Beriha's Journey to Healing
Beriha Hagos is a 39-year-old single mother of three. after suffering a horrific sexual assault by 8 soldiers during the war, which also left her son with PTSD, she struggled with severe physical and mental trauma. To feed her children, she was forced to beg, recalling a painful memory the food they used to get bagging used to contain hair they would have to hand pick it and eat.
Her life began to change when she received a 40,000-birr grant from Glimmer and REST project. She used this to expand her small coffee and tea business by buying a refrigerator to sell beer and soft drinks. This venture gave her a new purpose.
“At first my mind wasn’t in the right place but waking up early and opening my small coffee place for service gave me something to look forward to every morning seeing the coffee cup in place, more than the money, I got peace of mind.”
Her business now earns her 400-500 birr a day, allowing her to save, reinvest, and provide a better life for her family. The improvement in her life has been so significant that she has been able to cut back the sleeping pills she used to take.
Full of hope for the future, Beriha plans to open a restaurant and own her own home. She expresses immense gratitude, saying:
“I am out of the darkness; I will make you very proud My children are going back to school because of you Thank you so much.”