Saving Changes Life: Alemitu Bekele

“My name is Alemitu Bekele. I’m 32 years old. I am a mother of four children, three daughters and son. I live in 01 kebele of Chancho town.
My life in the past had not been interesting to listen to, but I will share it with you if you want me to do so. I used to live in Shakiso town in Southern Oromiya with my children and husband who was a merchant. Unfortunately, my husband becomes sick and I was focused to spend all the money we had for his treatment and in vain. He died after a longtime illness. When later I too become sick, I was unable to feed my children, they dropped out of school so, in despair, I came back to Chancho town where I was born.

After I came back to Chancho, I tried to make ends meet by washing clothes and making Injera for people going from house to house. But it was not possible for me to continue doing that as my own health was deteriorating from time to time. After a medical examination, I was told that I am HIV positive. To make matter worse, there was nothing to eat in my house. I was sleepless and my skin was wounding everywhere. Some good neighbors sometimes brought us some food to eat, which I couldn’t eat even due to my illness. We all slept on the floor. My children were too young to work…the problem seemed endless.
It was at this time that my daughter, Adolawork Tamirat, then she was 11 years old and now 15 selected to benefit from ISAPSO’s CFTC project in 2008.The project enabled my daughter to continue her school. She got support, which included food and educational materials.