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From Sponsorship to Entrepreneurship!

Tadesse Haile tells the story of one former sponsored child who has used his success to give back to the community where he grew up.

Yohannes Getachew is a 30 year old young man who lives in Addis Ababa Ketema neighborhood of Kebele 05 in Addis Ababa city. Yohannes lost his mother when he was three and his father at 11. He was raised by his aunt and uncle. He was recruited for the Life Church sponsorship support program by the former IHA UDP program officers for his outstanding academic achievement while in Grade 1 of his primary school years.  

The sponsorship support for Yohannes continued until his college years. He has graduated from the Addis Ababa University Building College in Urban and Regional Planning and Design in August 2019. 

He has started his career with employment in the Sub City office of the Addis Ababa city administration. Yohannes was satisfied neither with the salary nor the duties and responsibilities assigned to him. So he started his first side business with a video rental and play station shop. He resigned from his employment after seven months and moved into his second business of bread distribution. He has stayed in this business for three years and moved into printing and advertising. Yohannes has a very strong entrepreneurial motive that stimulates him for a higher goal.

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Annual report 2023

Like all charities, we are required to submit our annual report and accounts to the Charity Commission each year.  Our report and accounts for the year up to 31 March 2023 have been accepted and published on the Charity Commission’s website, and you can read them for yourself here:

https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/charity-search/-/charity-details/5117651/

(Click the link above, then choose ‘Accounts and annual returns’ from the list on the left).

At the time of reporting, the total number of children being sponsored through Tesfa was 162 (down 2 from the previous year) along with 20 elderly (up 2 from the previous year). Sponsorship funds of £30,319 and additional gifts of £7,654 were sent to our 2 partners in Addis Ababa, supporting their work as follows:

  • CBISDO (Community Based Integrated Sustainable Development Organisation) – at the time of reporting, 135 children and 16 elderly people were being sponsored by our supporters
  • AHISDO (Addis Hiwot Integrated Sustainable Development Organisation) – at the time of reporting, 27 children and 4 elderly people were being sponsored by our supporters. Please see their website for more details and an overview of what they provide for the community they serve http://ahisdoethiopia.org/
  • The extra monies include £450 for AHISDO to purchase a new printer and £6,582 to support the elderly sponsor program at CBISDO received from the Kunde Foundation (a charitable trust set up by a close friend of the late Founder of CBISDO and AHISDO with very similar mission to Tesfa).

We remain hugely grateful for the continued commitment of our sponsors and supporters by investing in the lives of the most needy children and elderly in the communities we support in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – the support continued throughout the pandemic which is a testimony to the commitment of our supporter base and their belief in how much of a difference sponsorship can make to the lives and futures of those in most need.