When Eta was in 2nd grade, her mother, Bafena, became gravely ill. She could no longer sell drinking water to her neighbors, which she fetched by walking 2 hours up a hill each day. Eta's father, Kiflu, earned a meager wage painting houses, and the loss of his wife’s salary was overwhelming. So Eta dropped out of school to take her mother's place hauling water.
Bafena was 9 when she too, dropped out of school. She was one of three children in her family, born in the small northern town of Selale, where the Muger River bends and narrows. She was an infant when her mother got sick, and with no doctor in her town, Befana's mother could not recover and passed away. Her father remarried and had more children with his new wife, who favored only those she bore. Bafena and her siblings were shunned and neglected. So, at age 9, Bafena stopped going to school and left home to find work and a better life. She never returned to school again.
When Eta quit school to haul water for her family, Bafena did not want her daughter to end up in the same impoverished cycle that she did. So she applied to Lelt’s assistance programs. With help from a sponsor from California, Eta was able to go back to school through the foundation's Child Sponsorship Program. Bafena was treated for her illness and enrolled in Lelt’s Business Creation Program, starting her own bread baking business.
Unfortunately, Eta’s sponsor is no longer able to support her, so she is in need of new sponsorship. For a nominal monthly donation, Eta and her family can continue to be provided nutritious meals and monthly food rations, and Eta can continue her 8th grade private-school education. She aspires to apply to college in a few years and become the first in her family to ever attend university. Please consider supporting this hardworking, tenacious family! Sponsor Eta today.