2016 Aged 20
Hiwot has completed her first year at Axum University where she is studying Marketing Management.
Her parents were both soldiers in the Ethiopian/ Eritrean war, where her father was killed and her mother was disabled.
Her mother is unable to give her any support at University and she has struggled to manage during her first year.
She is now in her 2nd. Year of study.
It has been agreed to support her with 600 Birr per month.
2016 Aged 20
Adna is the eldest of 8 children. Her parents live in the countryside, are very poor, but are committed to ensuring that their children are educated.
Adna is very clever and achieved an excellent mark in her grade 12 national exams.
She has started in her first year at Debere Markos University where she is studying Economics.
It has been agreed to support her with 600 Birr per month.
2016 Aged 20
Anguach’s father died when she was a grade 5 student. Her mother lives in the countryside 45 Km. from Lalibela, is very poor and tries hard to support her 3 daughters.
Anguach moved to Lalibela to continue her studies into grade 9. She worked in a bar at night to earn money but was hassled by some of the men and changed to working as a labourer when it was not school time.
She scored well in her grade 12 national exams and has now started studying Engineering at Jijiga University.
It has been agreed to support her with 600 Birr per month.
2016 Aged 25
Tadesse has an ambition to be a lawyer.
He is from the countryside and it takes him 2 days to walk home from Lalibela. His mother recently died and his father is 81, very poor and unable to give Tadesse support.
Tadesse did well in his grade 12 national exams and is now in his first year at Semera University where he is studying accounting.
It has been agreed to support him with 600 Birr per month.
2016 Aged 19
Tilaye is from Shimsha, 10 Km. from Lalibela. His parents are subsistence farmers and are very poor.
He did very well in his grade 12 national exams and is now in his first year studying Veterinary Medicine at Mekele University.
It has been agreed to support him with 600 Birr per month.
2016 Aged 23
Getahun is from Gelesot, 36 Km. from Lalibela. His parents are very poor subsistence farmers and there are 8 in the family.
Getahun lives in a rent home in Lalibela. In his free time he works as a labourer and does some teaching with other pupils in order to survive.
He was given an application form by Tefera, chairman of the Lalibela committee, and didn’t hand it in. When asked why not in, the school was wanting 50 birr to give him his results and he didn’t have 50 birr. Tefera gave him the money!
He passed grade 10 with great distinction and was first in his class in grade 11. He is now in grade 12.
It has been agreed to support him with 600 Birr per month.
2016 Aged 20
Tibebu is from a village called Shallo, 38 Km. from Lalibela.
His parents both don’t keep well and can’t give any help. He is the first of the 8 children to reach grade 11. He lived with his grandmother but she has recently died and he is struggling to manage at school.
He passed grade 10 with very great distinction and was first in his class in the grade 11 exam. He is now in grade 12.
His ambition is to be a politician and change the face of Ethiopia!
It has been agreed to support him with 600 Birr per month.
2016 Aged 18
The Lalibelan committee flagged Saleamlak as from a very poor family.
He is an only child, his father died 11 years ago and his mother tries to manage by working as a labourer when the work is available.
He passed grade 10 national exams with great distinction and was first in his class in the grade 11 exams. He is now in grade 12.
It has been agreed to support him with 600 Birr per month.
2016 Aged 18
Mareg is from Erfa, 35 Km. from Lalibela. His parents are subsistence farmers and have no money to give him support.
He lives in a rent house in Lalibela and works as a labourer in his free time in order to survive.
He was third in his class in grade 11 and is now in grade 12.
It has been agreed to support him with 600 Birr per month.
2016 Aged 19
Demeke is from the countryside, 30 Km. from Lalibela.
His parents are subsistence farmers and have no money to support him. They are against him continuing at school and want him to return to work on the land. He has 2 brothers and 2 sisters.
He passed grade 10 with very great distinction and was second in his class in the grade 11 exams.
He is now in grade 12 and has ambition to be a doctor.
It has been agreed to support him with 600 Birr per month.
2016 Aged 19
His mother died when he was born and his father died when he was a young child.
He works as a labourer while trying to continue his education.
He reached grade 11 where he was 3rd. in his class. He is now in grade 12.
He has an ambition to be an investigative journalist.
It has been agreed to support him with 600 Birr per month.
2016 Aged 20
Malefia is from the countryside from poor parents who are unable to give any help.
When not at school, she works washing clothes for people in order to stay in the school system.
She is now in grade 12 and has an ambition to be a doctor.
It has been agreed to support her with 600 Birr per month.
2016 Aged 21
Habtamu, from the committee, gave Getachew a lift into Lalibela and heard all his problems. Habtamu suggested that he apply for support.
He is from Erfa. His father died when he was 10 and his mother struggles to survive. He has had to fight to stay in the education system as his mother wants him back home to work on the land.
He has an ambition to be an engineer. He is in grade 10 and was 2nd. in his class. He was successful in gaining a place in grade 11 and our support has meant he can accept the place.
It has been agreed to support him with 600 Birr per month.
2016 Aged 15
Tigist’s parents are alive but are old and very poor.
She washes clothes for a family in order to make money and gets paid 200 birr per month. She is now finding it difficult to do this work as she needs to spend more time studying.
She was 1st. in her class in the grade 9 exams and is now in grade 10.
It has been agreed to support her with 600 Birr per month.
2016 Aged 13
This girl has been identified as having a lot of family problems and no help.
Her parents are divorced. Her father was badly wounded in the war with Eritrea, has no work, has remarried and has no contact with his previous family.
Rahel, her mother and younger brother live with the 84 year old grandfather in Lalibela. Her mother is uneducated and has been unable to find work.
She was 12th in her grade 6 exams. The committee feel she could do much better if she got our support.
It has been agreed to support her with 600 Birr per month.
2016 Aged 18
Betelhem is the sister of Bimrew. Both have to use wheelchairs. They both applied last year and we accepted Bimrew but not Betelhem. They are orphans and still live in the gift shop in return for looking after the shop.
The money to Bimrew has made a big difference to their lives. Money to Betelhem would let them rent their own house.
Betelhem has an ambition to become a nurse and help those in the same position as her. She was 12th. in her class in the grade 5 exams and is now in grade 6.
It has been agreed to support her with 600 Birr per month.
There is an absolutely massive number of 21 new students this year, plus Samrawit who started last Febuary. In total there are current 40 young people benefiting from the fund in 2015.
2015 Age 8
Yohannes is an orphan and was found living on the streets in Lalibela.
A deacon of the church has taken him into his home but doesn’t have the money to support him as well as his own family.
It has been agreed to give 600 Birr per month to the deacon as support for Yohannes.
Yohannes has now started in grade 1 and we will hopefully be supporting him for many years.
2015 Age 8
Lidiya and her young sister live with their mother in Lalibela town.
Their father died 3 years ago and the mother does not have enough money to keep the children in the education system.
Lidiya is now in grade 4 and it has been agreed to support her with 600 Birr per month.
2015 Age 12
Bimrew and his sister are orphans in Lalibela. They were living on the streets but now have accommodation at night in a gift shop in return for looking after the shop during the day.
Both Bimrew and his sister use wheelchairs. It is thought that they both had polio at a young age.
Bimrew is now in grade 6.
It has been agreed to give Bimrew 600 Birr per month. This money will also help to support his sister.
