Category: SHE

Meet Alemewerk: A woman for the job!

Alemewerk really is the woman for the job!

Please meet Amelewerk. She’s a member of a Self-Help Entrepreneur (SHE) group. Her work and her SHE group’s positive momentum has suffered during the pandemic. In Ethiopia, the challenges of escalating inflation made work and success very challenging. During the past year, Roots Ethiopia put your support to work to revitalize SHE members with additional support and training for hard-working and determined women, including Alemewerk and her SHE group.

Alemewerk is so happy to share that she has a new outlook and fresh energy for success. She excitedly said, “I support my family selling fruits and vegetables. The most significant achievement for me is not only selling fruits and vegetables but also thinking like I have a job. I oftentimes do not stay at home, but go out and assess the market to help me do my business better. I feel strong and able to do so much more with the training, the savings program, and my SHE group who are excited about each other’s successes.”

(Alemewerk in blue, preparing her local market space)

Amelewerk’s years of harsh struggles have been healed by working hard every day and having support to make it through so many challenges. She is so happy to be part of the Self-Help Entrepreneur program and she says, “I am ready to do more, just watch me!”

Alemewerk’s hard work and dedication are inspiring. Go and get it, Alemewerk!


(Alemewerk making a sale)

SHE Leads. Meet Worke

Wayziro Worke is a mother of two young girls, and she is raising her niece. When we first met her, she was alone, worried, with a lot of responsibility; a rent that was hard to pay, lack of confidence that she would be able to keep her children in school, and not enough money to keep her 3 children well cared for at home.  Worke had an overwhelming sense of concern for her future. She wondered, “How can I survive with so little hope?”  Worke joined our Roots Ethiopia Self – Help Entrepreneurs (SHE) network in January 2018. SHE members tell us Worke is one of the most ambitious, trustworthy and committed members of her Halaba SHE network.
Continue reading “SHE Leads. Meet Worke”

Meet Adaneche: Our Latest Self-Help Entrepreneur (SHE) Rock Star

It takes power to stand up for yourself. And knowledge. How do you self-advocate if you don’t have access to the tools needed to improve your life? How do you reach self-reliance? And, finally, it takes a community having your back. Do like-minded community members see your potential and your struggle? Do they believe in you? Continue reading “Meet Adaneche: Our Latest Self-Help Entrepreneur (SHE) Rock Star”

SHE Means Business! Meet Hanna

There are staggering roadblocks to success for a woman like Hanna. Forced to abandon school in the 9th grade. Married at an early age and soon the young mother of two daughters. Her husband’s mental illness and inability to work. Her younger daughter’s neurological disease. Aging parents who move in with her. Hanna. The 24-year-old who’s already lived a half dozen lifetimes is now tasked with supporting her entire family.

It’s the stuff of tragedy, and for a weaker person might well be the end of the line. But Hanna is a survivor. And she is also not alone. Continue reading “SHE Means Business! Meet Hanna”

2017: Year in Review

Dear friends, 

The past 12 months have been amazing for Roots Ethiopia. Our team has been hard at work to support local ideas for lasting change. You have made this a year of growth and excellence.  As always, we could not have accomplished our work without your support. We have put together a list of ways YOU have made a difference – add a touch of coffee, some very long days on the road to remote villages, and a dedicated team, and 2017 is a year to remember. We are so grateful for your enduring support!

Happy New Year,
Roots Ethiopia

16
Learning Resource Projects:

3 NEW in 2017

Highlights from our team:
  • Wanja Primary School is a woman-led School in Halaba.
  • 500 textbooks purchased for Ewoqet Chora Primary School’s first EVER library.
  • Over 18,000 students and their families have enriched learning opportunities as part of their continued partnership with Roots Ethiopia.

1 VIP Latrine

(Ventilated Improved Pit)
with Menstrual Changing Room for Adolescent Girls

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170 Students Attending School

with a
Roots Ethiopia School Sponsorship

Highlights from our team:

  • All children received backpacks, uniforms and school supplies, and they LOVED the SpongeBob backpacks this year.
  • We rented a truck and delivered grain to all the families in our program.
  • We listened to a lot of the hopes and dreams the children have for their futures, and we encouraged them to dream BIG!

3 Special Needs Classrooms:

2 NEW in 2017

Highlights from our team:

  • Haile Bubamo Special Education classroom received special education toys for children to learn while playing.
  • 10 children at Wanja Primary School were added to the Special Education roster.
  • A classroom of 18 students in Halaba is now part of our program. There will be a daily snack and transportation to school added as a pilot program here.

60 New Women-Led Businesses

for 3 new Self-Help Entrepreneurs peer savings groups (SHE)

Highlights from our team:
  • Women in our new Usmancho SHE are very motivated to build a strong team for learning and sharing.
  • The growth of SHE in Halaba Kulito  means more women have joined our successful work there and have many successful mentors.

 

1 Office in Addis Ababa
NGO License &  Country Director
*you are welcome to visit us in Hiya Hulet*

3 Teacher Training Programs

Highlights from our team:

  • 2 professional teacher training for science teachers. Over 80 teachers trained in a University setting to help them create a hands-on science curriculum for their students.
  • 1 professional teacher training held in Addis Ababa for 4 special education teachers.
and more ….
Thanks for being part of our journey to support community-identified solutions for education and job creation in Ethiopia. We are ready for 2018!

 

The Roots Ethiopia Team

SHE + School Attendance = Awesome!

Back to school for these two young people!

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Tadelech’s children are headed back to school this week. They attend school regularly because their MOM IS A ROCKSTAR entrepreneur! Tadelech is part of a Roots Ethiopia Self-Help Entrepreneurs (SHE). She sells bananas and eggs in the market – and she even has a secret way of ripening her savory bananas. (You can read all about her on our Instagram account, using the hashtag #Tadu and #LaurensLens)

At Roots Ethiopia, we value family self-reliance. Tadelech is a great example of how a strong business plan and the support of a like-minded group of women means success for everyone in the family.

Do you want to enable the livelihoods of women like Tadelech? Support a woman who is joining SHE for just $27/month!

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SHE Leads! Almaz makes delicious injera

Meet Almaz, a local businesswoman and leader! She lives in Sodo, Wolayta, Ethiopia. Almaz‘s husband became gravely ill and their family lost their entire livelihood when he died. Like many families in Ethiopia, as a woman headed household she and her family suffered greatly from lack of work and no resources. Roots Ethiopia interviewed Almaz and learned she was well known in her neighborhood for making wonderful injera. Almaz was invited to join our Self-Help Entrepreneurs (SHE).

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(Almaz and her son in front of their home)

Her SHE business start-up grant allowed her to start a small injera selling business right in her neighborhood, in front of her home. Almaz has created big change in her life! People come from all over the neighborhood to buy her fresh injera. She built a small outdoor kitchen outside of her home and she cooks and sells injera every day right off the mitad! Almaz and her 5 children feel confident that they can improve their lives with school, hard work, and savings and planning. 

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(Almaz’s kitchen and her stack of fresh injera – she has hired help to run her busy and thriving injera shop.)

Almaz‘s success is possible because YOU provided start-up resources she needed to unlock her potential and lead the way!

This year’s campaign to fund 30 more women in business is underway. You can be part of our continued work to promote women and small business success. Please consider a gift today.  You can give here.

Roots Ethiopia is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization working in Africa, specifically helping Southern Ethiopia. Roots Ethiopia supports community identified solutions for job creation and education.

 

A Connected Community Supports Job Creation in Ethiopia

On Saturday evening at The Prairie Cafe in Middleton, Wisconsin over 100 people gathered to support Roots Ethiopia’s commitment to job creation in Ethiopia. Artful Giving included art created by women in support of women. Proceeds from the event benefited SHE which currently provides market jobs to over 200 people in rural Ethiopia! The evening was an enormous success with many pieces of art being sold and proceeds going to our work.

The main words used to describe the evening were connected and empowered. Old and new friends of Roots Ethiopia had a lovely time admiring and purchasing the artwork that linked the attendees to the lives of rural Ethiopian women.

The crowd was treated to luxury chocolate donated by Vosges Chocolates out of Chicago!

A traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony was also part of the evening!

In order to get a true feel for the intimacy and power of the evening, you need to hear from the artists themselves. Read what each of them had to say, and then enjoy some more pictures from the lovely night!

“I am grateful and elated to have the chance to empower women through my art jewelry and S.H.E.. I love the idea of women empowering women!” Chris Callahan, CMC Studio

“To bear witness to life in Ethiopia and be able to express it through my art has been an honor. It is my intention to share parts of what I have witnessed and experienced in Ethiopia and be able to empower women through S.H.E. With every brush stroke, I was connecting to a country I love, the birthplace of my daughter, to our Ethiopian family and to the vulnerabilities that exist in their community with the hope of being apart of a solution to ending poverty. This series of art emerged after traveling to Ethiopia to work with Roots Ethiopia’s school enrichment project. Some pieces speak to a different aspect of life and culture in Ethiopia, while other pieces were an expression of the hope I held onto during our adoption process and the same hope I witnessed while visiting Ethiopia.” Jennifer Rikkers, Jennifer Rikkers Art

“As a photographer, my inspiration happens at the same time the photograph is made. One memory I have is of a woman sharing that she was unwelcome in her community when she was homeless and without a job. Now that she has her own shop selling things, she is welcomed and included once again. When I took her picture, she was serving us injera with such beaming pride, it was a moment that made me realize that it was her own work that saved her life.” Lauren Werner, Lauren Werner Photography

$27/month sponsors one small business for an Ethiopian woman. These grants are intended to alleviate poverty by empowering families to develop the means to generate sustainable income, year after year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Join Roots Ethiopia to Create 30 Businesses in 30 Days!

Each year we run a campaign that adds 30 new small businesses to our Self-Help Entrepreneurs (SHE) network in rural Ethiopia. Over the next 4 weeks, we plan to add 30 new businesses in 30 days. We believe that putting these businesses into action will enable 30 Ethiopian families to end their own poverty. Roots Ethiopia has 211 existing small businesses in rural Ethiopia. It is remarkable!

Zinash
Support a Business Now!

This year, we are excited for you to meet Zinash. Zinash is a true success story. With the help of Roots Ethiopia, she was able to set up a small roadside shop selling injera. Her business became so successful that she has now added small household items to her shop! She was so proud to show us her business when we visited her last December. Her exhausting days of earning only $1/day fixing roads are a thing of the past.

Zinash told us, “Now I am part of community life again. My children’s minds are free and they go to school without worry.”

Be the first to sponsor a small business in Ethiopia during our 30 businesses in 30 days campaign this year! $325 or $27/month sponsors one coffee shop, market stand, small store, or a bread and tea stand in rural Ethiopia!

Roots Ethiopia is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization working in Africa, specifically helping Southern Ethiopia. Roots Ethiopia supports community identified solutions for job creation and education.