PfC wants to contribute to young girls and women in Ethiopia to be given the opportunity to education, life skills training and to be included in the formal working life.
Together with our partner Siiqqee Women’s Development Association, which has received land from the authorities, we are building a new girls’ center in Sebeta. At the center, vulnerable girls will have access to a safe and social place where they can receive life skills courses, do homework, have access to a library and internet, café and dormitory. The center also has a mentoring program where the girls are being motivated for higher education and to hold leadership positions in the society. Participants in the program are girls who otherwise would not have had the opportunity to complete schooling.
The building will also contain a small shop where the girls can sell products they make. The center will help ensure girls’ schooling and make them more resilient to the many problems poor girls in Ethiopia face, which often causes them to drop out of school. Thanks to funding from Erna and Knut Engs Barnefond, PfC is able to finance the construction, and our partner Architects Without Borders has designed the building based on the needs expressed from the girls. Despite the corona, and the restrictions on how many workers can stay on the construction site at the same time, the construction of the new girls’ center is now well underway. PfC recently visited Sebeta and was able to state that construction was progressing according to plan.
The center is scheduled for completion by the Ethiopian New Year (September) 2021.
Siiqqee is the name of a traditional and symbolic cane used by women to make decisions and have peace talks in their communities. The stick symbolizes power and authority for women.
