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Homeless moved for big party
29/08/2007 17:04 - (SA)
Anita Powell
Addis Ababa - Thousands of homeless people would be moved from the capital to the countryside before next month's millennium celebration and provided help with food, shelter and medicine, said a development group on Tuesday.
Homelessness was a huge problem in Addis Ababa, a city of five million, where an estimated 90 000 lived on the streets. Beggars were a common sight, with everyone from young children to the elderly seeking money or scraps of food.
Ethiopia - which was celebrating its third millennium in September in accordance with the Coptic calendar, which was about seven years behind the more common Gregorian - was planning a 10-hour, $1.6m party in Meskel Square to mark the milestone. The celebrations were expected to draw tourists from around the world.
Elshadai Relief & Development Association, a local group that receives government funding, said $930 000 had been set aside to move some 5 700 people out of the capital in time for the celebrations.
The group said most are from the northern Tigray region and that Elshadai was simply sending them back home.
Elshadai spokesperson Blen Yehdego said: "It's good for the whole world, not only for Ethiopia. Nobody wants to have this miserable life for their citizens." Yehdego said only those who volunteer would be moved.
Government officials and did not immediately return calls for comment about the project, and calls to Hope Enterprises, a homeless advocacy group, were not returned Tuesday.
Elshadai bills itself as a development group that works for the "well-being of children and sustainable community development." It also conducts research on street children and Aids.
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