Ethiopia with ATF: ATF's Enrollment Process

Alleviating Poverty through Education

Providing those with the Greatest Need the Greatest Opportunity

Written by Cody Huisken

“Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.” –Proverbs 11:4

“The righteous care about justice for the poor.” –Proverbs 29:7

Not every student who wants to go to school at an Adams Thermal Academy (ATA) is granted their wish. ATA seek out a very specific student body, and are very intentional about the enrollment process. ATA desires to give students with the most need in the community a chance to get an education - something that they would not otherwise have due to their life circumstances. Yet, compared to most of the world’s standards, or at least the Western world’s standards, nearly every child in the community is considered impoverished. With tens-of-thousands of children in the area, how do the academies choose which few hundred get admitted?

Adams Thermal Foundation (ATF) is committed to finding the students who are the most vulnerable. To do that, we have partnered with the local government to help find these students. The smallest unit of the Ethiopian government is called the Kabela (pronounced: Ka-bel-ay). The Kabela is even smaller than city government or county work, and are in charge of small sections of land and people within the area. The purpose of the Kabela is to know the conditions of the people within their area. Conditions include: financials, health status, marital status, children, etc. The Kabela is extremely watchful in keeping an eye on the local demographic, which provides the larger government structures a detailed picture of what areas are struggling the most. The Kabela is a wonderful partner to have in the enrollment process because they know their people, and their people’s needs. They know who is in extreme poverty, who is an orphan, whose parents are living with AIDS, etc. The Kabela knows which children are the most vulnerable.

The first step in the enrollment process is finding the students. This happens in three ways: First, ATA will receive letters from a child’s family member or friend who believes the child is in a vulnerable position and would greatly benefit from attending the academy. Second, the Kabela will receive a letter of similar nature, either asking specifically for consideration for enrollment at ATA or asking for help in general. The third way requires no letter to ATA or the Kabela, but instead, the Kabela simply observes a family in need and makes a recommendation to ATA to follow-up with the family and investigate possible enrollment.

After the letters or recommendations are received, they are presented before an admissions committee. The committee is made up of a wide variety of people, with members representing the Kabela, others representing the Department of Education, the Department of Health, the ATF Headquarters, and local ATA staff and administration. The committee reviews the documents and turns them into formal applications, which detail the family’s situation. The application records how many living parents the child has, the child’s living condition, the child’s health status, the family’s health, how many meals per week is the child currently receiving, and the monthly income of the family. This gives the committee a general sense of which children have the most need out of all the applicants.

While the applications are being processed, the academy’s administration reviews their student attendance records, and assesses each grade level to determine if there is room for more students. Every year, at each ATA, there are forty students enrolled to the incoming Kindergarten class. The higher classes, however, do not receive many students at all. Occasionally, a student will leave the academy as a result of the family moving away from the area. This creates a vacancy in the classroom, permitting the admittance of a student who applied to transfer from a public school. Many times, these transfer students are a few years older than the classmates of the grade that they are entering. This is because these students often drop out of public school at an early age because they cannot afford the basic school supplies or uniform required for attendance. From a young age, they have to sacrifice school and help around the house, trying to raise a few extra cents for the family to put towards a simple meal. ATA has an acceleration program for students such as this. Being significantly older than your peers can have a negative morale effect on a student, which is why ATA’s acceleration program helps the student pass multiple grade levels in a single year so that the student may be in a grade where his peers are closer to his or her age. ATA has a similar service offered to those outside the academy’s walls as well. Once a month, teachers and staff will volunteer their time in various areas across the city, educating illiterate students and adults by teaching them how to read and do basic math. Simply equipping the community with the basics enables them to be more efficient in their lives, but also provides the necessary skills to continue their education by themselves if they so choose. Self-education is not possible if one cannot read at all. Simply providing basic reading skills opens up a whole new world to the illiterate community members.

After the applications are complete and the academy has assigned a number of students to be accepted into each grade, the committee physically visits each home of the potential applicants, starting with those whose applications expressed the greatest need. The home visits ensure that the perception given in the applications truly matches the reality of the child’s situation. The committee spends time with each family at their home and also interviews the neighboring community to verify that the family is being honest with their account of their home life. While sometimes there are a few minor changes from the application’s description, most often those changes are not a result of deception, but rather of a change in the family that happened in the months since the letter was first written. Changes such as the loss of a sibling or a parent becoming extremely ill. At each home, a new application is filled out, documenting the current reality of the situation.

After all the home visits are complete and information is updated and verified, the data is assessed and prioritized. Data is then analyzed and given weight. The following is a breakdown of the current point system used to evaluate the need of a student:

Full orphan (No parents)	50
Half orphan (single parent)	25
Living in poverty*	10
Guardian's health	10
Child's health	5

* Living in poverty is only weighted with 10 points because nearly all applicants live in poverty. Very few exceptions are made to that rule.

The weighted numbers are added up to match the child’s situation. For example, a healthy child who is an impoverished (10) orphan (50), living with their widowed grandmother, who is extremely ill herself (10), would receive a total weight number of 70. The data is then sorted by weight, with children having the largest total number at the top. ATA now has a prioritized list of students who are truly vulnerable, whose condition has been verified. ATA sends out acceptance letters to the children, starting at the top of the list, working their way down to as many students per grade as permitted.

In conclusion, ATF’s mission to serve the most vulnerable children is taken very seriously. Each child is vetted and truly does live in an extremely tough environment. ATF’s commitment is to not only provide the children with education, but also with lunch at the academy, school supplies, and a school uniform including shoes. This means a great deal to the families, who would not otherwise be able to feed their children more than just a few times per week, let alone provide clothes or educational material. ATF’s commitment to helping the poor is coupled with the passion to bring eternal life to the community. In this way, we are seeking justice for the poor with a desire to bring both physical and eternal life.

Ethiopia with ATF: Ayelech's Journey

Hope Despite Hardships

A Journey through the Life of an Ethiopian Woman

Written by Cody Huisken

“Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom He promised to those who love Him?” – James 1:5

In January, I was blessed with an opportunity to spend a month in Africa, volunteering my time for Adams Thermal Foundation (ATF) in Ethiopia. I spent my days working with leaders of schools, visiting entrepreneurship programs benefiting from microloans, and getting to know people within the communities impacted by ATF. The impacted people and the power of their testimonies will not soon be forgotten. While their stories are too numerous to tell them all, I would like to share with you the story of a family who has been blessed by ATF and their child sponsorship program.

Abreham is a ten-year-old student at Adams Thermal Academy in Hosanna, Ethiopia. I met him for the first time at the Academy, where he gladly jumped in the Land Rover and proceeded to give the driver turn-by-turn directions to his home. As the destination approached, the boy grew silent, giving his final direction without words by simply pointing his small finger in the direction of his humble home. We had arrived. Together, we exited the vehicle and entered the dwelling. Once inside, Abreham disappeared for a moment into a second room, which gave me a minute to keenly observe the makeup of the house. The home had two small, simple rooms. The walls were made of mud with branches acting as trusses supporting a roof of sheet metal. The house was dark and empty. A single lightbulb hung from the doorway connecting the two rooms, providing just enough light to observe a few pieces of furniture in the house: a small wooden bench, a few wooden stumps being used as chairs, and a 4x8 piece of plywood covered by a few blankets, which they call a bed. All the furniture rested on a dirt floor without carpet or rugs. Plumbing of any kind was nonexistent. Any water in the house was stored in jars of clay. As far as the waste facilities go, I believe that’s what the tree next to the house was for.

Abreham returned from the other room with his family in tow. He lives with his mother and three younger siblings, ages 8, 6, and 2. The mother introduced her children first: Alazar, her youngest, was not yet in school. Yosef, Marta, and Abreham were her three oldest, all attending the Adams Thermal Academy because of their sponsors. The children were in first, third, and fifth grade, respectively. After speaking about her children, the mother finally introduced herself: Ayelech Haydebo. Ayelech was a beautiful woman, likely only in her upper twenties. Her beauty came from her eyes, which she kept hidden as much as possible. However, the moments when she would glance up from the floor, it was evident that those eyes had seen much pain, yet the look of pain was coupled with a glimmer of hope and strength. As she finished introductions, I proceeded with my own, explaining who I was and what I was doing there. Then, I opened up the floor, inviting her to share her story.

My invitation was met with silence. I watched intensely as the mother's facial expressions attempted to hide the pain of her memories as she recalled the episodes of her past. Minutes passed. With each passing second her pain became increasingly evident, until finally, the silence was broken. Ayelech’s trembling voice was barely audible as she asked her children leave the room. Giving me a glimpse of her personal history was hard enough, but to do so with her children in earshot would have been unbearable.

As a young teenager, Ayelach had many responsibilities to her family. Helping her mother with cooking and laundry, assisting her father with the crops in the garden, and gathering water for her siblings all constituted normal chores for a child growing up in rural Ethiopia. It was a typical morning, tasked with gathering water from the mountain stream, located just over an hour’s walk away, when her life changed forever. As she was approaching the water, a group of men approached. Fearful, she released her canteens used for carrying water, and began to run from the men. Fleeing proved to be futile as the men followed and captured her, carrying her away. Ayelach’s head was spinning, dreading whatever the men had planned for her. What was their plan? Was she to be raped? Tortured? Sacrificed in a pagan worship ritual? Would she ever see her family again? Overwhelmed, she fainted.

Ayelach was awakened when the men had reached their destination: a remote village, nearly a day’s walk from her home town. A crowd was gathered in the public square for what appeared to be a wedding ceremony, although she wasn’t completely sure because the bridal party was not in sight. Soon after, all the questions running through her head disappeared because she knew the answer. It was a wedding ceremony outside, her wedding ceremony. Running away wasn’t an option; she’d already tried that. To resist or refuse was equally useless, as she would be overcome, punished, or worse. With no way out, and unimaginable consequences if she fought back, she was hopelessly trapped. Her only choice was survival, which meant surrendering and submitting herself to her husband, who she hadn’t even met yet. Only a few short hours after she had gotten her bridal clothes on, it was time to take them off for the stranger she now called her husband. When the deed was done and she thought the day was finally over, things got worse. Her husband forced himself on her once more, this time with a knife in his hand. Her husband proceeded to cut her vagina, leaving permanent cuts, damage, and pain to her genitals. This female genital mutilation was an act of power for her husband, controlling Ayelach through pain to ensure that she never slept with another man. She was at her husband’s mercy, who could force himself upon her at will, leaving her writhing in pain.

Ayelech was trapped inside her own life, which was now owned and controlled by her husband. There was no escape. If she divorced him, the community would disown her for dishonoring her husband. If she physically assaulted him, she would be found guilty in a court of law and her punishment would be worse than her current situation. If she fled to her parents, she would be returned. Her husband had sent well-respected elders of the community to pay a bridewealth, or bride price, to her parents. This payment validated the marriage in her family’s eyes, leaving her with only one choice: submission.

Not long after the wedding, Ayelech became pregnant and gave birth to her firstborn, Abreham. As her family began to grow in size, her husband made the choice to relocate to the city of Hosanna, where he became a general laborer. As her husband would pick up job contracts for the day, Ayelech would balance her motherly duties with an attempt to earn wages by cooking or cleaning laundry for anybody who would pay her. The work was enough for the growing family, even as Ayelech’s ability to work decreased as her family grew coupled with other circumstances. When Ayelech was pregnant with her fourth child, her husband got hired for the day as a construction laborer. While working on a ladder, her husband fell, severely injuring himself to the point of bedrest. Weeks of bedrest hurt the family’s financial situation, but the knockout blow came when her husband failed to get better and admitted himself to the hospital, where he died soon after. Within days of her husband’s death, Ayelech gave birth to her youngest child, Alazar.

Ayelech, left to raise four fatherless children, was broke. Hope seemed obscure as her husband still managed to place limitations on her as he infected her with the H.I.V. virus before he died. The virus puts Ayelech on bedrest for weeks at a time. Her symptoms include fever, chills, night sweats, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, chronic fatigue, rashes, breathing problems, and more. Ayelech continues to struggle to earn wages due to her physical incapacity coupled with the community avoiding HIV victims like Biblical lepers. Occasionally, she lands a job doing a neighbor’s laundry. Other times, a family will have compassion on her and donate loose change or a loaf of bread. When her symptoms are severe, weeks can pass before she is able to put food on the table for her family again. Her children survive because of their child sponsors and ATF. The sponsorship pays for her children to attend Adams Thermal Academy, which provides daily lunches to their students. Often, these are the only meals her older children will get. She continues to nourish her youngest child with breastmilk.

As Ayelech finished telling her story, there was another time of silence. I was speechless. How does one respond to such a devastating story? Then, I noticed her facial complexion change once more. Her face seemed to exude hope, as if the pain was no longer being suppressed and hidden, but rather was melting away before my very eyes. It was Ayelech who broke the silence, expressing her newfound joy. Having seen ATF’s Christian values, Ayelech has come to know Jesus Christ and has an active relationship with Him. When she reflects on her life, she recalls how, despite her hardships, God was there with her, keeping her alive. She often wondered what her purpose was in life. Now, Ayelech dedicates her energy to encouraging her children to grow in the faith and is at peace knowing that they have a bright future ahead. She praises God for His provision and holds tight to His promises, especially the promise of Jeremiah 29:11-13. She is eternally grateful not only for her own salvation, but that she can now rest knowing that her children have an everlasting Father guiding them who is far greater than any earthly father could ever be.

Unfortunately, Ayelech isn’t the only woman with a story of this sort. Female genital mutilation (FGM) and telefa, the practice of marriage through kidnapping, are both common practices in many rural areas across Africa. Efforts are being made to end these abusive practices, which are both currently illegal in Ethiopia. Thankfully, God is alive and active in our fallen and sinful world. He loves all His children, and has a special place in His heart for the poor and “the least of these.” ATF exists to be used by God, responding to His call to serve the poor and oppressed. ATF desires to be His hands and His feet, with a primary mission to bring glory to Jesus through actions and in truth. To Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, be the glory both now and forever! Amen!

Ethiopia with ATF: Alleviating Poverty through Entrepreneurship

Teach a Man to Fish

Empowering a Community through Entrepreneurship

Written by Cody Huisken

“If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need, but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech, but with actions and in truth.”

– 1 John 3:17-18.

Self-Help Groups exist to bring forth holistic change so that they are empowered economically, socially, spiritually, politically, etc. Self-Help Groups, or SHGs, are small groups of community members who work together to form an entrepreneurial team. While the SHG training focuses largely on economic empowerment through entrepreneurship, training also includes life skills. The goal is to bring about holistic change in more than just the financial realm as life training is provided in the areas of sanitation and hygiene, childcare and reproductive health, social development, spiritual growth, and more. SHGs are equipped with a well-rounded arsenal of tools to empower themselves to live a balanced, fulfilled life.

As last reported in 2014 by the World Bank, Ethiopia’s Gross Domestic Product per capita was $316 (USD). While the cost of goods (not including housing or labor) being roughly the same as it is stateside, the average person in Ethiopia makes less than $1 per day! This number is significantly lower in the regions where Adams Thermal Foundation (ATF) is operating. With ATF targeting the poorest of the poor, it is not uncommon for a family of five or six to be making $1 per month. Let it sink in for a moment: the families served at ATF make less money on an annual basis than an American teenager makes in two hours bagging groceries! There are multiple factors that contribute to this extreme economic poverty: disease, government corruption, the inability to acquire land, illiteracy, and a lack of profitable skills, just to name a few. While ATF has programs in place to alleviate all of those issues, some, like disease or government problems, are long-term efforts, which require partnerships with multiple organizations and/or the training and education of a new generation of leaders. While ATF has not abandoned those efforts, current efforts are being made to change the aspects in which measurable results can be achieved in the short-term or mid-term, aspects such as education and skill training. ATF believes that alleviating poverty cannot truly be achieved by dropping a pile of cash into an impoverished community. “Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime.” Sustainability is of utmost importance in changing a community. Sustainability is at the very core of ATF’s programs, integrated into every facet of the operation. This is especially true in ATF’s Self-Help Group program.

A SHG is comprised of 10-20 struggling community members. These community members are most often widowed women who lack the basic skills required to sufficiently earn enough income to provide for their family. ATF provides skills training to the women, teaching them to sow, weave, cook, or otherwise create a marketable product. The group also receives financial and business training on how to run a business, how much profit to keep, how much to reinvest, how much to save, etc. ATF then provides the group with a small loan of, on average, $200, which acts as seed money to get the SHG’s business up and running. The group uses the loan to act on the training they’ve received by making products and selling them to the community for profit. While the profit may seem miniscule, it truly has a great impact on the lives of the group members. A profit of just a few dollars per week significantly improves the quality of living for these members, who were previously making a few dollars per month, or less. The extra money is enough to pay rent on a mud hut, buy a uniform and basic supplies, so their children can attend school, put two or three meals on the table each day, or provide other essential needs.

While the business model varies slightly, as it is tailored to each individual SHG’s needs, the underlying concept remains the same. Each individual member of the SHG has their own small business, which they run independently. Many members were attempting entrepreneurship on their own prior to joining a SHG, but could not grow the business due to an inability to access a line of credit at a reasonable cost. Credit is unreasonably high in many areas, making it impossible for a small business to expand considering the gross profit doesn’t even cover daily meals for the family or housing costs. This is where the SHG comes in, operating similarly to a community bank. Once a week, the members forego their individual businesses and meet together as a group. All of the SHG’s business is transacted on this day, excluding selling the product. Products are made, loans are dispersed or repaid, and meetings are conducted. The profits from the SHG products go back to the SHG bank account, which either is paying off their initial start-up loan, or accumulating a savings fund. This bank account then provides a line of credit to each individual business at minimal interest rates. Individual members can apply for a small loan from the SHG account. The SHG group then reviews the application and issues the loan accordingly. As the SHG account moves from red to black and continues to grow, the individual businesses reap the benefits of having access to a larger line of credit, enabling them to expand their own businesses and better provide for their families. This model does not take families from rags to riches overnight, but is a sustainable model that will continue to run long after ATF’s involvement. ATF has an administrative staff to oversee the SHGs monitor the finances, help with business decisions, and have a system of accountability, but the goal of the program is to empower the members to be completely self-sustainable for decades and centuries to come.

Right now, there are 162 SHG members, comprising 11 Self-Help Groups. These numbers will inevitably grow as the community sees the positive impact the SHG program is implementing. While some of the members have a child or family member at an Adams Thermal Academy, the majority have no such tie. The project has connections to the Academy, but is a completely separate project, aimed at impacting a more extensive community demographic. The groups consist of a variety of faiths and beliefs, which provides a wonderful opportunity for the group leaders to share their faith and share Christ’s love to their friends and business partners. Despite the variations of faith, the groups work in harmony, having a common business goal, and working together to make quality products. The products made by these groups vary widely, from food products to clothing to small furniture. Currently, the products of both the SHGs and the individual businesses are being sold 100% locally. Because of the goal of sustainability, ATF believes that the local market is the best solution for long-term success. That said, efforts are being made to expand product sales to the U.S. without sacrificing the business model or flooding the business with massively fluctuating cash flow. International expansion would be a minimal part of the overall business operation, but would accomplish two things: 1) marginal growth and expansion, and 2) raising awareness and compassion for the project. It cannot be stressed enough that sustainability cannot be sacrificed in the effort to expand, so the process of implementing an international market is being evaluated slowly and carefully.

When asked about their future vision for the business and how ATF can come alongside them to assist them in achieving that vision, there were two common themes amongst the groups. First, every group asked for continued training in a variety of areas. They were interested in escalating their money management knowledge and learning more about how to make their everyday lives more efficient with life skills training. Every group requested more business training to learn new skills, equipping them to diversify their products, expand their business, and capture a larger market share. Secondly, SHGs were interested in collaborating with other SHGs with hopes of combining a portion of their capital so that they could have a permanent market space to sell their goods. Because the program is still relatively new, most products are sold out of a residence and not in a commercial market setting. The SHGs have aspirations to continue to grow individually, as a group, and as a program, all while hoping to gain enough momentum and capitol to be able to afford permanent commercial space at the local market. The project is still in the infancy stages and it isn’t financially feasible to do so in the current state, but the SHGs have demonstrated that they are maturing at a fast rate and having a permanent commercial space is attainable in the not-so-distant future.

These SHGs have a very good foundation, coupled with the production and financial skills to mature as a business and lift themselves out of poverty. They understand the value of SMART goals and put great effort into achieving their goals. The individual risk and rewards of each member having their own small business, coupled with the collectiveness of a group working together towards a common goal, provides stability and empowerment for a better future. As the program continues to demonstrate success and impact the community, there is little doubt that more struggling yet ambitious citizens of the community will have interest in joining or starting a group of their own. As the program expands, so does the ministry opportunity. Empowering the community with economic development is not the final goal. Bringing financial stability is the vehicle used to bring spiritual enrichment. SHG leaders are Christian witnesses, introducing the Gospel of Jesus Christ to those within their business world and showing Christ’s love not only “with words or speech, but in actions and in truth.” Amen.