Blue Nile Children’s Organization (BNCO) was founded in 2001 by Selamawit Kifle, a successful Ethiopian businesswoman living in Seattle. Ms. Kifle established BNCO to provide humanitarian support to the many orphaned children she had seen living on the streets of Addis Ababa. Ms. Kifle understood that poverty, poor hygiene and sanitation, high rates of infectious disease, and lack of education all created the conditions that left so many children orphaned.

BNCO became a legal entity in the USA in 2001, following its first humanitarian mission in 2000 to assess the needs of orphaned children in Addis Ababa. The Ethiopian government then donated five acres of land and a license to take care of 28 orphans. A Foster Parent program emerged, as well as plans to build a village in a remote area of Bahir Dar. Fundraising began, but BNCO was not able to raise enough money to begin construction within the government’s short time frame. In 2003, the land was deeded back to the Ethiopian government.

Losing the land in Bahir Dar was both a devastating and enlightening experience for BNCO. Rather than accept the setback as defeat, BNCO revised the plan and in 2005 asked for land to build a more modest 3,550 square foot medical clinic. BNCO was certified as an international NGO and in 2008, the Ethiopian government donated land to build a community health clinic that would serve the orphans, their foster families, and the surrounding community. The land is in Kebele 15/16, the poorest neighborhood in the underserved Addis Ababa sub-city of Kolfe-Keranyo. The clinic was built due largely to the generous bequest of a member of St. Mark’s Cathedral in Seattle and officially opened in 2010. In a country where there is only one physician for every 75,000 people and most cannot afford the bus fare to a distant clinic, Blue Nile Children’s Organization and its Richard Oslund Memorial Clinic has become a vital community resource.