Meet Beza! Beza is a young mother full of energy. Her son, Yonatan, is 5 years old and goes to preschool. Yonatan is now at home but when the Ethiopian government decides to open schools, he will continue attending his school.
Beza grew up in rural Ethiopia and is adept at household management from her upbringing in the countryside. After she moved to Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia, Beza had to rely mostly on her few friends and neighbors to socialize and learn skills to help her as a young wife and mother.
When Beza joined our Family Empowerment Program, her monthly income was $35 USD from which $22 went to house rent. She used to earn this income by doing all types of manual work but because the income was low and inconsistent, she used to spend many days worrying about what to feed her son. She was also separated from her husband but has since reunited with her husband.
Beza now speaks about how her life has improved, due to the monthly financial support and the various training that she is receiving from Addis Jemari (AJ). When Beza first came to us, she was a quiet and timid person who shied away from public engagements due to her young age. It was also obvious that her strict upbringing prevented her from speaking out and sharing her opinions freely. We are now observing an amazing change in these areas and here is what Beza has to say about it:
“I have benefited a lot from the various trainings that I attended since I joined AJ. In the past, I used to keep quiet when people accused me of doing something wrong. But now, I can freely speak my mind and stand for myself.”
Beza has completed four years of schooling, but her last formal education was more than 10 years ago., Beza has become one of the mothers who received a job opportunity at our FEP center. She said:
“The job opportunity I got in this organization has helped me to anticipate the future better. Both my son and I have benefited from becoming AJ beneficiaries. Now, I don’t worry about how to feed my son and fulfill his basic needs.”
With AJ’s help and her son now in kindergarten, Beza can now better engage in other gainful employment activities. Currently, AJ is closely working with Beza on her individual plan of starting an income-generating activity to sustain her family’s future.
Want to come alongside to support our 50 Family Empowerment Program families? We are currently in need of 20 more monthly sponsors for our FEP Program at $60/month (www.addisjemari.org/sponsorship) and also COVID-19 Relief Fund assistance (www.addisjemari.org/donate) to provide our families with emergency food and hygiene essentials through September. Any amount will help tremendously…just select COVID-19 Relief Fund on the link above. Thanks for your consideration- it is so vitally needed right now!