Children at an orphanage in Ethiopia are building a brighter future for themselves thanks to a learning centre funded by the Emirates Airline Foundation.

The care facility in Addis Ababa, run by the Franciscan Sisters of the Heart of Jesus, is home to 150 children, from infants to teenagers.

Since 2006 they have benefited from a learning centre which was built by the foundation and features a library with more than 4,000 books in Amharic and English and a computer lab providing PCs and internet access.

The Emirates Airline Foundation Learning Centre was the brainchild of a former Emirates Captain, who had previously organised a foundation project to transport donated, used clothes from Dubai to the orphanage.

The English language books, mainly educational and reference volumes were provided by the Dubai-based company Bookworm, with cargo and customs charges paid for by the foundation, while Amharic books were sourced locally and are both educational and entertaining.

Four new PCs were purchased by the foundation, while eight used Apple computers were donated by Australian company Microseconds with software installed free of charge by Dubai company CompuMe.

Sudhir Sreedharan , Emirates Airline Manager for Ethiopia, said: "Emirates gets involved with communities around the world through the Emirates Airline Foundation and I am glad that we were able to work with the Kidane Meheret Orphanage in Ethiopia.

"We hope the library will help in providing the children here a more diverse education and a chance to learn much more."