Newlivelihood

It is hard to call a country undeveloped when three thousand years ago it was able to cut huge obelisks out of solid stone, build amazing castles, develop indoor plumbing, begin standards in measurement, and dig tunnels three hundred miles through mountains big enough for elephants to pass through. They could fabricate steel that would not rust over thousands of years, write books and weave intricate cloth and govern a huge country that included what is now Yemen. But over time these secrets were lost and the power of the empire was diminished and tribes dispersed and the knowledge that was once gained was lost.

Now in the twenty first century Ethiopia is again emerging as a powerful nation, growing at an amazing speed with a ferocious appetite for knowledge and education. Mr. Marten and Sue Black from Canada recognized the need to provide the less privileged the opportunity to be included in this learning and growing process and

join the many trades that accompany this fast growing economy. Jobs that would give the common person who lived in these growing cities an income, but without the special skills the common persons were begging on the street, making meager livings doing menial tasks and often being forced into the life of crime and prostitution from which there seemed to be no escape. Prostitution often resulted in single mothers living with three or four children in squalor and suffering from AIDS and other diseases or sickness.

Devxchange International Canada began a partnership with the Ethiopian Full Gospel Believers’ Church in Bahi Dar, Ethiopia’s third largest city to select and help finance the training of selected underprivileged young girls to lift them out of prostitution. The church is 16 years old and has five pastors, two of them women. With a membership of over a thousand it is very strong in community work, supporting the poor and has a 5 year out reach plan to reach 2,000 in that time.

Every church member freely donates 10 – 15 Ethiopian dollars to the program every month and with Devxchange participation has provided skilled training in the last eight years to over 450 girls by focusing on two areas of training, the Eskafier Hotel Training School which offers Food preparation courses and a Hair Dressing and Barber school. More than 200 students have graduated from this 4 month Government Licensed School. The cost for each student is

$3,000 Brr per student and this covers the cost of clothing, transportation and food. The graduates of the food preparation school are in high demand by the hotel, restaurant and tourist industry but some of the graduates choose to go into business for them selves.

Such is the case with Amaled Genderu who was a house slave for 12 yrs. She was found by an evangelist who rescued her from a life of sex and enslavement and because she was a strong and determined woman she was selected for the food handling program. After 4 months of training she found an empty shipping container and with some ingenuity turned it into a Shiro house. This is a specific type of delicious injura and pea whet bar equivalent to a small lunch restaurant. She was concerned about her younger sister, Kassaye who like her was a house slave and inquired as to whither the church

would sponsor her sister to take the same training as she was able to get through Devxchanges’ funding. She was approved and began working with her sister when she graduated. By saving their money they were able to make a big jump to a modern building and set up a beverage and lunch business in a more ideal setting. They hired another graduate and the business has become so successful that they are planning an expansion to a new location in the near future. The employee is branching out to start her own business like Amaled did in a shipping container.

The other program that young woman are selected for, a hairdressing school, has provided professional training to over 200 girls through the Devxchange program. The school provides the training to ten students at a time to insure quality and is recognized and licensed by the government. The owner of the school, a good Christian woman, moved here from Addis Ababa and has expanded her business to providing wedding dresses, tents and supplies. Many of the graduates move to other cities and towns all over the country enabling them to find a newlivelyhood and break free from prostitution. Thanks to the fund raising efforts of Sue Black and Mr. Martin these girls were rescued from a life of slavery to a freedom they other wise would not have been able to acquire themselves.

For more information or to find out how you can help go to https://devxchange.org/newlivelihood