The safe home gives me relief to focus on my education!
Etagegn Tamre is one of the girls living in the Denba safe house in the Siyadebirna Wayu district. She is 18 years old and has been receiving support from Hiwot Ethiopia for three years. She was born and raised in a village called Chefe Amba Geregenib, which is 12 km from the center of Deneba where the secondary school is located. Her father unfortunately passed away, and since she has two sisters, her mother had no capacity to afford the costs of their education. This situation made it difficult for her to continue her education. She stayed in Chefe until she was in 6th grade, at which point her mother started pressuring her to get married. Her mother even forced her to sign an engagement; however, Etagen told her uncle about the engagement and he took her to Deneba. She stayed with her uncle until 9th grade, but this got too expensive. While she was in this situation, she was informed by SRH discussants of Hiwot Ethiopia that the organization has been helping girls like her. She then forwarded her case to the safe home committee and was accepted to join the safe home in 2013 to attend grade 10.
She expressed that living in safe house has given her considerably more time to study in a quiet environment, and that the reference books available in the safe home library contributed a lot to her educational achievements. The monthly financial support enabled her to afford school fees, and basic needs like food and clothing. Furthermore, she expressed that the trainings from Hiwot Ethiopia have been very useful. The basic life skills training made her know more about herself and has taught her to be confident. The SRH trainings have helped her understand reproductive issues and how to protect herself from sexual violence. The sanitary pad training has taught her how to make her own pads and she uses them herself. In addition, she has learned good habits from living with the other girls and sharing experiences at the safe house. She stated that, “Without Hiwot Ethiopia’s support, I would not have been able to attend TVET.” She is now a proud graduate of surveying level three from TVET College.