Women and girls Archives - Page 4 of 4

Educating Girls in Ethiopia!

Eyerusalem lives with her Mom and big sister in a hot and dry Ethiopian village. Despite the blowing dust, their eyes twinkle with the same hopeful light. Eyerusalem exudes a quiet confidence and joy when she talks about school:

“I want to be a doctor. My sister wants to be a doctor too.”

Her big sister Birtukan wraps her arm around her in a show of support as they talk about helping each other study math and chemistry. Pausing, Eyerusalem say:

“My Mom works hard for us, but she couldn’t send us both to school. Because I have a sponsorship, my Mom didn’t have to choose for only one of us to go to school, and I can do this with my sister.”

We are midway through our annual School Sponsorship Drive and this year we are focused on educating girls in Ethiopia. With YOUR help, girls like Eyerusalem and her sister Birtukan will be able to proudly enter Ethiopian classrooms, a country where 3 million children don’t have access to education. We are dedicated to being part of the movement to Let Girls Learn! We have 34 days left to educate #100Kids in Ethiopia and we are more than halfway there!

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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.

What Causes Gender Inequality at Rural Ethiopian Schools?

As a boy, Desta Seyoum lived a traditional rural farming life in the same Ethiopian Kebele as The Duna-Sadicho School. He remembers passing through Duna Sadicho village on his way to Secondary School giving him many chances to witness the needs of the community.

Desta, who now lives in London, just returned from Ethiopia after a prolonged family visit in the region and was able to talk to us more about inequalities in Duna Sadicho, specifically addressing the problems that girls face in the region. He is very worried about gender inequality at Duna Sadicho School, and quickly pointed out the number of girls drops even lower at the secondary school level as girls are unable to pass the required national exam to continue their education.

Desta explains:

“Many girls in the region face challenges of gender inequality that exclude them from school. Extreme household poverty, walking distance to school, inadequate school resources, lack of sanitation facilities, child labor and marriage, and female genital cutting are among obstacles that prevent girls from education. Lack of education means girls forced into informal labor market at an early age. They will never reach their potential to become positive forces in their communities, and remain trapped in a vicious circle of poverty.”

While data seems to show that gender inequality is narrowing at other area schools, the gender gaps remain a problem at Duna Sadicho. Desta feels that the gender makeup at Duna Sadicho may be largely associated with what happens in the school as well as in the community. According to Desta,

“the lower number of girls may have a direct correlation with the poor quality of resources they have in the school. It may also reflect the level of poverty and poor living standards of the community.”

Desta points out that a gender audit may be required to deepen our understanding of girls’ education in the region. But for now, one thing is very clear to Desta,

“providing basic learning resources is imperative so that girls may have an equitable chance of continuing their education.”

By providing school children with essential learning materials, Roots Ethiopia will help rectify the gender inequality at The Duna Sadicho primary school. These basic learning supplies will give girls what they need to stay in school, pass their national exams, have the opportunity to continue education, stand a chance of going to college, securing an employment and eventually becoming significant contributors to their community.

Help Ethiopia by donating to The Duna Sadicho project today! We are 40% of the way there and need your help in taking step one to rectify the gender imbalance at this rural Ethiopian School.

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.

Meet Eyerusalem, a 5th Grader with Big Dreams!

Girls like Eyerusalem and her sister, Birtukan, are the future of Ethiopia. When you donate to Roots Ethiopia this year, you give many girls just like these two a chance to be forces for change — in their families, in their schools, and in their communities.

Girls in Ethiopia dream of being doctors, engineers, nurses, and businesswomen. Your support of Roots Ethiopia helps children connect their dreams with the reality of school!

Children like these two sisters long to attend school without concern that attendance will be interrupted by girl-centered work, lack of school supplies, illness, or food insecurity. Eyerusalem attends school in Bonosha, Hadiya with a schools sponsorship. She is in 5th grade and has big plans for her future. When we asked her about her goals, she smiled and responded:

“I want to be a doctor. My sister wants to be a doctor too. ”

We are confident this duo can do it, provided they have continued support and encouragement. Their mom is doing everything she can, and Roots Ethiopia has provided that extra layer of support for her youngest daughter.

Girls and boys come to Roots Ethiopia for assistance — for uniforms, book-bags, supplies, medical needs, and monthly food for family health and welfare. If private schools are available locally, their sponsorships provide monthly tuition. This is the support that YOU make possible. We are so very grateful for your compassionate care of school children.

Our team had the pleasure of meeting these sisters last week in Bonosha, and they are dreaming big and working hard. Your support keeps their keen eyes on their futures.

With our deepest thanks,
Roots Ethiopia Board of Directors
The 2014 Roots Ethiopia Travel Team

*If you’d like to make a gift of Roots Ethiopia to someone this holiday, use this holiday link and we’ll immediately send you a beautiful card for your gift giving! If you need more than one card, send us your request at info@rootsethiopia.org*

Did you know coffee can change a life?

Would you believe that coffee can make a difference? Because of you, Tsehainesh’s coffee shop is flourishing.

Just 3 months ago Tsehainesh did not have work. Living in a rented room with her husband, she was home caring for her tiny daughter while her husband searched for day labor work in Hosanna, Ethiopia.

Tsehainesh was frustrated — her baby daughter, Bereket, needed to begin solid foods and they didn’t have enough resources to provide nutrient-rich food for her. Tsehainesh KNEW she had skills to make and sell coffee. But, she had no capital to create a tiny shop (tinish suk) on the edge of the town’s bustling market space.

And then you stepped in, and Tsehainesh’s life changed. Your donation made it possible for her to receive a small business grant through the Roots Ethiopia IGA program. She put her first installment of funds into building her small roadside shop with a wood frame covered with tarps. Adding chairs, she has a simple 2-3 person capacity outdoor coffee shop.

Open 6 days a week, she sells coffee and a local favorite barley drink called shameta. Her nutritious barley drink is so popular on market day she sells out within 2 hours! She will use her second installment of IGA funds to buy more barley and sell more shameta.

Tsehainesh hopes to add tea, fruit, and bread to her shop. “One day,” she says, “I’ll open a shop in a building and I’ll have other people working with me. I am working hard to build my future for my baby so she can have her own plans and know they can become real.”

I met Tsehainesh last week in Ethiopia. Can you believe a life can be transformed within weeks of a business start-up grant? Your support makes this transformation possible.

YOU make an impact! Your donations create these changes time and time again — $325 means a whole new future for a family. I think you’ll agree that this is the kind of donation that offers an opportunity of great magnitude for hardworking families who are ready to change their own futures.

Please give generously during this giving season. Your donations are put right to work for the children and families of Ethiopia. Your support means so much to Roots Ethiopia, but more importantly, it means so much to the families who are ready to work!

My warmest wishes to you this holiday season,
Meghan Walsh
Founder and President, Roots Ethiopia

Almaz: A plan for success

Almaz is a single mom. She and her 4 children were suffering from lack of opportunity.

She struggled to support herself and her children. Almaz yearned for self-reliance, but could not access any resources to purchase necessary materials for market work. Roots Ethiopia shared resources and skills with Almaz. She wrote her business plan with the help of Roots Ethiopia field staff, attended a business training where she learned basic accounting and planned for success. Now Almaz purchases vegetables in bulk and is able to sell items like taro in local vibrant markets. She is able to pay her rent, feed, and educate her 4 children.

“We are safe. I work hard and all of my children now go to school. Now our stomachs are happy and our minds are working.”

Almaz’s story is typical of our Income Generating Activity grants. Roots Ethiopia’s IGA program provides women like Almaz the resources and confidence they need to move from dependence to independence. Our field staffs are expert community leaders and social service providers who understand the needs of the community and support change at the most basic and sustainable level in the communities where they work and live.

Zena’s Story: S.H.E. Inspires

Zena has a beaming smile, and she has a lot to smile about! She is an inspiration, and this is why!

Zena has turned a small business grant through our Self-Help Entrepreneurs (S.H.E.) program into a stellar success. She represents the best part of the work of S.H.E. Our organization holds a campaign every year to put new grants for small business into the hands of hardworking women. With your help these women become forces for change in their families and communities as soon as they have the resources to make a difference. Help make an impact and donate now.

Zena

“I am Zena. I am the mother of 7 children. Before my husband died, my life was very nice. We had everything we needed to eat, everything we needed to live. But after his death, we suffered a lot.

After getting some support from Roots Ethiopia now my life has been changed…The program has provided training on how to use the money, how to run a business. Then I started saving after I learned in the training. I am now a business owner and a mother.

I sell bread and injera and a local soft drink at the market for 2 days every week. On other days I sell injera at my home. People come every day for my business. The profit of this business is feeding my children, paying house rent, and paying school fees for all of my children.

My wish now is for all my children self-sufficiency after completing their education. I want to help them get a good education, be self-sufficient. Now I want to go on and help people just like me.”

(photo of Zena in front of her home, selling bread, injera, and a local soft drink)

Meet S: An Example of Community Collaboration

Meet S. She is 14 years old and in 5th grade.

S and her three siblings live together in a local Kembata Tembaro village. Despite the loss of both of their parents, the children thrive under comprehensive community care. Their story is one that represents local solutions grounded in careful and caring collaboration.

For example, their home is provided by a local businessman. All four children attend school, each with their own sponsorship; Roots Ethiopia, Meserete Kristos Church, a local elder’s family, and another local church. These children continue to live together and are growing up in their home community with hope and stability.

Roots Ethiopia values community partnerships. One excellent outcome of working with our field partner is the ability to join local efforts to protect and care for vulnerable children using well established collaborative community strategies. Church communities have long been the local social service providers and caregivers to the vulnerable in Ethiopia.

We are proud to be part of the caring collaboration that is sustaining S and her siblings.