Letebrehan From Begging to Business Owner

Letebrehan Kebedew, a mother from Endaba Gerima Kebele, once worked as a housemaid but lost her job and was forced to beg on the streets of Adwa. She described this difficult time, saying, “If I get 10 or 5 birrs, I will purchase bread for my children and sleep on an empty stomach.” Unable to care for them, she sent two of her children to live with relatives.

After local authorities learned of her situation, they helped her return to her kebele. It was then that she was nominated to be part of a project run by Gimmer and REST. Through this project, she received training and 25 chickens to start a poultry business.

Within four months, she sold the chickens for 15,500 birr, bought two sheep, and began saving money. Letebrehan now feels a profound change, stating, “Now I feel very relieved, I don't feel very stressed... Now I am very hopeful that I am going to change it from sheep to a dairy cow.”

With new hope, she plans to expand her livestock and start a micro garden to sell vegetables, affirming that the support from the project has pulled her family out of suffering and given them a new path forward.