• Makeda is just 14 years old
• Her parents are dead
• She eats once a day
• She is infected with Tuberculosis
• She has to work late into the night
• There is no-one to pay for her schooling
• There is no-one to care for her

Makeda was born in Giru. Both her parents died when she was a child, and she doesn’t know where her three brothers and two sisters are now. A woman from Addis Ababa brought Makeda to the capital city and found her employment as a baby-sitter.

The family she worked for at first helped her to attend school part time, but after some time the family told her that they were no longer willing to send her to school. She couldn’t find a similar part-time job that would allow her to earn some money and attend school.

Makeda decided to find another solution, which was preparing and selling kolo (roasted barley or beans). She used the small amount of money she saved from working as a baby sitter to buy grain and fuel. She does all the work of preparing and selling kolo after school. “I have no option, there is no one who wants to help me”. She sells it from place to place (the streets, in bars, and at school).

Now Makeda is 14 and she shares a one-roomed house with another women. She pays her rent, buys exercise books and eats once in a day with the money she earns. Sometimes she cannot even afford this one meal, and uses her kolo for dinner. She never dresses in new clothes or shoes; once or twice a year a few generous people provide her with used clothes and shoes. When Makeda fell sick, a neighbour took her to a health centre where the doctor told her that she had TB. She is getting better with treatment, but lack of proper nutrition prevents her full recovery. She has a frequent cough and pain in her chest.

Makeda was a good student when she was in lower grade, but last year her results started to worsen, because her hardships interfered with her studies. After her work with the kolo, she comes back home late at night, too tired and hungry to study or do her homework. When asked about her future plans, Makeda said “I want to be a well educated person so that I will carry on my education until I finish university, and after I finish my education and get a good job I want to share my earnings with orphan children”.

Makeda still works hard to make her way independently in the world, but with the SWDA programme, her school expenses are covered and she has some extra food. She wants to thank LUCIA and SWDA for funding the programme.

There are many more girls with stories like Makeda: some much worse. With your help we can begin to change that. You can make a real difference.