Gebrekiros Kelelum
Gebrekiros and his family used to go hungry but with your support, they were given a dairy cow and seedlings. Now they have milk to drink and vegetables and fruit to eat.
They live in the village of Mesanu in the Tigray region of Ethiopia. Most people in Gebrekiros’ village depend on agriculture but in the dry, rocky, mountains of Tigray, growing enough to eat can be a struggle.
Levels of hunger in Ethiopia are among the worst in the world and over the last few years, the situation has become even worse. Less and less rain has fallen making it even harder for families like Gebrekiros’ to scrape together a living.
To make matters worse, the global food crisis has pushed up the price of many basic foods, making them too expensive for many families. Before receiving help from SCIAF, Gebrekiros and his family were eating just one small meal a day and were so hungry, they struggled to sleep at night.
SCIAF gave Gebrekiros a dairy cow and a selection of seedlings. Now he and his family have fresh milk and a variety of fruit and vegetables. SCIAF also helped to set up a dairy cooperative in his community so that villagers could work together to secure an income.
Gebrekiros brings his milk to the village dairy each day. Some of the milk is sold to other families; the rest is made into yoghurt and butter which is also sold at the dairy shop. There is even a dairy café where villagers come to share milky drinks and chat with their friends.
Each month, Gebrekiros receives money from the dairy, after they have calculated how much of his milk they have used. He now earns enough to feed his family two to three meals a day and send his children to school. His cow has given birth to a calf and he will soon have even more milk to sell.
He said: “We are 100% healthier than before. We used to worry about what we would eat from day to day. We couldn’t sleep because of the lack of food. Now we have fruit and vegetables and milk. My hope for the future is to live peacefully and to always have a full stomach.”
What are you giving up?