Meet Senite Gida, age 26 and Alemeyu Memta, age 24

Working hard to raise livestock so that they can earn a living for their families back home in their village

Senite and Alemeyu come from the same village outside Awassa, Ethiopia, about 200km south of Addis Ababa. Both orphaned by AIDS, Senite and Alemeyu separately made their way to Awassa seeking opportunities to earn a living so that they could support their younger siblings back home - Senite is now responsible for providing for five younger brothers and sisters and Alemeyu is providing for three.

In early 2011, Senite and Alemeyu were identified by our local partner the Tilla Association of Positive Women and were selected to participate in CAP/AIDS's Safe Livelihoods Project. Over the course of the winter, they received training in small business management, including budgeting, bookkeeping, planning, the importance of savings and reinvestment and decision-making. Given that they knew each other from back home and already had a level of comfort and trust, Senite and Alemeyu decided to join forces and start a business together.

They were supported by our trainers and the team at Tilla in developing a solid business plan for their new enterprise breeding and fattening livestock for sale in the local market. They were then provided with 3,500 Birr each for a total of 7,000 Birr (about CDN $400) in start-up capital.  They used these funds to purchase a pregnant cow and two sheep (one male and one female) to get them started. They also put aside funds to cover rent for the first while in a fenced compound where they can both live and keep their animals.

Currently, Senite and Alemeyu own nine sheep in addition to their cow and have established a good practice of reinvesting some of the 700-900 Birr per month (approximately CND $55) in profits they earn selling the fattened sheep. They are also depositing some money each week in a rotating savings and credit group which has over 100 members in Awassa each of whom deposit 15 Birr per week. Once they have established themselves they plan to request a loan from the group in order to expand their business to begin breeding cows along with the sheep.

Senite and Alemeyu are well on their way to developing a sustainable source of income. They are, for the first time in a long time feeling positive about their future and proud of being able to support their families!