Meet Sintayehu & his mom Serikalem
Serikalem & Sintayehu
Sintayehu is a fun baby to have around. He is full of life, spunk and a bit of mischief, like all little boys should be. He turns 2 in a couple of months and in so many ways reminds of us most 2 year olds that we know.
He had a rough start in our project because as we opened he was not feeling well, fighting off an infection, while also missing his mom. This meant that Sintayehu was not a happy camper.
Sintayehu
He spent a lot of his day walking to the door and crying and crying and crying. However, Sintayehu is settling in. He’s coming to life. He’s interacting with the children and the caregivers. He’s having fun. Its very cool to see. He’s sharp and we look forward to watching him learn and blossom.
Sintayehu’s mom, Serikalem, works hard to try to provide for herself and him, despite the fact that at 27 years old she can neither read nor write. Their story is so similar to most of the families that we work with. She is originally from Northern Ethiopia, but moved to Addis Ababa. Along the way Sintayehu’s father left the family to fend for themselves. While we don’t yet know the ins and outs of Serikalem’s story, many times it is for either economic reasons or as a quest for freedom from responsibility that the husband leaves the family, divorces his wife and leaves them to deal with the struggles of poverty. But, Serikalem has kept fighting. She now walks miles every day collecting overripe bananas that
Serikalem, mother of Sintayehu
are unable to be sold in other parts of Addis Ababa. She then brings those bananas back to Kore where they are sold cheaply on the street to residents here. She is providing an important commodity in Kore (cheap bananas) while also making a very small sum of money to provide for her family and pay their $6US per month room rent. We are dreaming of ways we can help provide capital to this mom who is already quite creatively trying to provide for her family.
Serikalem has a spark about her that she shares with the other moms, which is wonderful to see. We think that over time she will be helping to spread hope to other moms whom she relates to.
Sintayehu
Please join us in praying for Serikalem and Sintayehu. Pray for an invasion of hope in the whole of their lives. We are also looking for sponsors for their family. We have 4 sponsorship slots remaining for their family. For more information, drop us an email at sponsorship@embracinghopeethiopia.com