Siti is 25 years old and a mother of three in Kore, Ethiopia. Kore is a town that sits atop a garbage dump, just outside of Addis Ababa. Growing up, she did not have access to learning basic literacy. This kept her from having many employable skills and Siti had trouble securing a formal job. To provide as much as possible for her family, she washed laundry by hand for others. Even still, the income from both Siti and her husband wasn’t enough for the family to make ends meet.
Two years ago, Siti joined I Pour Life. IPL Ethiopia provided economic empowerment training and one-time seed money for her to start a small business.
Siti started a business of selling plastic handbags to different shops in Addis Ababa. She was encouraged by the flow of the income which motivated her to work more and save! She was then able to support her family and meet the needs of her children.
Siti also became a member of the SACCA (Savings and Credit Cooperation Association) and was able to begin saving money for her future.
I Pour Life followed Siti’s work and savings for a year. Over that time, her business progressed and savings improved. Siti surpassed expectation and earned extra seed money to advance her business (Birr 4000 = $ 80 ). Siti increased sales of hand bags to her customers. She wants to pass a thank you message to all the contributors in Springfield, MO. $80 is not a small amount. It is changing the livelihood of an entire family!
