Giving Ethiopian Girls An Equal Chance

By Debbie DeVoe

In the small village tucked into a mountainside—reached by a stomach-dropping road that climbs up and over boulders—17 Ethiopian school girls have big dreams for their future. Not one of their mothers attended school, but with the support of their parents, these girls are receiving an education that provides them with choices.

Some want to be doctors, others electrical engineers. But most importantly, each wants to have a little more control over their lives.

"I need to get my own resources first before I decide to get married. Then I'm not totally dependent," says 15-year-old Tsige Abebe, a member of the Bright Hope girls' cooperative in Tsahwa village.

Realizing Bright Potentials

Bright Hope is one of 15 cooperatives for adolescent girls that Catholic Relief Services has helped form in Ethiopia with the help of our local partners. These cooperatives, called "economic groups" locally, support more than 180 girls in two rural regions—one in the far north of the country, the other in the south. Funded by the Nike Foundation, the project aims to empower adolescent girls by providing them with opportunities to improve their education and their economic conditions.

Girls are encouraged to attend school, with the project covering school fees when necessary and offering tutorial classes to support high achievement. The project also provides sanitary pads and builds school toilets and water systems to increase the likelihood that teenage girls won't drop out—a common occurrence for menstruating students when such facilities aren't available.

"Every Thursday we meet to discuss things and share experiences," Tsige explains. An elected chairwoman runs each meeting, supported by project staff and a group leader, who is often a local female school teacher. Beyond discussing day-to-day concerns, the groups also learn about HIV and hygiene, receive assertiveness training, and discuss the pros and cons of traditional practices such as early marriage and arranged marriage.

The cooperatives also enable the girls to earn money through farming, petty trade or beekeeping. Each group receives related business training and needed materials, such as tools and seeds for farming or a honey extractor to produce better quality honey.

In addition, the girls learn how to form their own savings and lending groups, encouraging each other to save small amounts each week that eventually grow into a pool against which group members can take loans. By creating their own savings and lending resource, the girls can better cover everyday expenses, undertake small business ventures or fund additional schooling.

"At the beginning, we were afraid of our daughters meeting every Thursday. We were concerned it would affect their studies. And we were suspicious," one father shares. So the parents of the Bright Hope cooperative formed their own support group and own savings and lending group, modeled on the one introduced by CRS to their girls. The parents also convinced the project manager to let them tend the project's vegetable plots so their daughters wouldn't have to take time away from their studies. Now they and the girls share—and often save—the profits of any extra vegetables grown.

Choosing Change

In Tsahwa village, every girl between 10 and 19 years old is in school—an unheard-of statistic in a rural area and a significant change from years past.

"We want them to get an education because there's suffering in our lives. We don't want to see that suffering again," one mother explains.

"In the old days, women didn't have such opportunity. Looking after livestock, they were unable to go to school. Women could only do a fingerprint for signature," an elderly father adds. "Problems are increasing, and technology is coming. Our daughters need education to not have this difficult life."

While not every community in Ethiopia shares the same views, the students and parents of Tsahwa village believe in the importance of education and for each girl to know how to make a living.

"We are now giving our girls equal chances. This education will help them have the knowledge to avoid diseases like HIV and get out of poverty," another father notes.

Gains are already being made. Production has tripled in many of the small plots in Tsahwa's community garden, as families use the two new wells, water pump, fence, farming tools, seed and fruit trees provided by the project. The extra income earned as a result is helping families cover daily expenses and school materials. These profits are also enabling parents and cooperative members to build their savings—and even at times have a little extra for luxuries like butterfly hair clips.

As 15-year-old Mibrak Tekle sees it: "I'm putting myself in a good position to help myself and my country."

Debbie DeVoe is CRS' regional information officer in East Africa based in Nairobi. She recently visited the Bright Hope economic group in Tsahwa village in the remote mountains of northern Ethiopia.