ABEBECH GOBENNA                                                                                             Nominated by Mebrat Ambaye
Abebech Gobena is a prominent humanitarian in Ethiopia who is the founder and General Manager of one of the biggest orphanages in the country.  She started her humanitarian work after seeing a baby sucking her dead mother’s breast during the famine in 1980 in the northern part of Ethiopia.  She took two babies from the famine affected areas to Addis Ababa and gradually increased the number to 21, but her humanitarian activities put her in conflict with her family. Finally Abebech abandoned her marriage and moved to a small poultry house, where she continued her humanitarian activities for six challenging years. From the very beginning, she financed her humanitarian projects herself, at times selling her jewelries and other personal possessions.

Her orphanage provides full boarding services to orphans, sponsors children of destitute from the different communities in the country; provides both curative and preventive health services to children and extends it to the community, provides vocational skill training to children, destitute women, youth and others, contributes its part in the fight against HIV/AIDS, supports community development endeavors.  The organization has so far established health centers, clinics, training institutions, schools, kindergartens, warehouses, dormitories & offices in Addis Ababa.

There is much more that needs to be done to fight poverty in Ethiopia.  Yet Abebech Gobena is not just about fighting or reducing poverty in the country, she is also about compassion which is priceless.  She provides love and care to children who have lost parents and whose primary need is love.  It takes a heart as kind as hers to make so many orphans feel like they are loved.  Abebech Gobena - despite her remarkable achievements in the last two & half decades - believes that a lot has to be done on poverty reduction and is committed to expanding her present orphanage, so that it could be able to serve more orphans and the underprivileged in Ethiopia. Because of her devotion and determination to care for others some rightfully call her Africa’s Mother Teresa.

CHACHI TADESSE                                                                                                  Nominated by Fikirte Getahun
Chachi Tadesse is best known for her musical career as one of the first Ethiopian artists to blend the sounds of reggae with Amharic producing a musical style of her own.  But there is much more to Chachi than just music.  She used her superstar status to raise awareness about street kids in Ethiopia and personally changed the lives of many destitute kids for the better.  After years of collaboration with individuals and organizations for the cause, she founded her own non-profit organization in Atlanta in the year 2000, which she named Hohete Tesfa meaning Gate of Hope. This organization is dedicated to helping Ethiopian children orphaned with HIV/AIDS.

But prior to setting up this organization, she established her musical career in the United States, traveled extensively and got involved in acting, modeling, voice lessons and fashion design. Chachi returned to Ethiopia in 1992 with her first album selling over 90,000 copies worldwide, but her focus was on the plight of street children.  She decided to donate a portion of the proceeds from every show she performed thereafter to help street children in Ethiopia. In 1993, alongside other Ethiopians, Chachi worked with an NGO called ëForum on Street Children and staged a tour in many towns in Ethiopia including Nazareth, Debre Zeit, Awassa, Shashemene, Dire Dawa, and Harrar. Her sold-out show at the National Theatre raised 30,000 birr and helped raise more consciousness about the plight of street children. In 1995, she started a program for Ethiopians abroad to sponsor street children in Ethiopia and helped close to 200 families in an eight year period.  She also organized successive annual live music shows at Meskel Square in Addis Ababa involving other prominent Ethiopian artist and raised substantial funds. 

Chachi is a proud and compassionate Ethiopian who believes in making a difference.  Her humanitarian works have changed the lives of many children in Ethiopia for the better and have inspired many others to do the same.