Activities
Women Matter
01
Solar Energy Access for Women
We utilize solar energy as a powerful tool for empowering rural African women in business. By offering solar energy products either free of charge or at highly subsidized rates, we target areas with limited or no access to reliable electricity, helping women launch and sustain income-generating activities.
Solar Access
Development
02
Economic Empowerment
We support rural women in achieving economic independence by creating opportunities that enable them to shape their futures on their own terms. Our programs are designed to build confidence, foster entrepreneurship, and provide long-term support for financial stability.
03
Support for Children’s Education and Health
Recognizing that African women's livelihoods are closely connected to their children’s well-being, we provide access to education, healthcare, and training opportunities for their children—especially daughters. This approach ensures the long-term sustainability of economic empowerment through intergenerational impact.
Education
04
The Kumame Kindergarden Project
The Afar region is one of the poorest regions in Ethiopia. The vast majority are pastoralists or agro-pastoralists with domestic animals forming almost their entire livelihoods. Conditions are harsh and people are moving from place to place during the dry season in search of food and water for their livestock herds. A 2024 nutrition screening conducted in hard-to-reach areas and various districts reached 40,000 children. Of these, 4.3 and 42 per cent were identified with severe and moderate acute malnutrition respectively. Education is also severely underfunded with the regional government struggling to develop its education sector.
Read More
The focus here is on Kumame town in Kumame woreda. Kumame is located in the southwest of the Afar region in zone 5, 170 km north of Awash and 300 km southwest of Semera and about 60 km west off the main asphalt road. The Kumame Kindergarden project was originally developed by the Muluwengel Christian Church 5 years ago, providing education services for young children aged 5-7 years old. The project consists of a large compound with four class rooms, an office and sanitary facilities. However, the project is now closed with no alternative funding secured. The Kumame Woreda Education Office took over the management after the project closure but being itself starved of funding the woreda education office has been struggling to maintain the buildings and provide educational resources for the students. In fact, it currently can only manage to pay teachers’ salaries. Our partner, GoDesign, caters for disabled children up to Grade 8 in its nearby Hope Centre. Godesign has been supporting the woreda administration with some construction work and advice on the buildings. Nevertheless, the 200 Kindergarden children are left without any learning material as no one has been able to raise funds for this purpose.
Problem Statement
The Kumame community consist of about 80% pastoralists who migrate to greener pastures during the dry season. However, they recognize that education for their children is important in these modern times in a modern Ethiopia and therefore leave their young children behind with a parent or trusted family member to receive an education. The young children are aged between 5 and 7 years across KG grades 1-3. Unfortunately, the woreda administration does not receive budget support from the region and has only resources for teachers’ salaries. The parents are low income and rely almost entirely on the animals and their products and can therefore be largely classed as subsistence. They cannot afford any expenditure outside living expenses including educational materials. This leaves the children without even simple learning resources such as exercise books or pencils.
To solve the problem takes only a little effort by raising USD 410 or 57,200 birr. Below is a cost breakdown of the school materials needed:
| No. | Item | Unit cost (ETB) | Qty | Total cost (ETB) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Exercise books | 50 | 200 x 5 each | 50,000 |
| 2 | Pencils | 8 | 200 | 1,600 |
| 3 | Eraser | 20 | 200 | 4,000 |
| 4 | Sharpener | 8 | 200 | 1,600 |
| Grand Total | 57,200 | |||
