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Project Name |
Skills Training for Women - Ethiopia |
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Agency/Charity |
Bethany Christian Services |
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Country |
Ethiopia |
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External Link |
http://www.bethany.org/A55798/bethanyWWW.nsf/0/603F436EF6F4CBD5852575DD0069ED42 |
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Email |
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Description |
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Kolfe-Keranio is one of the most impoverished areas of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The spread of HIV/AIDS has left thousands of women widowed and thousands of children orphaned. More than 50 percent of the 420,000 people living in Kolfe-Keranio are women.
Of those women, 90 percent are unemployed, nearly all are illiterate, and the vast majority of the women have lost their husbands due to AIDS or other illnesses. Many of these mothers are also HIV-positive and struggle for adequate nutrition to support the anti-retroviral medications they take in the hope that they will live long enough for their children to grow up.
Through Bethany Christian Services Ethiopia’s one-year Skills Training program, women are learning how to sew and/or knit. Many of the women travel as far as a one hour walk each way to learn these skills at Medhin Social Services Training Center in Kolfe-Keranio.
Project funds are used to pay for the training, transportation, and course supplies. By participating in this program, women are able to produce cultural garments that they then sell in local markets. After completing the training, women are given supplies to help them start their business. Currently, 18 women are in training. Three women who enrolled in late 2007 have recently graduated and are now working as a group manufacturing traditional garments.
The goal of this training and micro-business program is to help these women become self-sufficient and able to support their children. For less than $500 per year, we can help supply transportation, materials, or school feel for one student. |
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