Ato Mekonen Werku is 60 years who is living alone. Previously he was living with wife who is a mother of one son and a daughter. Both were earning their income through engaging as a daily laborer Ten years before both knew their status of HIV/AIDS which was positive. His wife passed away after a year because of refusing to take the anti retro viral drug. Ato Mekonen now constantly follows up his health condition and taking the ART.
As time goes on he was unable to engage as a daily laborer and could not support his two children and obliged to give his children to other individuals as an adoption. With no option left, he heard about Eneredada Elders People Association and become the client. He explained as follows:
I was seen by my neighbors and friend that I cant live afterwards and they were discriminating me because of my HIV/AIDS .After joining Eneredada I was provided business skill training and a loan of 4000 birr .It was my long time dream to have my own weaving machine and produce traditional clothes. Before taking the loan I was making cloths on other people machine and get less money .However ,after getting the loan I now make four up to Ten traditional cloths(Gabbi)per month and sell each with 800 birr .All the time I am busy with my weaving work .Taking in to account my costs ,I have now a monthly income of 800-1000 birr.In cases of any emergency I have a saving of birr 200 per month .You know what ! I am very healthy now and show my community that I can work .Had it not been Eneredada ,I would have been in grave .I always thank them for taking me out of the dark side of life and showed me the brighter world.
A group of 37older women and men initiated their own business endeavour, made possible through partnership between HelpAge International and its local partner, Eneredada Elder People Association (EEPA) with generous funds from Sweden/NORAD.
In the beginning, this group income generating activity involved the HelpAge partner, EEPA, in coordination with the Woreda (District) level women association identifying a number of 60+ people from the surrounding area. The criteria further included the older persons having no means of other support and and had the ability to support themselves through work from the district.
According to the former navy navigator and current general manager of the group, Getachew Solomon (72 years old), EEPA brought in experts from concerned district level government offices to provide tailor-made trainings on different topics – health, hygiene and how to manage small-scale business.
The group of 34 older women and 3 older men from five Kebeles in the district, was given a total loan of ETB 278,000 (USD$ 14256.41) as start-up capital. Once they legally registered with the Micro Finance Investment Agency, they purchased a heavy duty oven for baking bread, a heavy duty onion grinder, two injera ovens and other kitchen utensils required. In addition, renovation of the space given to then by the Kebele followed.
“This has project has brought us back to life through work. On behalf of, Bineredada Older People Bread and Injera Baking Association, I would like to extend my sincerest gratitude and appreciation to HelpAge, EEPA and the concerned government offices for investing and believing in us (older people) and making us believe that we have the power to change our lives through work. Thank you very much.” Said Getachew Solomon
Now, the association is providing its services to the community at full capacity. They prepare and sell a total of 1000 bread buns and 400 injeras every day. Some of their
customers are members of the community but they also have customers like the Ras Desta Hospital, local schools and hotels. The association makes more than ETB 100.000 (USD$ 5128.21) per month only on the bakery services. They further engage in onion grinding services and provide food and hot beverages at a fair price in their small.
This is truly a wonderful development! The older men and women continue to serve their communities and the local economy, all the while, they are making a good living allowing them to support better themselves and their families.
Abebech Beyene, 55 years old, member of group IGA
“About one year ago, my life changed. EEPA informed me of this group income generating activity project. They said they would train us, give us pooled loan thereby enabling us to make ends meet. I was hesitant at first, because I’ve heard of many similar projects failing. But I had nothing to loose so I joined. And to my surprise, we are working together and it is looking better everyday. I will never forget the first time when I got my New Year’s bonus of ETB 500 (USD$ 25.64). I have a job, I have friends and I have a source of livelihood. I feel much more independent and above all I am finally my own boss! ”
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Keteredada Charcoal Production Elders Association has a total of 45 members comprised of 38 and 7 older women and men, respectively. The older people received trainings that are believed to be vital for their beginning and success. EEPA brought in experts from concerned district level government offices to provide tailor-made trainings on different topics – health, hygiene and how to manage small-scale business. The group of 38 older women and 7 older men from the district were given a total loan of 132,000 (USD$ 6769.23)as start-up capital. A working place was secured for the group of older people to begin their endeavour through communications made with the local government officials,Right now the elders are working in shifts where the members have divided into three groups each with fifteen members.
They are highly engaged in producing readymade charcoal or ‘brikets’. They produce 250 ‘brikets’ per day and are sell one ‘bricket’ at a price of ETB 4.00 (USD$ 0.21).
Project Manager of EEPA displays ‘bricket’ explains how they’re made. to‘’ Sania Sani and H.E. Mrs SerawitSileshi from the Institution of the Ombudsman with H.E. Ambassador TirunehZena at the World Elder Abuse Awareness Day 2014 Workshop in June 2014.
Continuous technical assistance has been provided by the implementing agent, Eneredada Elder People Association and the local government (the working Woreda), this includes market chain facilitation through communicating with different stakeholders.
ስሜ ሙላቱ ላንቴ ይባላል ፡፡ እድሜዬን ለማስታወስ ይቸግረኛል፡፡ የተወለድኩት መራ ቤቴ አውራጃ ነው፡፡ እናቴ እኔን እንደወለደች ነው የሞተችው፡፡ እኔን፤ እህቶቼንና ወንድሞቼን ያሳደገን አባታችን ሲሆን የገጠር ህይወት በመሆኑ በልጅነት መዳር የተለመደ ነበር፡፡አገር ቤት እያለሁ ሶስት ልጆች ወልጄ ነበር፡፡ ሁለቱን በማደግ ላይ እያሉ ሞት ነጠቀኝ፤ባለቤቴንም እንዲሁ፡፡ አንዱ የቀረኝን ልጄን ወንድሜ ማሳደግ ጀመረ፡፡ ዘመዶቼ በሙሉ በማለቃቸው ሀዘን ውስጥ እንዳለሁ፤ አዲስ አበባ የምትኖረው የአጎቴ ልጅ ካልወሰድኩሽ ብላ ለምና አመጣችኝ፡፡ በመጀመሪያ የማያውቁት አገር አይናፍቅም በማለት አሻፈረኝ ብልም ያለሁበትን ሁኔታ በማሰብ እሱዋን ተከትዬ መጣሁ፡፡
አዲስ አበባ የገባሁት በጃንሆይ ዘመነ መንግስት ነበር፡፡ እዚህም ሁለተኛ ባል አግብቼ ልጆች ወልድኩ፡፡ ኑሮአችንን እንደማንኛውም ኢትዮጵያዊ እንኖር ነበር፡፡ ነገር ግን ከሁለተኛው ባሌ የወለድኳቸው ሁለት ልጆቼ በደርግ ዘመነ መንግስት በብሄራዊ ውትድርና ተወስደው ሳይመለሱ ቀሩ፡፡ በሀዘን ለብዙ ጊዜያቶች ተሰቃይችለሁ፡፡ ሁለተኛው ሶስት ልጆችን ወልዶ ነበር፡፡ ባለቤቴንም እንዲሁ በሞት ተነጠኩ፡፡ከዚያ ጊዜ በሁዋላ ልጄን እየተመላለስኩ እጠይቀው ነበር፡፡ እንዲሁም እየመጡ የሚጠይቁኝ ዘመዶች ነበሩኝ፡፡ በዚያን ጊዜ የራሴን ሆድ ለመሙላት አልቸገረኝም ነበር፡፡ከጊዜ በሁዋላ ግን አይኖቼ እይታቸው እየደበዘዘ በመምጣቱ እንረዳዳ አረጋውያን ማህበር ህክምና ድጋ አድርጎልኝ የታከምኩ ሲሆን ነገር ግን የአይኖቼን እይታ መልሼ ላገኝ አልቻልኩም፡፡ ያልሄድኩበት ሃኪም ቤት ያልሄድኩበት ጸበል አልነበረም፡፡ የአምላክ ፈቃድ ባለመሆኑ ሳይሳካ ቀረ፡፡እናም አይኖቼ ጤነኛ እያሉ እሰራ የነበሩትን ስራዎች መስራት አቃተኝ፡፡ ታክሲ እያለ በእግር እሄድ የነበርኩት ከቤት እንኩዋን መውጣት የማይቻል ሆነብኝ፡፡ በዛ ትልቅ ችግር ውስጥ እያለሁ ጎረቤቶቼ ካጠገቤ ሳይለዩ ይረዱኝ ነበር፡፡ አሁን የምኖርበትንም ቤት እነደዚሁ በነጻ ነው የሰጡኝ፡፡ በዚህ አጋጣሚ ነበር አንድ የጎረቤት ልጅ እንረዳዳ የአረጋውያን መርጃ ድርጅት ያስመዘገበኝ፡፡ ምግቤን የማበስለው ከዚሁ ድርጅት በየወሩ በሚደረግልኝ ድጋፍ ነው፡፡ የምኖረው በሰዎች እርዳታ ነው፡፡ እንጀራ የሚጋግሩልኝ የጎረቤት ልጆች ናቸው፡፡ እኔም ለመስራት የማይከብዱ ምግቦችን እሰራለሁ፡፡ በአጠቃላይ በእግዚአብሔር ረዳትነት እኖራለሁ፡፡
My full name is Tadelech Wondimagehn. I don’t remember my exact age, however, I can surely say that I am above 80 years old. I was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
I have never attended school; from the day I was born my parents ensured that I would work each day to make a living. My husband is also not educated.
I have been married a very long time. I have been married only once – to one man, Hailu Worku. It was not an arranged marriage like everyone else’s at that time. I found Hailu Worku when I was young and employed; we got married instantly through a friend. I was married at a very young age, when I was in my early 20’s. I am currently living with Hailu Worku at our small house near Ras Desta Hopsital. We lost our official house many years ago due to financial instability, but luckily a wealthy man offered us a room in his house for us to stay. He also renovated the room he gave us and supplied us with many resources, including food, water and free care by his maid. He is a very generous and thoughtful man.
I have been employed many years; that was how I gained my main source of income. Before, I used to be a successful trader in my neighbourhood. From this occupation, I gained a reasonable amount of money each day. I started off by selling vegetables, but gradually as I grew older and wiser, I decided to expand my career. I decided to try new things, so I started baking Injera, washing clothes, dishes etc at people’s houses. The money I received I used to support my family and me. Currently I am unemployed; I am a retired old woman. The reason for that is mainly just my old age but also the fact that I was capturing several illnesses that prevented me from conducting labour. At home, my main chore is looking after my husband; I cook and clean for him. Sometimes when there is nothing to do, I just sit locked inside my house like a prisoner, feeling isolated, hopeless, weak and at times, burdened with heavy despair.
I had 3 children with Hailu – all of which who passed away one after the other. It was devastating and shattering for both me and my husband. When all my children left me, I had no one who could look after me when I was ill. Hailu falls ill quite often and the issue is most of the time with his foot. His foot swells and he cannot walk let alone work. Currently, Hailu is being medicated at the Ras Desta Hospital (close to where we live). Hailu was a very dedicated carpenter for many years. It was his passion and he was good at it. After having children with Hailu, I had 2 children with another man but we did not get married. He fled after I had my second child with him. Again, I lost both my children due to severe illnesses and was depressed for a very long time. Hailu stayed with me and comforted me at all times. I had 2 sisters and 1 brother. My brother passed away 3 years ago. He loved and cared for me very much – he supported me whenever I needed him to. One of my sister went abroad a very long time ago and I haven’t heard from her since. My other sister is very ill thus she cannot help me very much. Also, she has many children. In fact, she even has great grandchildren. She has many people that can support her but none of them are willing to do the same for me. I feel like my family has forgotten the true value of sisterhood.
I am also very ill. I have major eye problems even though I’ve been to the clinic and received medicine for it, my eyes still pours tears and unfortunately, I can’t control it.
I have received a substantial amount of support and resources from Eneredada Elder People’s Association. They have given me lots and lots of flour, sugar, oil, soap and salt. Currently, I don’t have any future plans or hopes, except perhaps that my husband and I get better.
W/o Mentwabe Hayele is a 66 year old woman from Gulele Sub City Woreda 05 in Addis Ababa City Administration, with three grand children depending on her. She lost her husband when she was in her forties .Since her husbands death, she was struggling to up bring her two daughters with no secured income .She was also obliged to go out and start to beg only to feed her daughters and send them to school .Things become a burden after losing her daughter to HIV and AIDS and she was left again alone unable to send her granddaughters to school and feed.
It was at this time that she heard about Eneredada. After included in the organization she was provided business skill training and 4000 birr as a revolving loan with no interest. She started to sell fruits and vegetables at her gate. As time goes on she scaled up her business .She rented a small shop from the city administration at the road side and began to sell additional items by preparing different types of traditional spices like pepper (Berbere), “Shiro” made from grounded beans and peas. She has mentioned that, “I have never felt young again and neither have my relatives appreciated my presence. My grandchildren had constantly been chased from school because I could not afford school uniform. All they relied on was collecting used and tattered pieces of clothes thrown away by other children piece the rugs together and use them as uniform to avoid being chased from school by the head teacher.
Oh my God! Whatever came to the mind of these well wishers (EEPA), that old people like me, could receive skill trainings to be engaged in income generating activities and earn money! Now, I am fulfilling everything necessary to feed my grandchildren and my self and send them to school.I have also a monthly saving to my future as well as paying back the loan regularly . Look at me, don’t you see happiness in my eyes, no more humiliation and frustrations in my life!
You know, when I was informed about this organization, I could not believe because I have never seen organization that aims at utilizing old people like me for skill training and engagement in income generating activities. Many organizations used to come to us but they gave us food or clothes once in year on the occasion of religious or other celebrations. Eneredada is by far different and helped many other older men and women like me to be self-sufficient and help their grand children. If you had a chance to see the status of life two years before, you will see a difference!”
Ato Tesfaye is 63 years who is living alone. Previously he was living with wife who is a mother of one son and a daughter. Both were earning their income through engaging as a daily laborer Seven years before both knew their status of HIV/AIDS which was positive. His wife passed away after a year because of refusing to take the anti retro viral drug. Ato Tesfaye now constantly follows up his health condition and taking the ART.
As time goes on he was unable to engage as a daily laborer and could not support his two children and obliged to give his children to other individuals as an adoption. With no option left, he heard about Eneredada Elders People Association and become the client. He explained as follows:
I was seen by my neighbors and friend that I cant live afterwards and they were discriminating me because of my HIV/AIDS .After joining Eneredada I was provided business skill training and a loan of 4000 birr .It was my long time dream to have my own weaving machine and produce traditional clothes. Before taking the loan I was making cloths on other people machine and get less money .However ,after getting the loan I now make four up to five traditional cloths(Gabbi)per month and sell each with 400 birr .All the time I am busy with my weaving work .Taking in to account my costs ,I have now a monthly income of 300-500 birr.In cases of any emergency I have a saving of birr 60 per month .You know what ! I am very healthy now and show my community that I can work .Had it not been Eneredada ,I would have been in grave .I always thank them for taking me out of the dark side of life and showed me the brighter world.
ሌላዋ አሳዛኝ ታሪክ ያላቸው ወ/ሮ ወለተ ማርያም ካሳዬ ናቸው እድሚያቸው ግፋ ቢል ከ80-85 እድሜ ክልል ውስጥ የሚገኝ ሲሆን አርፋለው እጦራለው ባሉበት ሰዓት ሌላ እሳቸው የሚጦሩዋቸው ወላጆቻቸው ያጡ የልጅ ልጆች አሏቸው እስከ ቅርብ ጊዜ ባለቤታቸውም የጥበቃ ስራ እና የጉልበት ስራዎችን በመስራት ይደግፏቸው ነበር አሁን ባለቤታቸው በህመም እና በእርጅና ምክንያት የአልጋ ቁራኛ ሆነዋል በማህበራችንም በምግብ ፣በህክምና ፣በአልባሳት እንዲሁም ለልጅ ልጆቻቸው የት/ቤት ቁሳቁስ በመደገፍ ላይ ይገኛል በማህበራችን ውስጥ ድጋፍ ከሚደረግላቸው አረጋውያን የትቂቶቹን ለምሳሌነት አቀረብን እንጂ በርካታ አረጋውያንን በዚህ እረገድ እየደገፍን እንገኛለን፡፡
የ84 ዓመት አዛውንት ናቸው ዛሬም ግን የሰው እጅ ከማየት ብለው ከእንረዳዳ የአረጋውያን መርጃ ማህበር በተደረገላቸው የገንዘብ ድጋፍ በግል በገቢ ማገኛ ስራ ዘርፍ የተሰማሩ ሲሆን ስራቸውን በትጋት የሚሰሩ ከቤታቸው መርካቶ ድረስ ለስራቸው የሚያስፈልጋቸውን ጥሬ እቃ በመግዛት ሰለቸኝ ደከመኝ ሳይሉ የከሰል ማንደጃዎችን እየሰሩ ይሸጣሉ ይህንንም ስራ በመስራት ወላጅ አልባ የሆኑትን የልጅ ልጆቻቸውን በመደገፍ ላይ ይገኛሎ አቶ መኩሪያ ደምሴ << እድሜ ጸጋ እንጂ ድካም አይደለም>>ይሉናል
የ 84 እድሜ ክልል ውስጥ የሚገኙ ሲሆን ዛሬ ላይ በሚኖሩባት አንዲት ደሳሳ ጎጆዋቸው ላይ ለብቻቸው ይተክዙ እንጂ የ7 ልጆች እናት ነበሩ ታዲያ ይደግፉኛል ይጦሩኛል ብለው ያሳደጓቸው 7 ልጆቻቸው በውትድርና፣በህመም እና በአደጋ አጥተዋል ዛሬ እኚህ እናት ከሀዘን ብዛት ሁለቱም አይኖቻቸው ማየት አይችሉም የአይን ብርሀን ከማጣታቸው በተጨማሪ ምንም አይነት ረዳት እና ደጋፊ ባለመኖሩ ማህበራችን እኚህን እናት ጎዳና ወጥተው ከመለመን ታድጓቸዋል በማህበራችንም የምግብ ፣የአልባሳት ፣የመጠለያ ፣የህክምና እና እነዚህን የመሳሰሉ ድጋፎች እየተደረገላቸው ይገኛል ፡፡
