Kalu is 15 years old, and in 7th grade at Repi Japan Middle School in Karakore, Ethiopia. Her favorite class is Environmental Studies and she wants to be an artist when she grows up.

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Kalu's mother, Abebech, was sent by her family to work as a house maid when she was only 10 years old. Five years later, she was given as a bride to a man named Merkabu. He had 6 children with Abebech, and then abandoned his family soon after the baby, Kalu, was born. That was 15 years ago. Since that time, Abebech has tried to support her 6 children as best she can with her earnings from selling vegetables at the local market. But her earnings are so low that her family lives in acute poverty. If Kalu is sponsored for $35/month, she will receive daily meals and after school tutoring. If her family is sponsored for $15 additional a month, they will all receive monthly food rations and medical care, and her mother will receive priority to enroll in our Family Business Program, where she will be empowered to start her own small business.