• Bridge to Israel, founded by Magdalena and Timotheus Augstburger, is a Christian charity organization operating since 1984 with the principal task of helping the poor, the neglected and the forsaken.
• In 2001, Bridge to Israel registered as a non-profit, Non-Governmental Organization in Ethiopia under the name Bridge to Israel in Ethiopia BIE (currently changed to Bridge of Hope BOH) and has been operational since then,
  
• Has a national coordination office in Addis Ababa and project implementation unit in Gondar town, 766 lms north of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

At the turn of the Millenium, in September 2000, at the United Nations General Assembly, 189 countries endorsed goals to cut in half the percentage of people living in extreme poverty and to improve health & education in impoverished countries by 2015.

This agenda is called the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) and include specific measurable targets for their achievement. Bridge of Hope embraces these goals and we are striving to do our part in our little corner of the world by providing basic necessities for over 300 orphans as well as employment for 78 permanent employees.

History

Bridge of Hope was founded in 1984 by Timotheus and Magdalena Augstburger who have dedicated their lives to serving the poor and needy. In the past 21 years, the Augstburgers have worked in the West Bank in Israel, Lebanon, Armenia, Georgia, and Ukraine. They came to Ethiopia in 1999 and partnered with Ato Demmelash Aysheshim, an Ethiopian experienced in managerial know-how. Together, they devoted their time, energy and money into establishing Morning Star Children's Village in 2001, with the dream of bringing help, hope and blessings to many hopeless and impoverished children in Ethiopia where poverty, malnutrition and HIV/AIDs are common. 

Our Vision

To do our part in the fight against poverty, illiteracy and HIV/AIDs by specifically targeting the most vulnerable members of society - children. We strive to raise children who will become healthy, responsible and productive citizens.

 Our Mission

1. To provide basic facilities and services necessary for the overall physical, mental, emotional and social development of orphan and other deprived children.
2. To reduce the number of street children within Gondar. Our objective is to eventually provide a home for up to 160 children in our village.
3. To provide shelter, nutrition, health services as well as educational/vocational training to children under our care.

Our Values

Our values come from our Christian origin. They are:

• Love and respect for all mankind, service to the poor, the needy and the deprived.
• Equal treatment of all people regardless of race, religion, health status, gender, age or politics. This applies to all our activities including eligibility criteria for children as well as in the hiring of employees.
• Managing all of our resources efficiently and effectively; striving to keep our administrative costs to a minimum so that those in need receive the maximum benefit possible.
• Transparency in all realms of our activities.
• Good stewardship of nature and the environment.
• Empowering communities to take ownership of their future.
• Imparting the core values of honesty, integrity, love and respect for all, strong work ethic, respect for nature and the environment, by setting an example in all that we do.

Our Strategy

We believe that sustainability is achieved through self-sufficiency. We embrace new and innovative ideas that are culturally relevant to achieve that goal. We recently adopted a three-pronged strategy for the expansion and strengthening of Morning Star Children's Village:

• Self-Sufficiency: Utilize Village resources for revenue. This includes sale of excess Village products (e.g. vegetable, fruits, dairy products, poultry, woodwork etc.) as well as producing Arts & Music shows and organizing fund raising events for revenue.
• Community: Contribute to, and participate in, local community events and functions such as providing sponsored, free workshops on a variety of preventive health & social issues in particular HIV/AIDS, reproductive health, gender issues and youth issues.
• Sponsors and Donors: Establish partnerships with donor organizations, corporations and churches to help sponsor projects or donate items needed while concurrently strengthening & expanding the partnership with our base of individual donors and sponsors. Additionally, team up with other NGO's to develop joint projects and utilize best practices learned from other organizations to achieve our goals.