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The relief agency sponsored by the nine major Eastern Orthodox churches in the United States is joining a $6 million program to fight AIDS in Ethiopia.

International Orthodox Christian Charities says the three-year project, supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development, hopes to bring education, health care, food and shelter to 9,000 children orphaned by the AIDS pandemic. The Baltimore-based IOCC will contribute $1 million, along with the relief office of the Ethiopian church; USAID will pay $5 million.

Shrunken AIDS funding in President Bush’s 2005 budget proposal has dampened the spirits of Christian groups and aid organizations, whose spokespersons said he is not following through on his promise to combat the disease globally.