Riyad 
Birthday
November 5, 2019
Age
Age: 5
Gender
Boy
Riyad is 5 years old and lives in Ethiopia.
I live with my mother and father in the Shebe area. The primary language where I live is Oromiffa. My father is sometimes employed as a day labourer. I like group games and hide and seek. My favourite activity at church is Sunday school. I am not attending school because I am too young.
Ethiopia, a republic in the horn of Africa, sits near the eastern edge of the continent. Its vast central highlands are dominated by temperate plateaus that are divided in half by the Great Rift Valley. Lowland deserts surround the plateaus, which are mostly given to savannahs and farming. Deforestation and unpredictable rainfall have had a harsh impact on this land, which has lost much of its native wildlife.
Ethiopia's population is large and diverse, the second largest in Africa, with more than 70 different ethnic groups. Most people support themselves through subsistence farming in the plateau region, and coffee is one of the most important cash crops. Christianity is widespread in Ethiopia and has been for over a thousand years. Some people practise Indigenous religions or Islam.
Ethiopia is home to the ancient kingdom of Aksum, whose kings were said to be descended from Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. Aksum was succeeded around 300 BC by the kingdom of Abyssinia. Connections to the prosperous sea trade of the Mediterranean were cut off by the Arabs around the 7th century, dividing Abyssinia from Europe and the Middle East for many centuries. By the time contact resumed in the 15th century, Abyssina had divided into many smaller kingdoms that were not reunited until the late 1800s, when Emperor Menilek II rose to power. After his son, Haile Salassie, was dethroned in 1974, the country experienced political instability and several forms of government. In 1995 the country became the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.
Compassion’s ministry is focused on what we call holistic child development. This means developing children in all the different aspects of their lives—their minds, bodies and relationships—while giving them the opportunity to hear about and experience the love of Jesus from caring local church staff and volunteers.
Absolutely not! We encourage children and families of all faiths and backgrounds to register in our programs and would never require or coerce anyone to convert to Christianity.
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