At forty-one, Bekelech spends her mornings selling vegetables at the Nekemte market and her evenings in a classroom learning numeracy and bookkeeping.
Like many women in her community, she had to leave school early to support her household. For twenty years, she relied on others to balance accounts and check invoices.
The community learning center, designed with flexible evening hours to accommodate working adults, opened up a second chance.
“Now I check the receipts myself. I know exactly what my stall earned each day.”
Over sixty adult learners attend the evening classes four days a week.
Graduates often move on to apply for small-enterprise starter grants through our livelihoods programme.