W/ro Jemanesh is now 38 years old. She has a daughter and a son, who are in Grades 3 and 10, respectively. Jemanesh lives in Addis Ababa, Akaki Kality subcity, Woreda 7.

When she was old enough to marry, Jemanesh got married and was soon pregnant. Unfortunately, her husband left her when he found out that she was pregnant. Her fate was to raise her child as a single parent.

Some years later, Jemanesh got pregnant to her second child. Once again, her husband left her after she gave birth to her daughter. Life became difficult for her as she had to earn a living working as a daily laborer. Luckily, she came across FSCE AK APO with the help of the Woreda and Women’s, Children’s and Youth Affairs Office. Then, FSCE provided her with 2,000.00 (two thousand Birr) as a start-up capital.

Then, Jemanesh started a new life. She bought 25kg of flour and started baking bread and with the remaining amount provided, she bought all the necessary educational materials for her children. She became successful and her income grew.

Her life has changed. She was able to send her children to school fulfilling the necessary educational materials. Her son is now promoted to Grade 10; he even ranked 5th in his class. Her daughter is promoted to Grade 3 and she is also doing very well at shcool. Jemanesh’s home is more complete now than ever before. No one in the family has to miss any meals of the day now. She has bought a comfortable sofa, a TV, and a DVD player. She has constructed one more bedroom for her son, who is now becoming of age. Jemanesh has also opened a savings account at Dashen Bank and has already saved 1,200.00 (one thousand two hundred Birr). She has a weekly savings, too.

Overall, now Jemanesh is fully confident to speak about the change in her life. She also has a big dream of opening her own bakery. Currently, her capital has reached more than 10,000 Birr.