Contributor: Joni Kabana

Seven in 10 girls in Ethiopia do not attend secondary school, depriving them of the many benefits of education: later marriage, healthier children, higher wages, stronger communities, and more prosperous countries.

Mercy Corps is helping girls in one of Ethiopia’s most remote regions explore a future full of new possibilities by providing them with scholarships and academic support to complete secondary school.

Explore the impact of this program beyond the school day on Global Envision, Mercy Corps' sister blog that explores market-driven solutions to poverty.

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Villagers dancing in Bussa Killa village. Photo: courtesy of Joni Kabana

Many people ask me why I travel so much to developing nations, continuously witnessing such dire human circumstances. Do I come back depressed because I could not help the people as much as I want? Do I lie in bed at night sleepless because I am thinking about what I saw? Do I ever feel joy again after living for a period of time in the bush of Africa?

Yes, there are difficult situations and living conditions where I work. I do see things that haunt me for life, wishing I could somehow eradicate the problems. But in Africa, there is a fuel that exists that blasts into my soul and spills out into my body as I dance, sing, play…and share the feeling hope found in the most trying conditions. That fuel is called “Joy” and it is found in Africa in the most pure sense. Over and over again, during the many visits to Africa and Madagascar, I see a sense of joy that is never, and I do mean never, experienced in my own home country.

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Felekech Indriss talks about her experience with the PROSPER Savings and Credit Co-op program in the Konso region of Ethiopia. Photo: Joni Kabana for Mercy Corps

Thirty-year-old Felekech Indriss lives far out in the countryside in a village called Fuchucha, within the Konso region of Ethiopia, too far from any school where she can be educated.

When she heard that Mercy Corps was going to start a business education center near her village, she quickly signed up.

Through the PROSPER Savings and Credit Co-op (SACCO) program, Felekech learned how to run a small business. Her education consisted of five to six days of training, then an extra four days of leadership training. Through hard work and determination, her skills grew, and today she is the treasurer of the savings and loan co-op.

For years, Felekech and her village friends used to spend any money they got right away, but now they have learned how to save it for future use. Many women from her village save money so that they can buy salts, grains, small livestock, small sheep and goats, fruit and other goods from far away in Konso, so they can sell them for a small profit in villages and at other markets.

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Photo: Joni Kabana for Mercy Corps

Within Mercy Corps' PROSPER program, the Savings and Credit Cooperative project brings much confidence to women in the Konso district of Ethiopia. Once a woman has saved a small amount of money, she is able to join the savings co-op and become eligible to apply for small business loans.

Kanessa Ayano, 24, owns a shoemaking business, and through her Mercy Corps facilitated business classes, she has learned how to increase her profit margins by creating an enhanced product which has created a stronger demand for her shoes. The original shoe was made entirely from tire rubber. Now, she is using discarded skins from animals after harvest to make more decorative sandals.

She has also expanded her inventory to include belts and bag straps, which are also sold at the market. Kanessa is happy to report that her village cannot keep up with the demand, so they are looking at employing more people from neighboring villages. Kanessa works five hours each day making shoes, and she is very proud of her village's ability to create something that many people love to wear.

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Photo: Joni Kabana for Mercy Corps

In the Melega Dugaya village in the Konso district in Ethiopia, women take part in learning how to read and write by a Mercy Corps Livelihood Project learning facilitator. They begin by learning how to write their names, how to form numbers on a page, and how to perform simple arithmetic.

This learning beginning only fuels their desire to learn more, and they repeatedly ask to learn higher levels of reading and writing. They especially want to learn how to create their own business name and know how to write it on papers, signs, etc.

Through the same Livelihood Program, many women are learning how to run a small business and how to save and re-invest earnings. They express joy that they can now read the numbers in their savings account, whereas before they had to rely upon others to relay this information.

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