Before the project:
When the breadwinner of the house (his Father) passed away, Tigistu (the elder children in the family) came to Addis Ababa to support his mother, brothers, and sisters through a financial backup. But, he found himself that he had a wrong perception about Addis-no jobs; no shelter; no supporter, however plenty of evils of life. Therefore he was forced to live in the street for 5 years until he joined Siddartha after hearing from his friends. Finally, he applied to and joined SDE’s homeless people (Gloriu) Project in 2014 and was graduated in shoemaking and tailoring skills in 2015.
After the project:
Tigistu had been employed in Nina Textile Factory before the graduation where he was assigned for the cooperative training of two months. After the graduation, he continued to work for sometimes there and started to look for better-paying jobs. He got training from other organization on metal welding but was not interested to work on it. Then he formed job partnership with his SDE project colleague, bought one sewing machine jointly and repairing & sewing clothes now.
Current Status:
He is now 29 and living in a rented house, he earns a reasonable income, he has bank saving to buy one private sewing machine, he has continued to attend schooling where he resumed it in SDE’s project and he is very confident that street life will never happen again.
His opinion:
Tigistu says “Truly speaking I was not sure that what I got in the project would bring such changes in my life. But after some trials, I realized that what I got from the project is potential enough to help others; let alone myself. The technical & life skill training that I have gained from the project and my revised decisions to use the skills are the major reasons for my success. Hence I’m so grateful for SDE”