In the bustling emergency department at the Calvary Adelaide Hospital, Dr Carolyn Roesler is a familiar face, a compassionate soul who has dedicated 26 years of her life to caring for others there. Her career in emergency medicine is impressive, but it’s just the beginning of her remarkable story.
Carolyn’s life is fuller than most, not just professionally but also personally, as a devoted mother of five. Yet, hidden beneath her roles as an emergency specialist and a mother lies another passion. A calling. One that has consumed her heart and precious spare time for 15 years.
It all began in 2007, when Carolyn joined Emirates Airlines as an aviation medical specialist. Upon arriving in Dubai, she was eager to get involved with the Emirates Foundation.
Through the foundation Carolyn began volunteering at an orphanage in Addis Abiba on weekends. Then came opportunities to help in prisons. For a time, she cared for newborn babies in the neonatal unit, an experience she found both heartbreaking and rewarding.
It was a chance detour on Carolyn’s way to the airport one day that revealed the most pressing need she’d ever encountered. The accompanying social worker asked if they could “just stop in” to visit a wonderful local couple, Mengesha and Freiwhot, who had selflessly taken in 10 sick children.
Entering the humble tin shed, Carolyn struggled to fathom the confronting scene before her.
The shed was appalling, “even by Ethiopian standards”. There was a rat-infested dirt floor. The children had no clothes. There were unmistakable signs of malnourishment.
Carolyn couldn’t turn away.
The next day she returned with food, and her commitment to bringing hope and a future to Ethiopia’s most vulnerable people began. Carolyn, along with Mengesha and Freiwhot, embarked on a mission to build a charity named ‘Raey of Hope’ (Raey means vision), with a vision to feed, clothe, and educate children in some of the country’s poorest areas.
Understanding the power of early education in shaping a child’s life, Raey of Hope provides children with education, housing, and a chance at a better future.
“These children are from families where they’re at the highest risk of death without outside help,” Carolyn said. “In many cases, by the time they’re walking, they’re in brothels on their mothers’ backs.
“Some have parents who are sick. Some have one parent, or none. They might have an older sibling looking after them.”
“These children are from families where they’re at the highest risk of death without outside help."
In the early days, all of Raey of Hope’s supplies came from lost property at schools in Dubai, a testament to their resourcefulness and dedication.
Fifteen years on, Raey of Hope now cares for 400 students, with a fully-fledged kitchen providing two meals a day. In addition to traditional subjects, nutrition is part of their curriculum. Some children walk up to 10 kilometres each day to attend school, their enduring smiles a testament to the transformative power of education and the genuine love they receive there.
The organisation operates with a dedicated team of volunteers, including a small team of Australian expats in Dubai and an Australian arm based in South Australia. They rely on grants, sponsorships, and donations to fund their vital work, with every dollar going directly to the children.
“The children couldn’t come to school – but we had to find ways to feed them. We had lots of children walking eight kilometres to pick up a bag of flour, with a note and a page of paper for their teachers to mark.”
Raey of Hope doesn’t stop at education; they also run empowerment programs for women, including ‘Infinite Leather,’ a program teaching them to make leather bags, providing income and employment opportunities.
Carolyn recalls the joy she witnessed on one woman’s face, a former program participant who had lost her partner to HIV and lived in a tin shanty with four sick children.
“To see her proudly showcasing her leather bags at a Sheraton fashion show, her face radiating with confidence and self-esteem – it was just incredible,” Carolyn said.
Today, 7000 children are on the waiting list for the Raey of Hope program. And the ongoing challenges remain enormous.
Conditions at the school are primitive, with no electricity or running water.
Diseases like typhoid are as frequent as the common cold.
For just $29.95 a month, the life of a child and their family can be transformed.
“For the cost of one cafe coffee a week, you can feed, clothe and educate a child in need, giving hope and support to their families,” Carolyn said.
“We have children who have lived on the streets getting into universities, studying medicine,” she said. “Their marks are as good as the students from some of the private embassy schools.
“I just wish people could see the incredible change that a dollar a day provides… “
To sponsor a child and learn more about Raey of Hope, please visit www.raeyofhope.com. And with Christmas just around the corner, please consider a gift from Infinite Leather products. For more information go to: www.facebook.com/InfiniteLeatherCrafts.
