasons, and accompanies them financially and ideally during their studies at a university or their education. It is largely funded by donations. and organizes religious education workshops on scholarship meetings with their own and external lecturers on topics such as AIDS, the consequences of emigration as refugees or on other medical or ethical issues. In addition to financial support, the promotion of self-reliance, self-confidence and self-esteem, the promotion of self-responsibility, the awareness of responsibility and the ability to work together are important aspects of the work of the OVC project.

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