OMO CHILD FOUNDATION ORGANIZATIONAL PROFILE
1. The name of NGO
Omo Child
2. Acronym
OC
3.Contact person
Lale Labuko & Gido Sura
4. Registered address
P.O. Box 03 South Omo Jinka, Ethiopia
5. Communication
a) telephone: +2519399867
b) email: lalelabuko@yahoo.com or omochildethio@gmail.com
c) website: www.myomochiId.org
6. Founders- profiles bio
LALE LABUKO & GIDO LABUKO
Co-founder Lale Labuko, age 40, is the heart behind OMO CHILD. Lale was born into the Kara tribe in Ethiopia's Omo Valley and was one of the first of his tribe to receive a formal education. This exposure to the bigger world led Lale to realize the devastation of Mingi and the critical importance of ending this outdated tribal practice.
Over time, Lale shared with John the hidden secret of Mingi and asked for his help in raising money to care for the rescued children he and his wife had taken in at their home in Jinka. Together, John and Late formed OMO CHILD to care for rescued Mingi children. John donates his time and a portion of the profits from his photography to support the work of OMO CHILD.
In fact, Lale later learned he had two older sisters, both deemed Mingi, who were killed before he ever knew them. Outlawing and stopping Mingi has become Lale's life mission. Through Omo Child, he is working hard to make sure his generation of tribal members brings an end to Mingi forever.
Lale divides his time between Ethiopia and the United States where he is a student at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts. He is married and has four young children.
Gido is Lale's wife and she has four children. She and her husband are the founders of the Omo Child Shelter. She was from the Arbore tribal family and her father was the king of the Arbor tribe and she was princes. Gido is one of the first went to school to missionary boarding school receives formal education as women among Arbore tribe.


7. Years of Establishment of OC- brief history of OC
In 2009, Lale Labuko began the mission to end the ritualistic infanticide of children. With the help of a few young educated friends in the local communities of tribal Southwest Ethiopia, Lale and his wife Gido established a safe home for rescued children.
Omo Child was officially founded in 2010, and received 501(C)3 Non-profit Corporation status with the intention of providing a safe, nurturing home and quality education for children rescued in Omo Valley, Ethiopia.
Omo Child also works in partnership with the local Ethiopian government and the young local educated people to end the killing of children deemed to be cursed (“Mingi”) in the Omo Valley.
In July of 2012, OMO CHILD team members were able to end the ritualistic infanticide of children in the Kara tribe, made up of 15,000 people. Today because of the work of OMO CHILD, 54 children who were destined to be killed are alive and living in a clean and loving home receiving continuous loving care, food, diapers, clothing, healthcare, and an education in Southwest Ethiopia.
The Omo Child Tribal Awareness Program (TAP) provides local facilitators who visit villages through out the Omo Valley, establishes relationships with traditional elders and discusses the need to end the killing of “Mingi” children. The facilitators watch for “at risk" children and work with government officials to ensure that these children are protected.
8. Registration no.
Omo Child Ethiopia is a non-sectarian, humanitarian organization operating as a non-profit organization as recognized by Ethiopian regional government SNNPR and certified by federal charity. Registration No. 3976.
9. Mission of OC
Mingi is the ritualistic killing of infants and children believed to be cursed by tribes living in the remote Omo Valley region of Southwest Ethiopia. Omo Child’s mission is to provide a safe, nurturing home and quality education for rescued Mingi children. Our hope is that these children will become future leaders in their tribes and communities. We also raise awareness about the practice of Mingi and work to see it eliminated.
10. Objectives
• The practice of Mingi will be eliminated from Omo Valley and all people who proactive it including, the Kara, Benna, Tsemay and Arbore, by 2030.
• 100,430 people will learn the negative of Mingi and other harmful traditional practices.
• The 51 Children Omo Child has already rescued will continue to receive care, support, and education their home located in the South Omo Zone, Jinka Ethiopia.
Omo Child rescues and cares for Mingi children from Ethiopia's Omo Valley region. All of the children living at OMO CHILD would have been victims of infanticide if they were not rescued.
Living at the OMO CHILD home in Jinka, Ethiopia is the only option for our rescued Children. The children live together in a safe, clean home-like environment. They are loved and cared for by devoted nannies called “mamas” and other caretakers (nurse, Cooks, and housekeepers). They are well fed, clothed, and all necessary medical care is provided. OMO CHILD is also committed to providing the children with the best possible education, so that they become future leaders and important contributors to their communities. We currently have 51 children in our home and 13 mamas to tend to their every need.
We are NOT an adoption agency. We strongly believe that these children from the Omo Valley tribes should remain “home” in Ethiopia and be provided with a good life and education there. We hope that just like OMO CHILD founder Lale Labuko, an educated Kara tribal member, they can help current and future generations successfully transition from tribal Africa to the developed world.
11. Areas of Work- Hamer, Bena, Kara; Omo Valley Ethiopia
Omo Child Foundation proposed to work with two main districts Hamer and Bena- tsemay woredas to
create awareness among youth and respected elders and kings to understand harmful traditional
practice of killing children. We believe youth are the key and future of these community. As, a result, Omo Child has planned to assist the education program of children in Hamer and Bena-Tsemay woredas to raise awareness against HTPs.
Awareness creation meeting events have been conducted in seventeen /17/ kebeles of Hamer and Benna-Tsemay woreda. Omo Child has held community meetings with Bena-Tsemay and Hamer parents that students to attend the HTP events every three months. The main goal is to improve and alleviate harmful traditional practice which prevent pastoralist Children from attending school. Omo Child provides educational materials for Hamer and Benna-Tsemay woreda community through Hamer woreda education office to improve education quality and to eradicate HTPs in these societies. For instance, Lale Labuko OMO Child founder went and gave speech in many schools and used himself as example of how education can create productive leaders who will help their communities. Receiving an education changed his life and so has allowed him to change other people's lives as well.
12. Achievements
OC achievements include stopping Mingi in the Kara tribe (15,000 people) in July 2012; rescuing and now caring for 51 children; caring for, feeding and educating all 46 children; providing gainful employment to 15 “mama's,” eight administrative staff members, and four security guards; providing clean water for Kara villages with CVM water pumps donated by John Rowe, which gave relief to Kara people during drought 2011 and 2012, 2013.

Omo Child providing food, shelter, clothing and adequate medical care to rescued 54 Mingi children have been continued. The children were also provided with basic education through existing private schools in Jinka. Follow up of the educational progress of the children have been carried out on daily basis so as to improve early reading and writing skills of the children. This activity is undertaken in the care centre through already employed teacher during the first phase of the project.
13. The plans for OC to achieve more goals
Our development team will continue to tell the story of the “Mingi” children and express the need for action online and through media. We will continue to look to our small monthly donations or yearly contributions by donors. We will focus our efforts on individuals who are touched by the story and want to provide re-occurring donations. We will also look to churches, private schools, and fundraising events for additional funding. Specifically, our co- founder Lale Labuko will speak at these establishments to share the story and solicit donations.