Trauma Survivor Works to Give Her Children a Better Life

When Yeshy was twelve years old, her uncle took her from her home in the countryside of Ethiopia with a promise of school and a better life in Addis Ababa. That promise was a lie. She was sold by her uncle to a stranger and taken 200 kilometers in the opposite direction, to a small town in the Oromia region, where she was put to work in a local bar serving areke, a local grain alcohol, to customers. The smell was so overwhelming it sometimes made her sick. She was also sent into the forest to collect firewood, which is exhausting, dangerous work for a girl her age. The forests in that region were known for men who preyed on young girls traveling alone. Yeshy survived that too.

Yeshy and her children, October 2026

She was far from home, far from anyone who loved her, and she was twelve years old.

What happened to Yeshy in those years is not uncommon. Child trafficking, labor exploitation, and the vulnerability that comes with poverty have shaped the lives of countless young women across Ethiopia. What is uncommon is the strength she carried through it.

Finding Her Way to Addis Ababa

Yeshy eventually made her way to Addis Ababa, the city she had originally been promised. She found work as a housemaid, long hours under difficult conditions, and built a life one day at a time. Her marriage, arranged by family as is traditional in her region, brought her a partner in Bitew Wale, a man who understood struggle because he had lived it too.

"We both are from poor parents," Yeshy recalls. "We were forced to do daily labor, collecting plastic bottles for recycling from the Koshe Dump. That is how we survived and raised our children."

Yeshy and Bitew with their children

Koshe is Addis Ababa's sprawling landfill, and for years it served as the family's livelihood. Waste picking is grueling, dangerous work, but Yeshy and Bitew showed up every day. They fed their children. They kept their family together.

Bitew at the Koshe Garbage Dump

Then the local government restricted access to the Koshe site for safety reasons, and the income stopped. "These days, the local government has banned full access to the Koshe area, and we have nothing to bring home," Yeshy says.

Bitew collecting recyclables

An Opportunity at the Right Moment

It was at this breaking point that the Ethiopian government alerted Anchor Ethiopia's outreach team of the family. Lelt Foundation's partner organization, Anchor Ethiopia, works to identify and support families living in vulnerable situations across Addis Ababa, connecting them with essential services before a crisis becomes permanent.

For Yeshy's family, the timing could not have been more critical. "Anchor's team visited us at a crucial time, and we are grateful for the inclusion of our family in the program," she says.

Through Anchor's assistance programs, Yeshy and her three children now receive health insurance, household necessities, and food security. Kalkidan, a fifth grader, has access to after-school programming that includes computer classes and academic tutoring, giving her tools that Yeshy never had at her age.

Kalkidan, in pink, with classmates at Anchor's community center

What She Is Building Now

Yeshy's story is that of a woman who endured what should never have been asked of a child, and despite that, built a family facing impossible circumstances; and who, when the right support finally arrived, embraced it for her children's sake. Kalkidan is in school. She is learning to use a computer. She has a mother who fought for her before she was even born. That is what sustained, compassionate investment in families looks like. Lelt Foundation and Anchor Ethiopia are honored to walk alongside Yeshy and her family as they build the future they are determined to have.