Inside school compounds we construct small container shops — coffee and tea corners, a hair salon, school-supply kiosks — and hand them to organised groups of mothers of vulnerable pupils. The income covers school costs and food, and the mothers gain a trade.
Community self-help saving groups (CSSGs) teach saving and lending discipline. With training in basic business skills and matching funds, groups grow into small enterprises linked to microfinance institutions and cooperative offices.
In earlier programmes we trained 200 women in saving and loan management, established 12 saving groups and distributed 166,500 birr in matching funds, alongside perma-gardening training for 121 households.
What this includes
- Income-generating container shops inside public school compounds
- Community self-help saving groups with matching funds
- Basic business, financial management and marketing skills training
- Perma-gardening for household nutrition and income
- Shoeshine kits and small start-up materials for older children living on the street
