Fatuma Bilal (name changed) was born in the countryside of Ethiopia. She was born into a low-income earning family who led their life as a farmer. The people in her birthplace were suffering from the yoke of poverty for having limited or no resources. They strived to fulfill their daily needs by struggling with the harsh climate conditions. The area is known for being one of the hottest areas in Ethiopia.
The area receives seasonal rainfall. Likewise, the land is not suitable for the cultivation and harvest of crops at the desired level. Thus, Fatuma’s family was compelled to lead life through their lower income generated from their farming. They spared nothing for tomorrow. Their home is far from Woreda’s town. They traveled weekly for more than three hours on foot to sell and buy goods at their Woreda’s town market.
Following this, most of the community members were compelled to leave their homeland in search of a better life in the urban and other areas of the country as well as abroad. The youth and women are highly exposed to this scenario. The youths choose to travel to the urban areas instead of engaging in their parent’s occupations due to lower productivity.
They believed that practicing farming in a rural village that does not have access to essential infrastructures might not support them to lead a quality life. There is no better road connectivity, electricity, clean water supply, and healthcare access. Telecom services are also lagging in the rural areas, the youths complained.
It seems that Fatuma’s rural Kebele is far behind from the latest technologies. She does not have access to information to know what is going on in the surrounding areas and beyond. As to her, though there is a primary school, it is not well furnished and lacks basic facilities. Lack of educational inputs, competent teachers, poor teaching-learning system, and other challenges obstructed the dream of the area’s students not to outshine in their education. Moreover, the longest way from her living area to the secondary school in Woreda’s town hinders most of the students from finalizing their secondary education.
After completing her primary education, Fatuma moved to Woreda’s town to pursue her secondary education. Though she has a dream of reaching far she could not succeed in her secondary education easily. Traveling six hours daily (backward and forward) challenged hard to actively attend her education.
Then, she decided to quit her education and illegally migrate overseas. While coming to the capital, she was asked to pay more money to brokers to ensure her travel, which aborted her dream of travelling abroad thus improving her life. Finally, she decided to be employed as a housemaid. Working as a housemaid was easier for her to accomplish her education. There is better access to education in Addis Ababa than in the rural side of the country. Although she is a hard worker, most of her employers were making her busy almost for 24/7 hours.
“Some of my employers did not only expect me to serve them and take care of their toddlers; they were also not happy when I went to school. They thought that I might leave their home if I succeeded in my education. Therefore, I always strive to satisfy my employers by engaging myself with daily chores. Owing to this, I could not manage my education. I did not have time for studying and doing my homework. Finally, I decided to stop working as a housemaid and to travel abroad,” she recalled.
Unfortunately, Fatuma lost all her money to find the right broker and travel abroad. Then, she tried to cross via the Red Sea and find a better destination though this one also remained hard to easily cross the sea, she indicated. Therefore, she returned to her former dwelling and talked to a broker to find other temporary jobs. The broker told her to serve at a bar. She was not satisfied with the new job and remained hopeless with her income. After discussing her problems with a coworker, she decided to engage in commercial sex work.
Despite all the challenges to succeed in life in the homeland, the youths should never prefer illegal migration overseas. Migrating to urban areas and abroad has become the daily dream of most of the youths in the countryside. The major reason for their illegal migration abroad highly relates to lack of job opportunities in their localities, she stated.
Fatuma Bilal never fears narrating her story. She voluntarily serves at the Family Guidance Association of Ethiopia (FGAE) Central Area Office located in Adama town. She and her friends strive to teach and help other women to protect themselves from HIV/AIDS and other Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs). Though she has confronted the dark side of life, her face is still bright. She never loses hope; rather she manages to forget the past, strives to improve her future and strongly believes that everything is possible.
The Association offered various psycho-social, material, and other supports to her. She attends various short and long training with the core facilitation of the Association. She dreams of opening a cultural coffee serving in her current resident town. However, she is still looking for more psycho-social and financial support. Concerned bodies, such as the children and women affairs office, should fulfill its task of keeping the safety of society by providing closer support, she said.
“The society should understand the worsening situation of our life and create an enabling environment for the upcoming generation,” she added. FGAE Central Area Office Adama Model Clinic Medical Doctor and Trainer Wasihun Reda said that the association has been providing successive Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) services for the past 50-plus years countrywide.
As to him, the activity requires successive advocacy works and collaboration among pertinent stakeholders to ensure societal health. “Societal health should be the top priority of governments to realize sustainable development,” he said. Different countries have their national population policy. Currently, countries are widely working on family planning and addressing SRH problems through expanding service provision at the doorsteps of the community.
According to him, based on the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) SRH Rights are more linked to 12 human rights. Of these, access to the latest healthcare technologies is also listed among human rights. However, some countries failed to realize this right due to financial and well-trained health professionals’ constraints.
Thus, reducing the cost of healthcare and maintaining societal health through utilizing the latest treatment technologies should be the priority of the government, he emphasized. FGAE Program Director Adinew Hussien said that the association has been providing its unreserved SRH support to the youths and women to lead better life since its establishment in 1966.
As to him, the Association has built trust among the public through its effective service delivery. Easing the life of youths and women, maintaining reliable partnerships with the government and other stakeholders, as well as working with the motto of ‘leave no one behind ‘are the noble roles of the association. Currently, the association provides its services through mobilizing its 23,000 plus volunteers and helps improve the life of disadvantaged communities across the country, it was learned.
BY TEWODROS KASSA
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD SATURDAY 29 JULY 2023
