our students

childhood in ethiopia

Probably the most remarkable thing about Ethiopian children is that despite all the hardships they suffer, they constantly show the most wonderful warm smile.

Even today, the number of children in a family is often seen as a symbol of wealth. The more children there are in a family, the better the family’s image. Fuelled further by a lack of education and religious beliefs, most couples are not using birth control (less than 8%) and it is not unusual for a family to end up with 10 or more children. The average age of the population in Ethiopia is 17 (compared to 39 in Europe). In a family of many children, most of them, especially the earlier born, are usually destined to a life supporting the family rather than going to school. The older boys are looking after the family’s cattle, the older girls help with the other children, or with household chores such as preparing meals or fetching water from wells. This alone can take up several hours of the day.

Government legislation has enforced primary schooling for children, dictating that at least one child out of each family has to attend school. In most families, it will only be the one child.

Despite their individual hardships, the students that are accepted onto the eef scholarship programme have average grades of at least 90% (some of them above 95%!). None of them would be able to continue their education after grade 8 (aged 13) without the eef programme.

Some of our students are orphans, some of them have only a distant relative alive, most of them are separated from their parents due to poverty and some of them find themselves in a position without support from anyone in this world and live on the street.

Before the eef programme most of the children used to work 6 or 7 days a week after school in order to get food or shelter, in often impossible, less than basic conditions.

Something all our students have in common is an unbreakable desire to learn and a drive to succeed and change their lives for the better.

The following are only some examples of our students’ personal backgrounds. They are real stories told anonymously to protect the individual’s privacy.

Story One

I used to live in the countryside in the north of Ethiopia with my parents and 6 brothers and sisters. My family was reliant on farming. We used traditional methods, hence day to day life was hard and the rewards for our efforts were little. My parents are illiterate. Despite the fact that my brothers and sisters were interested in learning, I was the only one allowed to go to school. My school was about one hour walk away from my home and I enjoyed walking there each morning. We were taught in classes of 80 children for 4 hours a day, we didn’t have any benches to sit on and we didn’t have many books to read but I always enjoyed school and I was a good student. The school near my village is a primary school – up to grade 8. I knew that if I wanted to continue with my education after grade 8, I would have to leave my family and move to a big city.

Just before I turned 13, I decided to move to Addis Ababa in order to find a school where I could continue with my education. As I didn’t know anyone there I had to find somewhere to live and I needed to find work to be able to buy food. I found myself a government school as well as a job as a kitchen porter in a restaurant.

Each day at 4pm, straight after school I started working. I didn’t get paid any money but I got some food and shelter for the night. At 1am after work, a little van used to pick me and my friends up from the restaurant to bring us into a compound where I shared a room with 8 of them. The room had no electricity and we all had to sleep on the floor. At 7 am I got up each day to walk to the school which started at 8.30.

Now I have a little room with a bed and a desk to study. I do not have to work anymore to get food and instead I can concentrate on my studies.

Story Two

I never knew my parents. They died when I was 2 months old. I was brought up by my grandmother who was a well-respected woman in our community. She worked hard selling items in the market each day. My grandfather had died and the only other member of our family that was left was my aunt. My grandmother was not a very emotional person. She was quite cold on the outside but she helped me with everything, including my schoolwork as she wanted me to do well in life.

One day she became ill and she could not run her business anymore. She decided that we would move to the countryside to find a cheaper living. It wasn’t much cheaper to live in the countryside but my grandmother started to work as a cleaner each day after the market in order to earn a bit more money.

A few years later she became quite ill and she couldn’t look after me anymore. So I moved again, this time back to Addis Ababa to live with my aunt who was now married. After a short while I learned that my grandmother had died and I was very sad. My life was at the time quite safe but there was not much happiness.

In 2004 my uncle died and I am now left with only my aunt who has no children of her own. She loves me very much and we survive on USD 20 per month. My education is very important and I am working very hard to be a good student and to become a doctor one day.

Story Three

My parents divorced when I was 5 years old. My father left us and I have never heard from him again. A few years later also my mother left and made me stay with my grandmother. Each day I dream that one day my parents will come back and that the family will reunite, but it doesn’t happen.

I still live with my grandmother and two of my uncles. My uncles smoke a lot and they drink and there is not much happiness in my life. But I am a very good student and I study each free minute of the day so one day I will be able to go to university and lead a better life.

Story Four

I have 8 brothers and sisters, four of them live with my mother in the countryside in Northern Ethiopia. Two of them live with my grand parents and the other two live with an uncle outside Addis Ababa. The family split because my parents could not afford to feed all the children anymore. I live with my father in Addis but I haven’t seen my mother or my brothers and sisters in over 3 years.

My father is a good man. He has 3 jobs so that he can earn enough to be able to send some money home each year. We live in our uncle’s house. My uncle also has a shop and my job is to sleep in the shop at night in order to guard it. I sleep on the floor but sometimes there is electricity so that I can study at night.

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