An Ethiopian graduation service
More than 15 years ago a Lancashire couple were on holiday touring Canada when they heard about World Vision’s work on a local radio station. Inspired by the programme, they became sponsors of Woineshet, a seven-year-old girl growing up in World Vision's rural Adjibar Area Development Programme in Ethiopia. It turned out to be a life changing decision for everyone involved.
By Claire Bardell, World Vision UK Field Resources Coordinator, and Kebede Gizachew, World Vision Ethiopia Communications Officer
The graduation hall fills with 1,000 gowned students, mortar boards on heads, waiting to receive the degrees that they have worked so long and hard to achieve. The hall is hot and packed with students, while friends and family wait patiently outside for their loved ones to emerge, degree in hand. But one girl has no family outside. The daughter of working farmers, Woineshet cannot expect her parents to make the three-day journey through Ethiopia to attend her graduation.
Woineshet grew up on a farm in the catchment of World Vision's rural Adjibar Area Development Programme. The fourth child of three sisters and three brothers, Woineshet and her family all lived in a smoke-filled, one-room hut, until she was seven years old. Often the farm animals would shelter with the family as well. But soon, the family's path shifted, as more travellers joined their party.
Maureen and Dudley Thomas from Lancashire were on holiday in Canada when they first heard about World Vision's work on the radio. Inspired by the programme, they decided to sponsor a child and chose Ethiopia as the country that they wanted to support. Maureen remembers the first time they saw Woineshet, "When we looked at the photo of a very tiny girl from Ethiopia, we cried." Over the past 15 years, this decision has had a profound effect on the couple, and on Woineshet’s family in East Africa.
"The first time we visited stands out as an introduction to the family's whole story," Maureen recalls. "There was a big connection with the family right from the word go. Woinshet's father has a lovely sense of humour."
That first trip laid the foundations for a partnership that has lasted most of Woinshet’s lifetime. World Vision had already started working with the community at the time and as Maureen returns to that day, she reminisces, "They were so thrilled to show us the waterhole that was put in by World Vision."
However, there was still work to do. Woineshet explains a little of what life was like back when the Thomas’ first visited. "The first time they visited me, I was in Year Three. They saw me while I was learning in class, sat on a stone." In the years that have passed Maureen and husband Dudley have continued to correspond with Woineshet and her family through the child sponsorship programme. It is clear that sponsorship means something far deeper to Dudley than a monthly Direct Debit. "We have full confidence in World Vision's child sponsorship work. We know that the resources will go to change the lives of children, their families and the community."
During a decade and a half of sponsorship, the couple have seen huge changes. Woineshet's family home is now a two storey house, and their old hut has been relegated to cooking and storage. "We've seen a lot of progress in the roads and farming, and the school now has proper desks," Maureen explains. In that tiny mountain school, Woineshet worked hard at her studies. She says that inspiration came from her sponsors, "Mr Thomas encouraged me to work hard on my education and listen to my parents' advice, citing his own life as an example."
However, Dudley believes that Woineshet's success is down to her own determination, "We are really proud of Woineshet's achievements. We know that life is difficult in her area and she worked hard in her education to achieve this success. She also worked very hard at home, fetching water and walking a long way to school." Maureen adds, "It just goes to show what can be achieved when someone is given a chance."
Sponsorship gave Woineshet that chance. Her father, Abebe, admits, "Had it not been for the generosity of her sponsors we wouldn't have educated our children. We didn't have the financial and material capacity to do these things."
Woineshet's mother, Altaye, explains that despite their difficult circumstances, she hoped for a better future for her children. "Woineshet graduated from university and Etaferahu [Woineshet's younger sister] is following in her footsteps. Thanks to World Vision's sponsorship programme my dreams have come true."
So although her parents cannot make the trip, thanks to her extended family across the globe Woineshet is not alone on Graduation Day. Today she has taken her parents' support, her sponsors' good advice and her own hard work, and turned them into a BA in Accounting. Along with 1,000 students crowded in the hall stand Maureen and Dudley from Lancashire, proudly supporting that little girl from the farm in Adjibar, as she stands to receive her degree.
For Maureen and Dudley it was a once in a lifetime honour, "It was such a wonderful, happy celebration. Absolutely wonderful."
But as she reaches this milestone and looks ahead to the next step of her journey, Woineshet has the last word, "I'm grateful for the invaluable kindness and noble deeds of Mr and Mrs Thomas. They are the causes of all the changes in my life and I wish them long life."
