Where the Paved Roads End

By Claire W. Gallagher, Vice President, Development & Communications

Earlier this month, I had the chance to visit our programs in Ethiopia for the first time. It was an amazing opportunity to meet the young people who are being supported by your generous donations. We drove for miles on unpaved roads full of people, donkeys, monkeys and animals I’d never seen before. We broke bread (injera) with families in remote villages. We ate with the girls in our programs around a firepit. I am back full of joy and hope for what I have seen.

A Chance In Life has been providing education and positive youth development programming through local partners in Ethiopia since 2015, and our team was fortunate not only to meet with several of those partners during our visit, but also to spend time with students who have participated in the programs.

Upon our arrival in Addis Ababa, we were joined by one such graduate. Betty was a member of our first class of sponsored students at St. Anthony’s High School in Emdibir, where girls lived several hours by foot from their high school. A Chance In Life provided local communal housing for Betty and her peers to ensure they were always able to attend school, as well as have access to clean water and electricity via their sponsored housing. Betty has gone on to complete university and now pursue her Master’s degree in Math at the University of Calabria in Italy. Her younger sister, Eden, also graduated from St. Anthony’s High School and is now a participant in another program with A Chance In Life, receiving financial support to pursue her university degree in tourism management. We were honored to be invited to share in the traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony with Betty and Eden at their family’s home.

During our time in Ethiopia, we had the opportunity to visit our partner programs in Emdibir. Currently, A Chance In Life partners with the Eparchy, or local Catholic diocese, to provide housing to 100 high school girls attending St. Anthony’s High School. As with Betty and Eden, many of the girls would otherwise endure a walk of 10 or 15 kilometers or more to travel to the school each day – a distance that would take several hours. What’s more, the hostel’s generator ensures that residents are connected to electricity, potable water, and internet at all times – resources that are often not widely accessible in rural Ethiopia, as we experienced for several days during our stay. Perhaps most importantly, residents participate in a “youth parliament” through which they identify and address challenges and develop confidence and collaborative skills – essential components of the “positive youth development” philosophy of all A Chance In Life programs. A similar residential program is also offered to 55 students of the local vocational school. Students study subjects including IT, accounting, textiles, and metal work, which promotes job opportunities and improves economic outcomes, particularly among young women, in the community.

Back in Addis Ababa, we also met with our partner at Friendship for Integrated Development Association (FIDA), which serves more than 300 children and their mothers in and around the city. The vast majority of children served by FIDA are orphans and vulnerable children. Particularly in recent years, internal conflict within Ethiopia has led to significant migration to Addis. Organizations like FIDA are providing invaluable services to unaccompanied minors with limited financial resources and no family support. In addition to providing access to education, A Chance In Life’s partnership with FIDA ensures that these young people also have access to healthcare, clean water, sanitation and nutritious food. For children of single mothers, the impact of school enrollment on addressing endemic poverty is two-fold. Enrollment improves the children‘s academic and economic outcomes and also enables mothers to seek employment opportunities.

In the 77 years since our organization’s founding, our programs have evolved and adapted to meet the ever-changing needs of at-risk young people around the world. I am so proud to see how A Chance In Life is continuing to fulfill our founder’s vision, bringing a chance in life – through education, economic opportunity, nutrition, healthcare, and so much more – to vulnerable children around the world. Thank you for supporting us in our work.

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Where the Paved Roads End

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