GivingTuesday Story 1

On this GivingTuesday, here is a story of how your gift towards Embracing Hope Ethiopia makes a difference. 

When we first met Tsehaye she had young twins and was begging on the street to provide for them.  Because she wore a prosthesis ever since having to have her leg amputated, she was playing her lot in Addis Ababa life – as a handicapped beggar on the streets.  

Over time our staff was able to work with Tsehaye, helping her to see that her life matters and that she has something to contribute to society.  During that same season her son and daughter were getting healthier, responding well to nourishment and thriving in a Day Care environment where they could get socialization and the start of an education.   

When we found out that Tsehaye could make woven baskets, we were able to provide her some basic job training, help her open a savings account and helped her to market those baskets.  EHE became Tsehaye’s biggest customer as we bought baskets from her for a very fair price that EHE then resold.   Tsehaye was making a living wage, but we also wanted to see her become dependent on a local economy rather than one that depended on getting her baskets into the hands of foreigners – a very complex supply chain.

EHE Staff kept working with her and was able to help her and another Mom from EHE, Abeba, to open their own brush and broom business.  Today they are making and marketing brooms and brushes in a local market.  They love owning their own business and see their place in society.  Tsehaye is no longer an outcast – she now is a proud business owner.  She is embracing hope in all of life.

To make it even sweeter, Tsehaye’s twin children keep learning – now in our Kindergarten and they are thriving.  Their family that was once on the edge has been preserved – and is thriving.

This # GivingTuesday  please consider helping us to partner with more families like Tsehaye’s – and please help us to keep spreading the word.