How Meaningful Gifts Changed Sena’s Future
Published on
January 8, 2025 at 2:37:26 PM PST January 8, 2025 at 2:37:26 PM PSTth, January 8, 2025 at 2:37:26 PM PST
Can sheep bring hope in the face of poverty? Can clean water change an entire community’s health? Sena, a young girl from Sasiga, Ethiopia, will tell you, yes!
When Sena was just an infant, her parents felt helpless. They had a long walk to fetch water from a river whose contaminated water caused diseases. Poor hygiene hindered their health while food insecurity made them weak from hunger. Feelings of isolation drained their motivation for change.
Poverty had crept into all corners of their life.
“[We were] on the verge of losing hope,” Sutuma and Senaye, Sena’s parents, share.
When Sena’s family decided to participate in FH Ethiopia programs in 2017, they learned better hygiene practices, improved agricultural methods, and received livelihoods training. They enrolled Sena in the FH child sponsorship program, connecting her with a Canadian family across the world. Sena’s family also received sheep thanks to generous Gift Guide donors, providing them with milk, meat, manure, offspring, and an income!
Sena’s parents learned to tend to their new sheep and use them to earn an income. Empowered with new livelihoods and savings practices, they began to transform their lives.
When local leaders worked with FH to bring clean water to their rural community of Nano Sanbata Dure through wells and capped springs, they no longer had to walk kilometers to collect water. FH Ethiopia, in partnership with donors, helped build a hand-dug well close to Sena’s home which flows with safe, clean drinking water. Once, their community had suffered from poor sanitation and disease, but today, they have nearby, easy access to life-saving clean water.
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“The change restored the family’s hope and created courage among community members,” FH Ethiopia staff observed.
In fact, the whole community was transformed! Land is now more productive thanks to improved agricultural techniques, families’ incomes are rising from livelihood trainings, and children are eating more fresh food!
Today, Sena’s family is thriving and they plan to use their sheep to purchase a dairy cow to provide milk for the family.
What does all this mean for little Sena?
Today, she’s in Grade 3! Both Sena and her younger sister, Derartu, attend school not too far from home. Their garden is producing even more food and is flourishing thanks to the fertilizer from their sheep’s manure. The whole family now eats nutritious food from their land and they sell the additional crops at a nearby market, boosting their income!
The two girls are growing strong, thanks to invested local leaders who worked hard to improve their community, committed parents who implemented training, a generous child sponsor, and a Wooly Sheep.
Sena now has a strong, vibrant place to grow up and a bright future ahead.