International Youth Programs

Beautiful Together has worked to support Kidane Mehret Children’s Home in Ethiopia since 2014.

Since 2014, Beautiful Together has been focused on supporting children waiting for families through a variety of tangible projects in Africa and the United States.

Our goal has always been to improve the lives of children growing up in orphanages, group homes and the foster care system. Working in Ethiopia, our efforts naturally expanded to include those children living in extreme poverty and underserved communities.

Over the course of our initial six years as an organization, we launched and completed over 20 projects, ranging from renovating bathrooms in this inner-city orphanage in Addis Ababa to building a feeding kitchen for a grassroots aid organization in Ethiopia to our disaster relief center project in Korah to lighting the classrooms at Kidane Mehret Orphanage to our Safe Showers project for homeless youth aging out of foster care in North Carolina to our Safeguarding The Orphange project to our Feeding Foster Youth program in the United States.

Beautiful Together Education Fund

A key initiative of our work is the Beautiful Together Education Fund that was created to further educational opportunities for children living at Kidane Mehret. This includes sponsoring private schooling for those unable to continue in government schools, purchasing needed supplies for schools and working to better support the educational process of students living at the orphanage through ongoing tutoring and offering simple upgrades in to their environment. (Sometimes just adding cushions to the study benches can make all the difference in the world!)

Experiencing Joy Together

Some of our more joyful Youth Programs include simply taking the children out for a variety of experiences and outings - from group swims at various pools to long hikes and ropes course adventures, to large dinner shows, movies, games, bowling and, really, all the other things we can find! Of course there is always plentiful shopping involved - and what we cannot get in Addis Ababa, we bring from the United States.

In addition, creating multiple portrait galleries of the children living at the orphanage over the last seven years means also getting to photograph each and every one of them - and watch them light up when they see their portrait on the wall.

Add in enjoying every sort of meal out that you can imagine with (most) children quite interested in trying something new: these outings have been one of the more wonderful things that we have been able to experience over the years.

Beautiful Together, Orphanage Outings, Swimming in Ethiopia, Tamara Lackey, Nikon
A Swim Outing in Addis Ababa
Orphanage Portraits, Addis Ababa Ethiopia, Tamara Lackey, Nikon
Photographing the Children of Kidane Mehret
The Portrait Gallery of the children hangs on the orphanage walls and prints are given to the children
The Portrait Gallery of the children hangs on the orphanage walls and prints are given to the children
Barber Visits
Barber Visits
Children at Kidane Mehret caring for Street Dogs
Children at Kidane Mehret caring for Street Dogs
Orphanage Portrait Gallery in Addis Ababa, Tamara Lackey Portraits, Nikon
Portrait Galleries of The Children at Kidane Mehret Children's Home
Tamara Lackey, Nikon, Dentist, Ethiopia, Beautiful Together
Dental Visits
Checkups at Clinics
Checkups at Clinics
Engaging in Playful Activities with Children
Engaging in Playful Activities with Children
Purchasing Clothing, Books, Medicines & Toys Not Found in Addis Ababa
Purchasing Clothing, Books, Medicines & Toys Not Found in Addis Ababa
Beautiful Together Orphanage Bathroom Renovation, Tamara Lackey, Nikon
Renovating the Bathrooms at Kidane Mehret Children's Home
Lunch in The Toddler Room
Lunch in The Toddler Room
A Park Outing
A Park Outing

Help Support Our International Youth Programs

Join us by supporting our youth programs for children and teenagers living in foster care, group homes, at-risk situations and underserved communities.

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