Rehabilitation of 64 Vulnerable Women in Ethiopia

We continue to enjoy the succes of this project. All women are busy doing their business and the majority of the 165 women are doing well. There are a few who struggle but with extra support and follow-up as well as government intervention we are trying our best to coach them towards a road of success as well. We had a review meeting with the government stakeholders and all were very pleased with the progress and foolow-up activities that we are doing and they will also improve their involvement.

I have added a few  stories about our beneficiaries for your enjoyment.

Kbra G. is a beneficiary from wereda Sheraro. She is a thirty six years old woman and she has four children. She is married but her husband is very sick /liver disease/, he could not do any labor job; he is looking after his children and do simple home activities when Kibra is doing the business activities outside, because of this Kibra has double responsibility in the family. The oldest child is helping her buying, selling & rearing sheep, goats and simple home activities. Before she joined to the project, Kbra was engaged in rearing & fattening goats having small amount of money. But the income she was getting was insufficient to cover family expenses, because her working capital was too small. She was struggling to cover school material for her children and she was facing a hard time to cover medical expenses for her husband. After she was selected to be part of this project, she was trained in basic business skill for two days and she was also trained in parenting skills for 3 hours by Abraham’s Oasis Social Worker. She was an active participant in the training. She prefers to expand the previous business i.e. working in rearing & fattening sheep and goats. 6,000 birr worth of goats were bought and given to Kibra.  She is buying the goats from Tekeze (small town around sheraro) on Thursday and she is selling them in Sheraro on Saturdays. During the week day’s Kbra is running a small tea shop (Snack bar) together with her family and she is getting 70 birr from this business after all expenses are covered.

Currently she is able to pay 200 birr house rent and 800 birr food expense every month for her family. Her 4 children have bought school materials and they have started school. She is saving 1000 birr every month after all family expenses are financed.

When we visited Kibra, she requested us to transfer this message to the donor and to the government, and this is what she said; “I am very thankful for what has been done to me, I was in very serious problem, I was begging money for my family especially for my husband’s medical expense. Thanks to the donor and to the government who have selected me to be part of this support, now I am able to finance all my family expenses from the profit I am getting. Thank you very much in deed.” 

Awetash T. is a divorced, thirty five years old woman; she is living in wereda Tselemti and she has two children. After the divorce she was working a day job to cover family expenses. The income she was getting was insufficient to feed her 2 children. Most of the time the children were absent from school because they were hungry and didn’t have enough school material.

She was very happy when she was chosen to be part of this project. She was trained in business and. she was the most energetic participant in the training. She chooses to start a vegetable shop. 6000.00 Eth Birr worth material was bought by committee and handed over to Awetash.

She is running the vegetable shop effectively, the oldest child is helping her sometimes selling vegetables and simple home activities she is getting 1800.00 birr net profit a month after all family expenses are covered, Awetash is spending 700.00 birr on food and 300.00 birr for rent every month. Till this period she mange this small business running well and she is getting an encouraging profit. She has started equb (traditional saving) 200.00 birr weekly for one year (9600.00 birr). The children have started school and they are helping their mother in their spare time. We are supporting and doing follow-up for this woman and will exert our effort to maximize the profitability of her business and to share her best experiences to other beneficiaries. Awetash is hard worker who is a role model for all the female family leaders in her area.

Hawa M. resides in wereda Tselemti. She is forty years old and she has three children. She is divorced and she takes care of her family. Her older daughter is helping in the business while Hawa is buying items from the nearest small towns. Hawa was a daily labor worker after the divorce, with this income it was hard to cover basic needs of the family, as she said. She is making dramatic changes after the support, the business training and parenting skills training has helped her a lot to bring fast progress in her business. She is selling different kind of spices, grains, food oil and vegetables.

She is running the business meticulously, she is earning 1000 birr net profit a month after all family expenses are covered, Hawa is spending 750 birr on food and 250 birr for rent every month. She manages this small business well and she is getting encouraging profit. Her children have started school already. She is the network leader of area, she is helping the weak beneficiaries in her group and she manages to get them to improve their business.

We thank our donors for their faithful support for this project. It continues to bring joy to our hearts to see these destitute women getting out of poverty and becoming empowered women being able to look after their family.