Automotive Garage giving hope to Children

A Staff Blog:

This morning was chilly, I must say. The thick clouds were hanging above me as I entered the compound of Green Light Automotive Center, located in Merkato, the largest open-air market in the entire Africa. I murmured to myself, “God, please no rain today. Today is an important day.”

KIA-KOICA Green Light Project: A Noble Beginning

As I entered the compound, I glanced at the huge, five-stories building in front of me. The building was not too massive compared to the neighbouring buildings. There are many rooms on each floor, and – in general – people would look at it and correctly assume that it used to be a campus or a college of some sort. Not in the very distant past, this is where hundreds of underprivileged youth from all over the city, even the country, would go every day for a couple of years to learn how to be mechanics. Truly qualified, employment-ready mechanics that is. The place used to be called the Green Light Vocational Technical Education Center, and, although the building may be mundane, it tells so many incredible stories.

“This place used to be a garbage dump, an open space within Merkato where homeless people lived,” said Worku, my beloved colleague who used to be the Project Manager of Green Light for some years. Sami, another colleague, added excitedly, “We were not able to get a proper permit for this place for two full years! It was a very complex beginning for the project, but look at it now.”

The compound and its content where we were standing was the result of a five-year ambitious project called the Green Light Project (GLP) that aimed to provide a better future for the underprivileged youth of the area who were often uneducated, extremely poor, and vulnerable. GLP was funded and supported by the people of Korea, through a partnership between KIA Motors, the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), and World Vision. It invested in the building of a state-of-the-art mechanic school, complete with its classrooms, locker rooms, high-quality equipment, and fully functioning car repair and maintenance garage.

I remember the first time I came to the compound. I was impressed to see the orderliness and cleanliness of the place that, honestly, we do not see often in this country. Automotive garages that I knew were messy and dirty, but this was not the case with this particular garage. It was obvious that we had something truly special here.

Fast forward five years after the conception of GLP and the many ups and downs we faced, the project was about to be closed. GLP managed to graduate more than 200 youths from its campus, and many of them found good mechanic jobs in large garages throughout the country. We could have patted ourselves on the back for a job well done, but around 2021 we decided that we actually could do more.

Green Light Automotive Center: Hope for a Sustainable Future

World Vision Ethiopia then proposed taking over the entire compound of GLP and turning it into an independent, income-generating business. Although we never had any experience running an automotive garage business before, we knew for a fact that car maintenance and repair services are highly needed by people in Ethiopia everywhere, at any time.

The law in Ethiopia also allowed that to happen, fortunately, so World Vision Ethiopia saw it as a big opportunity. Then, in early 2022, we started the journey of obtaining formal and legal licenses for World Vision to own an independent business, supported in transition by a very helpful fund provided by our very generous colleagues from World Vision Korea.

World Vision believes that investing today in independent income-generating activities within the country will bring a lasting legacy to its presence in Ethiopia. We can reduce our sole dependence on “outside” funding but can start seeing different opportunities within the country that will provide sustainable income for World Vision to continue serving the most vulnerable children and their families. Investing now in promising businesses like the automotive garage will bring hope for a sustainable future for the organisation.

Today we celebrated the opening of the Green Light Automotive Center, or what we shortly call GLAC, to the general public. A small group of people came to celebrate it with us, and my heart was full of pride for World Vision Ethiopia.

As of listening to my small prayer earlier on, the light rain stopped not long after the ceremony started, and a bright ray of sunshine penetrated through the thick cloud. I saw my other colleagues were all happy because we knew we were part of a history-in-the-making that day. What a beautiful story of transformation to our own beloved organisation.

By Sally Tirtadihardja, Communications and Marketing Director, World Vision Ethiopia

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Sally is the Communications and Marketing Director for World Vision Ethiopia, an Indonesian who lives with her husband in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's capital city. Ethiopia is Sally’s 8th post in 11 years with World Vision, and she is passionate about telling stories of transformations affecting the most vulnerable children she meets all over the world.