News from Ethiopia

At only 14-years-old Sara was orphaned, malnourished and living in a small one roomed mud hut with her three siblings and aunt. Her family’s extreme poverty meant that Sara was trapped in a cycle of illiteracy with little hope of receiving an education or chasing her dreams. Without intervention she was at risk of falling into low paid work that wouldn’t cover her basic needs.

Six students in our Bethany Project passed their university remedial programme exam and are now continuing their university education via regular courses. Having succeeded in these recent exams Ashenafi, Elshaddai, Elias, Serkalem, Daniel and Tadesse now have a second chance to pursue their dreams.

‘Bright’ and ‘ambitious’ are the two words staff at our Bethany School in Ethiopia use to describe past student Birtukan. Her story serves as an inspiration, an example of “one determined student whose aspirations soared beyond the confines of limited resources.”

Outside the local mosque, not far from our Bethany School in Ethiopia, a young boy was wandering alone in the rain. He was crying and looking for his mother when someone noticed him. The young boy told them his name was Khalid.

Rahel was one of the first students to join our Bethany School in Ethiopia in 2006. Rahel thrived at school, she was enthusiastic about her studies as she knew this was her opportunity to break the cycle of poverty for herself and her family.

Fedesa is 10 years old and is a friendly, polite boy who loves football and dreams of becoming a teacher. 

Through his education at Abdi Academy, Fedesa is creating a brighter future for himself and his family by breaking the perpetual cycle of poverty.

Yoseph was one of our first Bethany School students when he joined our school as a shy seven-year-old. Yoseph dreamt big and worked hard to reach that dream. 

This year, Yoseph graduated with an exceptional 3.8 GPA and became one of the few mental health practitioners in Ethiopia.

A team from Marchmont, an Investment Management company, have taken on the tough but incredible challenge of travelling from Fort Augustus to Inverness Castle by bike, canoe and finishing with a run, covering approximately 56km collectively. They have taken on this challenge to support our Stand by Me kids in Ethiopia and give them a chance at a brighter future.