International Women's Day Profile - Alimitu Tesfaye, Spice Grinder

We have the pleasure of working with so many fabulous women. In honour of International Women’s Day, this month we will feature three incredible Ethiopian women with whom we work. Today we introduce Alimitu Tesfaye, a member of the Spice Grinder project.

It was such a pleasure for our team in Ethiopia to be invited into Alimitu’s home for a snack and a chat. She was so welcoming, and inspiring, too!

Her home is a mud building made up of two main rooms – a sitting area and a bedroom – plus a small room for cooking over a fire. There is also an area that acts as a stable for her livestock to ensure they're not stolen at night. A radio dangled from one doorway; Alimitu said she likes to listen to South Radio, a station whose programming covers the southern part of Ethiopia.

The walls were painted bright blue and yellow. A bible verse had been painted around the room: “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Her home was built six years ago. Before that, Alimitu and her husband lived in a thatched roof hut and life was very difficult.

“Even the rain could easily get into the house. So it was difficult,” she said. “But now we are here.”

Alimitu was so proud to invite us into her home and show us around. It was immaculately kept and even the dirt floors were clean. 

These days Alimitu takes care of her three children – 14, 11 and 8 years old – and her in-laws while her husband works selling cattle out of town. In addition to the daily work of running a household, she sells corn and other grains at the market, and she fetches water from a well in the town of Boditi, about an hour walk from her home.

“Every three days we will fill four or five cans. We take a donkey to help carry the water,” Alimitu, 35, told us.

She’s a part of Mothers with a Heart for Ethiopia’s Spice Grinder project, and it’s clear that Alimitu is a very dedicated and committed member of the group.

She told us that all the money made at the spice grinder flows directly into an account for the group. All the women agreed that they wouldn’t make individual withdrawals until they’ve been able to expand the project and grow their profits.

“We save all the money as a contingency and also for maintenance, but there is no personal benefit,” she said. “Once we get more income, we can start to have personal profit.”

Alimitu went to school up until Grade 7. Now, all of her children are in school. It’s her dream that they will complete their education.

“My wish is for my children to graduate and to support themselves,” she said.

Alimitu – we salute you for your hard work, your positive attitude, and your kind and generous spirit. Thank you for inviting us in to your home and sharing a piece of your life with us.

International Women's Day 2017 - Congratulations to our founder, Shelley!

We have the pleasure to work with so many fabulous women - partners, volunteers, donors, and the women and girls that benefit from our programs. In honour of International Women's Day, each Wednesday this month we will feature one of the incredible women behind our projects here on social media. Today, we start with someone very special - our founder, Shelley Green.

Wow, what can you even say about our founder? 

Shelley Green is an amazing leader and force for good in Canada and Ethiopia, and we are so proud to announce that earlier this afternoon she was presented with the AppreSHEation Award by Oxford County's International Women's Day committee. Shelley was awarded for her work with the Alzheimer Society of Oxford, where she is the executive director, as well as her volunteer side gig (that's us!). 

Now, we promised Shelley there would only be a teeny, tiny post about this award - but it's too perfect an opportunity to pass up on International Women's Day. We're so thankful to be led by such a dedicated, compassionate, and ambitious lady, and we want to say a huge thank you.

Meskelu, from our group home, said Mulu and all the boys in the home are beyond excited to hear that Shelley's been recognized.

"It's a wonderful way to wake up this morning, when I read your mail in front of the boys and Mulu they made a lot of happiness noises. Bereket's jumping and Yabi says "lelelelele" (a favourite Ethiopian way to express joy and excitement). Kaleab was clapping and Mulu was bowing down to glorify God," Meskelu said. "It's a special sound we hear. Today we didn't have enough words to say thanks be to God - we are so amazed and proud of you!"

The Canadian team is so proud of her, too. 

Shelley, thank you for the hundreds of thousands of hours you pour into your work, and the passion and enthusiasm and heart you bring to every task, large and small. 

We are so grateful to have you at the helm.

Surgical Success Stories - #85, #86, #87

We're so pleased to introduce you to the latest three surgery candidates.
For more information about sponsoring a life-changing surgery, click here.

This is Aster Kebede. She has never been pregnant but has cared for her sick husband for many years. It is very unusual for a woman who has never conceived to have third-degree UVP.

Her work is very hard and she has carried heavy loads that has contributed to this condition. She will be undergoing surgery today.

This is Asnakech Manduro. She has been pregnant nine times and has eight living children. She has a very large sister cystocoele/rectocoele and will be undergoing surgery tomorrow.

This is Alemetu Toga. She has delivered six children and has suffered with a third degree prolapse for three years. She is also scheduled for surgery tomorrow.

It has been our great joy to be a part of changing these women's lives!

Surgical Success Story - #84

Shelley and Megan were two of the team members who were recently in Ethiopia and met some of these beautiful women. When we received Mamite's story and photo shortly after their return home, Shelley had this response: 

“This lady’s story has so much more meaning when you have sat down (like Megan and I did) with the women who have had the surgery.  This poor woman has lived through terrible, unimaginable circumstances for the past 6 years.  Thank God, she will have a new life after her surgery!”

— Shelley Green, Founder of MWAHFE

From Dr. Mark:
"Please meet Mamite Arma. She is 61 years old who had a fourth degree prolapse. She has been pregnant seven times and has five living children. She has suffered from prolapse for six years, making it too difficult for her to even leave her house. Thank you for making such a difference in her life. God bless you."

Special Report #3: Megan Stacey from Ethiopia

Originally appeard in the Woodstock Sentinel-Review on February 27, 2017.

There are some moments you just never forget.

Shelley Green greets Sulded, a woman who lives in Soddo, Ethiopia and needed the help of Mothers with a Heart for Ethiopia to correct a prolapsed uterus. So far the organization has sponsored 83 of those surgeries.

Standing in a small, shadowy room in the middle of a health clinic in rural Ethiopia, listening to incredible women pour out their souls, I had one of those moments.

These stories, centred around a uterine health condition, were horrifying and heart wrenching and inspiring all at once.

The women at the clinic – recipients of a surgery to correct a prolapsed uterus – were so gracious and open. They made themselves vulnerable and shared personal details about their lives, despite Ethiopia’s culture of privacy.

Many lived for years with extreme discomfort. The husband of one woman threatened to leave her if she refused to have sex with him – despite the pain her condition was causing.

The surgery, done by Dr. Mark Karnes at the Soddo Christian Hospital, is quite literally life changing.

“Before the operation, I was taking care of my family, but there was a lot of shame because my smelling was so much. It was not good. Even the wound was bleeding. My life was suffering,” said Amarach, who lived with a severely prolapsed uterus for over a year.

Most women with prolapsed uteruses were severely depressed and some were ignored or shunned by their communities. It’s common to stay away from friends and family and suffer in silence.

“I was hiding myself – I didn’t tell anybody,” said Turngo, a 50-year-old woman from the Soddo region. Most ladies wouldn’t even tell their spouse or children about the problem, despite daily pain and a terrible smell.

“My fear was not being able to be with people ever again,” said Sulded, from a rural area near Bucama, Ethiopia. “I was hopeless and I was ashamed.”

Amarach didn’t have a single person to talk to about her pain.

“I can walk, I can even run. I can stand, I can sit. My body, I can control. It is my own. Everything is new. This life is new.”

— Turngo, surgery recipient

And the nasty odour was a common symptom among the women who have dealt with a prolapsed uterus. In severe cases, the uterus can actually slip out of the body. One woman told the doctor that her uterus hit the floor when she would squat to use the bathroom. In rural Ethiopia, the toilet is often a hole in the ground.

“I was not able to sit with people, even to greet them. The smelling filled all my body. I was full of shame. With the smell, how can I go on?” Turngo said.

She lived that bleak reality for four years. She was in so much pain that she had to get down on all fours to cook because she couldn’t sit or stand.

Another woman was so distraught that she contemplated taking her own life.

It’s a devastating issue, but there are solutions. Karnes operates on dozens of women every year. The surgery comes at a cost of $325, a price tag that’s completely beyond possibility for most Ethiopian families.

“(I had) nothing, not even one cent, one birr,” Amarach said.

Mothers with a Heart for Ethiopia has so far funded 83 of those surgeries. To say the recipients are grateful is a dramatic understatement.

The most consistent and noticeable change is relief from the bad odour. Women reported smelling “like perfume" post-surgery.

“I can walk, I can even run. I can stand, I can sit. My body, I can control. It is my own,” said Turngo.

“Everything is new. This life is new.”

- Megan Stacey

Special Report #2: Megan Stacey from Ethiopia

Originally appeard in the Woodstock Sentinel-Review on February 24, 2017.

The reaction from Girls Gotta Run athletic scholars when asked who wanted to go to college. The response from these young ladies was overwhelming and earned a huge round of applause from the room.

SODDO, ETHIOPIA - They’re going to be pilots, doctors, engineers and journalists.

The Girls Gotta Run Foundation is making real and lasting change in the lives of young women, their mothers, and their entire communities in two regions of Ethiopia.

Imagine walking 90 minutes to school - and 90 minutes back home again. Imagine being pulled out of school to be married off at age 14. Imagine dreaming about your future but knowing that education was unattainable.

These are normal, everyday challenges for many girls and teens in Ethiopia.

That’s where Girls Gotta Run comes in. The athletic scholarship program covers tuition, uniforms, health food after practice, and a whole lot of confidence building to boot.

“I see them as true leaders. It’s so powerful and humbling,” said executive director Kayla Nolan of the 55 students in the program.

Mothers with a Heart for Ethiopia sponsors five strong, intelligent, compassionate and funny young ladies in the Soddo-based Girls Gotta Run (it’s also run in Bekoji, Ethiopia). For more information about this sponsorship, check out www.motherswithaheartforethiopia.com/girls-gotta-run.

The girls – about halfway through the three-year program – report physical, emotional and financial changes for the better since beginning Girls Gotta Run.

“I love a lot of things. The sport, exercise is good for me. The life skills are good – I know myself,” said Dagmarit Wolde Semayat, a 15-year-old student at Abba Pascal Girls School who likes math and physics and hopes to become a pilot one day.

Girls Gotta Run is just a few years old, but the program is already having a big impact. For Nolan, who doubles as the girls’ biggest cheerleader, it’s about so much more than just the ins and outs of their life skills lesson or running drills. Nolan and her staff take great care to build up these young women.

“We need to talk about girls in a way that’s respectful of their own capacity to manage those problems – because they’re expected to manage them. If we talk about them like they’re these powerless, small, infantile, young people, how do we expect them to simultaneously confront things like early marriage or poverty?” Nolan asked.

Another key to the program is the bonds of friendship. Most people remember what it was like to be 13, 14 or 15 years old – self-doubt is often a constant and it takes some time to find your place.

The situation is even more volatile for young women in developing countries where girls often don’t finish school and early marriage is common.

“Before I joined this group, I did not have any friends. I’ve got a lot of friends now – best friends,” said Yenealem Habtamu, a Grade 9 student.

It was a sentiment echoed many times over by the young runners.

“Friendships are a heartwarming thing, but it’s also a pretty good indicator that the program is working,” said Nolan.

Without a strong social support network, it can be hard for girls to speak out about problems.

“We want to provide peers, so that if there’s a situation they have friends they can go to, and not be isolated by themselves. It’s also a long-term gain when it comes to networks and opportunities,” she added.

The program is based on the idea of building up girls and women, not just for their own sake, but for the benefit of their families, communities and country.

“Before I didn’t get the chance to know about women’s potential. After I got into the program I realized that girls can do anything,” said Biruk Abraham, another sponsored athletic scholar.

It’s even convincing dads about the power of educating their daughters.

“I am not educated, and neither is her mother,” said Ersase Eligo, whose daughter Wubalem Ersase is in Girls Gotta Run. “I need my children to learn – for their success and also to help others.”

In the third year of the program, Girls Gotta Run involves the parents directly by running a savings group for mothers. Those workshops teach the basics of financial literacy and entrepreneurship.

Many families leverage this opportunity to develop their own small businesses – one mom expanded her basket-making endeavour and hired an employee. Another family opened a shop on their property.

This sort of investment can be the difference between maintaining the status quo and inspiring progress. One family was on the brink of pulling their daughter out of school when her athletic scholarship came through.

Girls Gotta Run is full of ripple effects. When girls are educated, they can share their knowledge with friends, younger siblings, and neighbours. When they’re empowered to become agents of change, they pay their opportunities forward to help others.

“I wish that she will finish her education,” said Mebzat Kuma when asked about her hopes for her 15-year-old daughter in the program.

“I wish for her the higher places. I hope that after she finishes she will help others.”

- Megan Stacey

Special Report: Megan Stacey from Ethiopia

Val Easton, a volunteer for Mothers with a Heart for Ethiopia, gives a high-five to a child in the Busajo program in Soddo, Ethiopia after doing a fun singalong with the kids. 

Val Easton and Shelley Green look through scarves made at the Former Women Fuel and Wood Carriers Association. That group offers alternative employment to women who used to work carrying massive loads of wood on their backs, up and down the hills of Addis Ababa.

Shelley Green hands out hand-knit teddy bears made by volunteers in Kitchener (and soon-to-be knitters in Ingersoll!). Mothers with a Heart for Ethiopia turned these stuffed animals, originally intended to be a comfort item for the children in the Busajo program, into a fundraiser called Bears for Busajo. Every single child that received a bear in Ethiopia was thrilled. 

Serkalem sews a washable, reusable, affordable pad at the WRAPS facility in Wolaitta Village. She's one of six women employed by the project, which helps to keep girls in school by providing them with safe and sanitary pads to use when they have their menstrual periods.

Mothers with a Heart for Ethiopia donated a WRAPS kit, including eight WRAPS (washable, reusable, affordable pads), a wet bag and a pair of underwear to all 55 students in the Girls Gotta Run program at Abba Pascal School for Girls. 

Originally appeared in the Woodstock-Sentinel Review on February 22, 2017.

You’ve got to come with your adventure pants. 

The fastest way to grow is to travel 12,000 kilometres to the other side of the world.

That’s certainly held true for me this week as I landed in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia with a team of volunteers from Mothers with a Heart for Ethiopia. The Woodstock non-profit funds sustainable development and empowerment projects, with the goal of helping women and children and furthering education.

Our small team of four – including a retired teacher, an accountant, a reporter and the organization’s founder – will be checking in on the six main projects supported by Mothers with a Heart for Ethiopia (MWAHFE).

Most of the funds that are donated to Ethiopia come from the organization’s annual flagship fundraiser, Gems & Java, which takes place in Woodstock and draws more than five hundred women from across Oxford County and surrounding communities.

MWAHFE has helped to enrich a number of projects in Ethiopia over the past five years, donating more than a quarter of a million dollars.

It’s clear that money is making a difference. But there is nothing like seeing the effect in person.

“Being in Ethiopia allows for an up close and personal connection to the work we do all year round to support women and children,” said MWAHFE founder Shelley Green.

The opportunity to see another part of the world, so different from our own, brings joy and sorrow in equal measure. It’s a fascinating blend of learning, inspiration and exposure to new ideas. Travelling also comes with inevitable challenges. For me, it’s an exercise in how to be comfortable being uncomfortable.

There is always something new to learn. And I feel so honoured and privileged to hear from those who benefit from the programs we fund. 

The trip is non-stop action, especially since I am writing stories and preparing content for our social media channels (if you want to follow along, head to woodstocksentinelreview.com or check out www.facebook.com/moms4ethiopia or search for Moms4Ethiopia on Instagram and Twitter).

The people we are meeting are inspiring beyond words. This fairly infrequent crier is now travelling with a stack of tissues for each interview. I was choked up immediately when we visited a rural health clinic to hear from women who've had surgery to correct a prolapsed uterus.

For many women in rural Ethiopia – often home-birth veterans who have had eight or 10 children at home – that operation is unaffordable and completely out of reach.

In the most severe cases of prolapse, the uterus can actually be hanging out of the body. It creates pain when the women walk, and gives them a terrible smell. They are shunned and ignored and left to hide away.

Mothers with a Heart for Ethiopia has funded 82 of these surgeries so far. Two of our team members even had a chance to see part of the procedure while in Soddo, Ethiopia. The surgery is, quite literally, giving these women new life. They’re able to reclaim their routines and their communities and live without constant fear and discomfort.

We were also lucky to spend time with five incredible young ladies whom we are sponsoring in a program called Girls Gotta Run. That project centres around running, a point of pride for Ethiopia, using sport as a vehicle to empower female students.

The program has been running for just three years at a girls school in Soddo, and it’s incredible the difference it has made in such a short time.

These athletic scholarships provides the girls with healthy meals, solidarity, friendship, and life skills – everything from family planning to hygiene to safe relationships.

Parents report a radical change in their daughters. They literally look different when they are filled up with food and love and fresh air.

It’s a life-changing program that gives these young women the ability to see their own potential.

“The challenges that these girls face are so daunting. They’re huge. They’re adult issues, and they ask a lot of these girls,” said Kayla Nolan, executive director of the Girls Gotta Run Foundation.

In just three short years the program has revolutionized many of these young runners’ lives, and those of their parents and siblings, who are “buying into” the program in a significant way.

Nolan said it’s humbling to work with these young ladies, already so much stronger than they’re given credit for.

Just around the corner is a transitional group home that offers support to another vulnerable sector of kids. Children living on the street can find a safe and secure home, an education, and the chance for a better future at Busajo. They only stay for a few years, because the goal is family reunification.

It’s abundantly clear that these kids have been through challenges most adults in Canada could never dream of. We were so happy to have the opportunity to bring an afternoon of fun and games to the kids at Busajo. You’ll hear more about that later this week. 

Marcella Montresor, one of the heads of the Busajo program, said it warms her heart to see the children who are committed to Busajo and its opportunities, particularly education.

“You have some hope that you can change their lives.”

Megan Stacey
mstacey@postmedia.com

Guest Post: Kyle Easton, From Ethiopia

Wubalem and her family

A reflection from Kyle after our team visited the Girls Gotta Run program... Enjoy! ❤️

"At the Abba Pascal girls school we met with 15-year-old Wubalem who is being sponsored by Mothers with a Heart for Ethiopia in the Girls Gotta Run program. That project is all about empowering young women to get a good education, build self-esteem, and reach her full potential.

Wubalem came with her father Ersase and little sister Tiblet, who is five. With the support of her father, who wants to see her avoid early marriage (which is very common in her culture), she has gained confidence through the program to succeed in school and follow her dreams of becoming an engineer.

It was amazing to see how important this program is to the family, as Wubalem in turn teaches her little sister what she learns. Ersase said he wants to see both his daughters, “find good places to go in life.”

The future development of Ethiopia depends on valuing education for both girls and boys, and this program is clearly a catalyst for reinforcing this movement."

-Kyle

(Find out more about Girls Gotta Run here.)

Guest Post: Val Easton, From Ethiopia

A guest post from Val Easton, a dedicated Mothers with a Heart for Ethiopia volunteer and a member of the team that travelled to Ethiopia for two weeks in February 2017. Enjoy her on-the-ground reflections from the first portion of the trip:

I could write and write and write. 

I came knowing that it would be very sad and frustrating to see this life, but I was not prepared for the love, the hope and the sense of belonging that I feel. It is a privilege to experience Ethiopia first hand. 

The boys at the group home are great kids, and their lives with Mulu are a joy to witness. I saw the beginning of a prolapsed uterus surgery and Dr. Mark included me during his consultations with women at a rural health clinic. I felt deeply for those women. This could be me but for an accident of birth. Their suffering is terrible. Their joy in the hope of surgery is uplifting. 

Every day is inspirational, and I mean that in a sincere and profound way. The people who lead the projects we support are the salt of the earth and I feel blessed to have met them. Allison and Inge and Meseret have created the WRAPS (washable, reusable, affordable pads) program. The WRAPS program takes six women from struggles we can only imagine and gives them a nurturing, safe place where they will learn a skill, have education at whatever level is appropriate, and bring home an income.

Every project we visit is far reaching in its impact and I am in awe of that! WRAPS is just one part of the Wolaitta Village Project. The flour made at the centre has the goodness of five+ grains and is sold to the community for a small price. An orphanage is being built in the compound which will house children in homes with a 'Mother' to resemble the life they have lost in their own homes. The setting is beautiful with large gardens and two ponds. Peaceful. Really, a piece of heaven compared to the streets of Soddo. 

In similar fashion, the Girls Gotta Run Foundation trains the girls as athletes but also teaches them health and hygiene, provides nutritious snacks, life skills and even financial programs for the parents. Kayla, the executive director of Girls Gotta Run, is amazing. I loved talking to her and watching her with the girls. It was fun to spend time with these fine girls. Heartwarming to sing and dance with them and a joy to laugh with them. 

And then there is Busajo. It is another special place of love and learning. The vision is wonderful: to get the children off the streets, love them, feed them, teach them, then reunite them with their families. Another haven, another group of selfless humanitarians. I was overwhelmed with emotions when I led the singing there. Some of the boys were 16 or 17, yet they sang and drew with us like much younger boys. And when they all accepted a knitted bear, I had to try hard not to break down. How can it be that boys that age would gladly accept a small teddy bear? I will never forget that moment. 

There have been images which slap you with their brutality: one of the tiny wood carrier women bent over double under the weight of a massive bundle of wood which stuck out about three feet on either side of her, a person in Addis sleeping on the side of the road on a roundabout - a grey and brown mass barely distinguishable from the tarmac of the road - and another body on the sidewalk, the crowd parting around it, a thin, deformed leg hanging out. 

However, these are not the images that will stay with me. The smiles of the two women we drove to the hospital for their surgery, the laughter of the boys at Busajo as they danced for us, and the singing of the girls in the Girls Gotta Run program will be carried home with me when I leave Ethiopia.  

Cheers,
Val

Surgical Success Stories - #82 & #83

It was a such a privilege for our team to drive these two women from Bucama to Soddo Christian Hospital for their surgeries. Dr. Mark writes, "It is been great having the team here for the past few days. Thank you for making such a great difference in these peoples lives. God bless you.

Shulale Kaba (right) was pregnant six times and has four living children. She has suffered from UVP for four years had a third-degree uterine prolapse before her surgery.

Alana Aba (below) had suffered from third degree uterine pelvic prolapse for five years. She has been pregnant seven times and has six living children. She also is very poor, having come to the hospital barefoot. 

We are so happy for these beautiful women! Their lives have been changed forever by these surgeries.