Addis Ababa (Kore), Ethiopia

Ethiopia's capital city of Addis Ababa which has a population of approximately 6 million people, is a huge city that is full of new construction of large office building and new roads. Despite the new construction and the growth of a middle class, there still is extreme poverty present here. 

The poorest area of the city is named Kore - which was started as a leper colony 80 years ago outside of the city limits. It was purposefully placed outside of the city limits to avoid infection spreading and quickly became known as a cursed and forgotten place.  The community of Kore is also built on the city's garbage dump and is home to over 120,000 people - many of them the poorest of the poor.   It became a place affected by disease, poverty, and homelessness. Disease is still prevalent – leprosy, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS. Unemployment is very high, and the vulnerable suffer. The elderly, the widows, disabled and children often scavenge their food from the local garbage dump. Clean water and sanitary conditions are hard to find.  Many children do not have opportunities to get a good education – even if they could attend school, they would not have the money to buy a uniform that they need to purchase to attend. There is little “natural” hope to have if one lives in Kore.