Alemtsehay
A STORY OF TRANSFORMATION
Over a year ago, you could have found Alemtsehay and her four children wandering the jammed intersections of Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia, begging for a few coins to carry them to the next day. Today, Alemtsehay shares how Tirzah’s program walked her through starting two successful businesses in just a year. “This program has given me courage and resilience - I am empowered!” The transformation of the last year is written in sweet smiles across her ten-year-old daughter, Salaam’s face as she hoists her pink backpack full of school supplies and heads out the gate for a day of learning, safety, and hope. At the same time, her mother walks to open up her shop.
Alemtsehay joined Tirzah’s holistic, small-business training program when she saw the benefits of the tried-and-true savings programs developed by Tirzah’s on-the-ground partners. Starting with a small flatbread shop, she grew in her understanding of business through meetings and curriculum every week. Taking every class to heart, she decided to diversify, and soon opened a small storefront selling community essentials. All four of her children are able to attend school.
Alemtsehay hopes to expand her businesses and hire more women, even as conflict casts uncertanty across Ethiopia’s economy. “I feel so loved by my sisters and I love them. I can take care of my kids. Pray we will never beg again,” she says before launching into her plan to purchase chickens to launch her third business in just one year.
Support from Tirzah’s donors covers the $1,200 required for women like Alemtsehay to enter the program which also removes barriers from women attending the trainings like providing support for her children’s education, rent assistance, food aid, and health checkups. It was the sisterhood provided by our program that gave her the confidence to rise above injustice and become a community change-maker and leader!
“This program has given me courage and resilience.
I am empowered!”
