More Proof That One Person Can Change the World: Meet Meron Foster.
Meron Foster
} At the recent Human Capital Summit in Chicago a very articulate young woman introduced the audience to the Human Capital Foundation, and her volunteer efforts in her home country of Ethiopia. I was so impressed with her poise, her commitment, and her skill in communicating her experiences. I wanted to share her story with you. This is the first interview I've ever conduced on Total Picture Radio that required I get permission from a parent. Meron is sixteen. She was orphaned at the age of two, terribly ill with tuberculosis. The infection had attached to her spinal column, causing it to collapse with each passing day as the middle vertebrae were destroyed by the virus. By the time that Meron was adopted by Carol and Mike Foster at age nine, her spinal column was at a 105 degree angle, causing her breathing to be difficult, with paralysis looming.
Meron began learning English as a second language, math, reading and writing upon entering formal schooling at the fourth grade level, being the only black girl (along with her disability) in her class. Meron had her back surgery at age eleven. After six weeks in Boston Children's Hospital, two painful operations, and a year of living with a full body brace, Meron is a healthy, articulate junior, who works after school and maintains a busy social schedule. She is a tireless advocate for the Human Capital Foundation which was started by her parents. Meron hopes to pursue a career in diplomacy in college. She lives with her mother and father, five brothers and four sisters in Norwich, Vermont, six of whom are also adopted.
After three return trips to Ethiopia volunteering her time, Meron has found and reconnected with her birth family and likes to include her three Ethiopian brothers and one sister when answering how many siblings she has in her family. Meron now loves to play tennis, soccer and swim.
About the Human Capital Foundation
Chief among the challenges developing economies face is the worldwide HIV/AIDS pandemic, which threatens to eradicate an entire generation of workers and consumers in parts of Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe. AIDS is a catastrophic humanitarian disaster that is rapidly destroying the educated labor pools and emerging markets that are necessary for globalization.
The Human Capital Foundation is committed to help, by providing assistance to those least able to cope, in those countries most severely impacted by AIDS and extreme poverty. Their programs help AIDS orphans, HIV-infected and vulnerable children regain stability, health and the love of a lifetime family. The foundation’s objective is to transform those in greatest need today, into a fabric of confident, educated young people, who can contribute to the social and economic needs of their nation.
Urgent and sustained action is needed to provide real homes for children left abandoned by the AIDS pandemic in Ethiopia. The alternative of sending over 1.2 million orphans from the streets into over-crowded and under-resourced orphanages is a dangerous stop-gap. Ignoring or warehousing a generation of children orphaned by AIDS are not solutions. They are setting the timer on another enormous social crisis, for a region that is barely able to sustain itself today.
Less than one percent of AIDS orphans in Ethiopia will ever be adopted by a family in the West. Because of extreme poverty and the stigma of AIDS, very few can ever hope to be welcomed by extended families in their home country. The vast majority of AIDS orphans are exiled into a childhood of desperation, discrimination and fear.
Ethiopia and similarly impacted countries cannot wait to address the fallout of this first generation orphaned by AIDS. If these children are not somehow returned to the lifelong support of a truly caring family home, the stage is set for a continuation of the ignorance, extreme poverty and despair that is the breeding ground for social turmoil and AIDS.
A Note from Mom...
Peter, when talking about Meron, one cannot say enough. She still lives with pain because of her back but does not let that stop her. She carries herself with such dignity and good humor. Her siblings adore her and her teachers rave about her. She is a B+ student who works very hard for her grades. Meron is much admired by her peers because of her high moral standards and sassy "black girl" attitude. Meron was voted usher for the upcoming senior prom, one of two juniors chosen, a real testament to her unique standing within this almost all white community. She is also fearless when it comes to advocating for the less fortunate! Don't you agree? I hope you think the bio is short enough and truly introduces our beautiful Meron.
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