Fiker Geta Baye

FIKER GETA BAYE 20142014 Age 18 years

Fiker was born and has been brought up in Lalibela town. His father died in an accident when he was 1 year old and his mother has struggled to bring him up on her own.

He has had consistently good results at school and this year was successful in gaining a place at Axum University to study engineering.

He applied for our support to enable him to take up this place. It has been agreed to give him a monthly payment of 600 birr + 2 performance related bonuses of up to 400 birr each.

Habtemariam Ezra Berhanie

HABTEMARIAM EZRA BERHANIE 20142014 Age 15 years

Habtemarium is one of the ‘street’ boys in Lalibela.

He was in the education system until 3 years ago. At that time his parents divorced and neither parent took responsibility for him. He left the education system and has been struggling on the streets to find money for food.

It has been agreed to give him a payment of 500 birr per month with 2 performance related payments of up to 250 birr each, in order that he can return to school.

Mareg Agaze

MAREG AGAZE  20142014 Age 20 years

Mareg’s parents both died when he was 10 years old. A neighbouring farmer took him in and allowed him to attend school up to grade 5 in return for him looking after the animals. Unfortunately the farmer couldn’t afford to keep him and he had to move into Lalibela town.

He struggles to find work as a labourer in order to have money to live. He has tried hard to continue his education. Last year, he was 7th. out of 53 students in grade 9.

It has been agreed to give him a payment of 500 birr per month with 2 performance related payments of up to 250 birr each in order that he can continue this year in grade 10 and, hopefully, next year be successful in gaining a place in preparatory school.

Sefi Kelemu Mekonen

SEFI KELEMU MEKONEN  20142014 Age 18 years

Sefi is from a village called Sorba which is 30 Km. from Lalibela. She is one of 6 children and has elderly, very poor, parents.

She completed her elementary education in Sorba. Her parents then wanted her to marry a local farmer that she didn’t know. Sefi did not want this and wanted to continue with her education. She therefore moved into Lalibela and has managed to complete grades 9 and 10. Every week she walks 3 or 4 times to her parents in order to get some food.

She has now gained a place in grade 11 and will hopefully be going to University in 2 years time.

It has been agreed to give her a payment of 500 birr per month with 2 performance related payments of up to 250 birr each.

Teshome Antachew Amare

TESHOME ANTACHEW AMARE 20142014 Age 21 years

Teshome is presently in his 4th. year of a Civil Engineering Degree at Addis Ababa University.
He applied for financial help to complete the last 2 years of his degree.

His parents are very poor and live in Lalibela town. They do not have the means to give him support.

Teshome is disabled as he only has the use of 1 hand. In spite of this, his determination has seen him to this stage.

It has been agreed to give him a monthly payment of 600 birr + 2 performance related bonuses of up to 400 birr each.

Ashenafi Yiman

ASHENAFI YIMAN 20132013 Aged 14 years

Ashenafi’s father died when he was a baby. He lives in Lalibela with his mother who is unemployed and is not in good health. There is no money available to support his education.

Ashenafi is in grade 8 this year and, without our support, may not be able to graduate to grade 9 next year.

It has been agreed to give him a payment of 300 birr per month with 2 performance related payments of up to 250 birr each.

Besfat Bisset

BESFAT BISSET 20132013 Age 22 years

Besfat was born in a rural area outside Lalibela. His parents are illiterate.

He has already completed 2 years at Dilla University where he is studying languages. He has ambition to become a journalist.

Since he was in grade 6 he has managed to continue in the education system by working in a café. In Dilla he works as a waiter in a night club. He is finding it increasingly difficult to continue with his education and has asked for our support.

It has been agreed to give him a monthly payment of 600 birr + 2 performance related bonuses of up to 400 birr each.

Birhan Tesfaye Fikade

BIRHAN TESFAYE FIKADE 20132013 Aged 20 years

Birhan is the youngest of 5 children and was born and brought up in a rural area 42 km. outside Lalibela. His parents and his older brothers and sisters are illiterate.

He completed his primary education in the countryside against the wishes of his family. It was expected that he would do subsistence farming like the others. Against the family wishes, he came to Lalibela for his secondary education. He managed to get work in a tourist gift shop. He got no pay but was given bed and food. This let him complete his secondary education.

This year he has gained a place at Jimma University to study Business and Economics.

It has been agreed to give him a monthly payment of 600 birr + 2 performance related bonuses of up to 400 birr each.

Desta Megistu Tadie

DESTA MENGISTU TADIE 20132013 Age 18 years

Desta lives in Lalibela. Her parents are poor farmers and are divorced.

As the school is only for half a day, she survives by working as a labourer for half a day and attending school the other half day.

She is now in grade 9 and it has been agreed to give her a payment of 300 birr per month with 2 performance related payments of up to 250 birr each.

Habtamu Mesker Afliew

HABTAMU MESKER AFLIEW 20132013 Age 22 years

Habtamu has already completed 1 year at Axum University where he is studying Animal Science. He applied for our support as he was having to give up his studies due to lack of money.

His father died when he was a baby and he, and his sister, were brought up by their mother. She died when Habtamu was in grade 8. Since then they have lived with an uncle. The sister had to give up school and work as a servant in the house.

Habtamu would like to complete his university education and support his sister in returning to the education system.

It has been agreed to give him a monthly payment of 600 birr + 2 performance related bonuses of up to 400 birr each.

Yengusie Mekonen

YENGUSIE MEKONEN 20132013 Age 18 years

Yengusie’s family live in the countryside. She came into Lalibela to continue her education from grade 9. In Lalibela she lived with an Aunt and her family—all in 1 room.

Two Irish tourists met her in Lalibela and funded for her to rent a room of her own to help her study and succeed in her grade 12 national examinations. They also directed her apply for the scholarship fund.

Yengusie has been successful and is now in her first year at Axum University where she is studying engineering.

It has been agreed to give her a monthly payment of 600 birr + 2 performance related bonuses of up to 400 birr each.

Yeshimet Sete Zebegna

YESHIMET SETE ZEBEGNA 20132013 Age 18 years

Yeshimet is the youngest of 7 children. She lives with her family in Lalibela and is presently in grade 10 at school. Her family depend for their livelihood on subsistence farming and have no money to support her education.

It has been agreed to give her a payment of 300 birr per month with 2 performance related payments of up to 250 birr each.

If she succeeds in reaching grade 11next year, she has been promised continued support.

Adunga Kefyalew Eridie

ADUGNA KEFYALEW EREDIE 20132013 Age 21 years

Adugna is from Lalibela and is one of 6 children. She is studying for a Bsc. in nursing at the Tropical College of Medicine in Dessie and has also just completed her second year.

As the fees are expensive, she asked if we could give some support. The Bude Methodist church agreed to this and she is given 600 birr every month to help with her expenses.

Almaz Melese

ALMAZ-MELESE-20122012 Age 20 years

Almaz has just completed year 1 of a BSc in Nursing at the Tropical College of Medicine in Dessie. She has to pay fees for this course and was having to give up as her family have no money to pay.

The chairman of the Lalibelan committee met her mother in Lalibela trying to sell her land in the countryside to enable Almaz to stay at College. She is now given 2,000 birr per month, which covers her fees and her expenses.

Abay Tesfaw Gesese

ABAY-TESFAW-GESESE-20122012 Age 14 years

I met this young boy when he was carrying crates of beer, sacks of flour and sugar etc. for Ben Abeba.

He is from the countryside and both his parents are dead. He is now in Lalibela to continue his education, but has no family to support him. As school is only half a day, he works the other half day to earn money to pay for a rent house and to buy food.

He is now in grade 10 and has great ambitions for his future.

It has been agreed to give him 500 birr per month + 2 performance related bonuses of up to 250 birr each.

What really impressed me about him was his desire to work and earn money rather than beg on the streets, as many youngsters do. The money we give him every month will let him concentrate on his studies.

Birhan Habtamu Zerfu

BIRHAN-HABTAMU-ZERFU-20122012 Age 19 years

Birhan is from a small village 20 Km. from Lalibela. His parents divorced and his father has left the area. His mother, while working as a daily labourer to earn money for the family, had an accident and is now unable to work.

Birhan scored an average of 80% in his grade 11 exams and is ranked number 3 in his class. He is now in grade 12 and hopes to be going to University next year.

It has been agreed to give him 500 birr per month + 2 performance related bonuses of up to 250 birr each.

This money will help the family to survive and will enable Birhan to stay in the school system.

Lemlem Shumeye

LEMLEM-SHUMEYE-20122012 Aged 14 years

As I said before, it is difficult to find young girls to support. It is still the case that many girls don’t access any education. Those who do are from families with a little money.

Lemlem was born in Yemerehan Kristos, 42 Km. from Lalibela. Her family live by subsistence farming. 6 years ago she moved to Lalibela to live with her grandmother. Her grandmother is very poor and they depend on sacks of grain being sent from the family when there is a good harvest.

Being in Lalibela has enabled Lemlem to access education. Last year, in grade 6, she scored an average of 83%. It has been agreed to give her a monthly payment of 500 birr + 2 performance related bonuses of up to 250 birr each.

Teshale Achenef Melaku

TESHALE-ACHENEF-MELAKU-20122012 Age 22 years

Teshale has had a very difficult life in his early years. He always yearned for education but was beaten by his father when he attended school rather than looking after the animals. His father died, his mother abandoned him and he had very little to look forward to.

An uncle in Lalibela took him in and he had the role of servant in the household. This did, however, let him access education. Against all odds, he has now been accepted to Debre Birhan University to study Economics.

It has been agreed to give him 600 birr per month + 2 performance related bonuses of up to 400 birr each.