<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Poverty and lack of opportunity to better herself pushed Yerom, a new mother, to leave Ethiopia and migrate to the Middle East leaving behind her husband and child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After paying the 20,000 ETB fee to an agent with money she borrowed from friends and family, Yerom started her journey seeking stability, a steady income, and more importantly, hope. From Beruit to Dubai, she went from one abusive employer to another, hoping to find respite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After four years of desperation, Yerom returned to Ethiopia, broken and with meager savings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She was not about to give up hope. By this time Yerom was a mother of three. She registered as a job seeker at the government Labour Enterprise Industry Development Office and became a member of the Solid Waste Collectors Cooperative. For the first time in a long time, Yerom saw hope of a better future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But soon things became difficult again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe were given orientation and learned how to create an administration structure for our cooperative. After paying for start-up costs, my first month\u2019s salary was just 600 ETB. It was so frustrating. I was about to give up but that\u2019s when Amref stepped in,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Amref provided the team with seed money and skill training so young people like Yerom could provide sanitation services and make a dignified living from WASH businesses. The training covered risks of irregular migration, entrepreneurship, financial management, business plan development, and health and safety\u2014an especially crucial subject for sanitation workers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAmref gave us 200,000.00 ETB which helped us secure transportation and safety materials,\u201d says Yerom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Working in close collaboration with Addis Ababa cleaning management agency office, Amref also linked the team to a micro finance institution which helped them buy their own truck, a savings of 65,000 ETB a month in truck rental fees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur monthly income started to soar. I now earn 3,500 ETB per month. I am putting my training in entrepreneurship, financial management, business development, and life skills to good use. I am raising my children in my country. My dream is to be an entrepreneur because now I have hope.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Welcome home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Poverty and lack of opportunity to better herself pushed Yerom, a new mother, to leave Ethiopia and migrate to the Middle East leaving behind her husband and child. After paying […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":2621,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[132],"yst_prominent_words":[12,25],"class_list":["post-2620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorised","tag-wash-flagship"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/amref.org\/ethiopia\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2023\/08\/Yerom-Solid-waste-collector-Addis-Ababa-scaled-e1692164565787.jpg","yoast_head":"\n