When Adanech was 4 years old, her aunt took her to Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa. Adanech and her 6 siblings lived in a small village where the nearest school was hours away. Her aunt hoped to find work and educate Adanech in the city. In the beginning, things went as planned, and Adanech attended school. But when her aunt started facing financial problems, she was forced to leave school in fourth grade and work as a maid. She never returned to school, spending the remainder of her childhood cleaning houses and collecting firewood.
As Adanech grew into a young woman, she married Neru. He was a salesman, and a good provider. They had a son, Semeru, and life was good until Neru died unexpectedly four years later. The next few years were the hardest – when Adanech found work, bad luck befell her. She had an abusive employer, and became chronically ill. She spent weeks in bed, unable to work or to feed her son, still despondent over the loss of her husband.
She remarried several years later and soon had four more children. Her new husband couldn’t handle the stress of family responsibility and deserted them. Adanech’s situation seemed insurmountable, so she went to the Ethiopian government and asked for assistance. Semeru was enrolled in Lelt’s Child Sponsorship Program.
It was 6 years ago that Semeru and his family started receiving Lelt’s assistance. He comes to our community center daily for nutritious meals and after-school tutoring. His family receives monthly food rations so all of Adanech’s children are eating well at home. She enrolled in Lelt’s Business Creation Program and has a stall at the local market, selling dairy products.
Semeru is now 17, has completed high school, and is enrolled at a vocational-tech school to become a medical assistant. He aspires to get a job in a hospital upon graduation so he can help provide for his siblings. He currently needs a sponsor to help pay for his tuition. Just $35 a month will support Semeru, and an additional $15 each month will support his entire family. Please consider sponsoring this tenacious, driven family, to pull themselves out of cyclical poverty permanently.
