From Going to School on Empty Stomach to Having Enough to Eat

Millions of children start their school day without the most basic necessity: breakfast. In many rural areas of Ethiopia, students not only attend class on empty stomachs but also endure long walks, up to 30 minutes, just to reach their school. Imagine being one of those students, starting your day without the fuel your body and mind need to focus. Now, think of the impact if you experienced this challenge every day of an entire week.

The story of Tseganesh, a ninth-grade student, paints a vivid picture of this reality. Born into a low-income family, Tseganesh and her four older siblings walked an hour each day to and from school on an empty stomach. 

"I experienced the pain of hunger every single day,” she recalls. I went to school with an empty stomach, constantly feeling weak, battling stomachaches, and losing focus on what the teacher was saying. I couldn't even play with my friends during breaks because I didn’t have the energy. On the way home, the heat from the sun made the situation unbearable, and I often had to rest in the shade of a tree. Sometimes, when I got home, there was no lunch waiting for me. All I could do was wait for my parents to bring home some food for dinner.”

One day, on her way to school, Tseganesh experienced a terrifying incident that would stay with her forever. "As I was heading to school, the small river near our village was flooded. I tried to leap across, certain that I could make it. But my strength failed me, and I fell into the rushing water. The river water filled my mouth and nose as I struggled hard to save myself, and although I survived, I was sick for a few days after,” she recounts, her voice with both sorrow and regret.

Tseganesh lives in the Shashemene District, which sometimes faces food insecurity challenges. World Vision runs a food security and livelihoods project that helps families in this community improve their livelihoods. Her father, Gemeda, enrolled in a World Vision training program on vegetable farming. With access to better seeds and knowledge, he transformed their small garden into a source of nutritious food for the family. 

Thanks to Building Secure Livelihood Project funded by World Vision Hong Kong, World Vision supported over 830 households in this community, enabling them to grow nutritious food for their children. 

With these new skills, Gemeda transformed their family’s circumstances. “My dad is a hard-working farmer. He used to grow maise and teff (a staple grain in Ethiopia) only once a year using rain-fed agriculture. After the training, he began cultivating a variety of crops and even fetching water on the donkey's back. Now, he can produce three harvests yearly, and we have become self-sufficient. We have enough food to eat, and our family provides us with the school supplies we need. We are truly enjoying school now.”

Woinshet, Tseganesh’s mother, has also benefitted from World Vision's established village-level Savings Group. The couple has accessed loans from this Savings Group to start several small businesses. Woinshet runs a modest kiosk selling various goods while her husband leases land to grow a variety of crops. “I used to feel overwhelmed and stressed thinking about how to feed my children,” she shares. Today, thanks to the support of World Vision through the Savings Group, I was able to secure a loan to open my kiosk and generate enough income to meet my children’s needs for school, clothing, and more.”

Through the same project, we benefitted 4,323 people through savings, and they are supporting themselves and providing basic necessities for their children.

Tseganesh is grateful to World Vision for empowering her family and that of many other children in her community towards a healthier and more self-sufficient community. “World Vision has done an incredible job transforming our lives.”

By Aklilu Kassaye, Field Communication Manager, World Vision Ethiopia