A Rural Trading Center

First of its kind: a Rural Trading Center

Because Gulu Bola, Ama Oita and Dina Didu learned Amharic (the Ethiopian national language) and basic math, they are operating the very first Rural Trading Center in the region. They are earning money and providing critical supplies to their extended community.

Singing A Song of Thanks

Members of the Minogelti Women’s Coop sing a song of thanks during the dedication of their new Rural Trading Center

Gulu, Ama and Dina are members of the Minogelti Women’s Cooperative, 12 entrepreneurial women who wanted to earn money long before they had a plan – or skills – to do so. Traditionally, the Hamar do not use money; they barter among themselves. But in this time of worsening drought, money is needed to purchase food from “outside.”

So Gulu, Ama, Dina and the other Coop members began attending GTLI’s Functional Adult Literacy school where they learn Amharic, reading, writing, math, and basic business skills such as record-keeping and  inventory management.

Once they demonstrated proficiency in these skills, GTLI (funded by the US Embassy of Ethiopia) helped them open the Rural Trading Center –modern concrete building that has a store for commodities (such as soap, hygiene and sanitation supplies), a secure place for sacks of maize and sorghum, and an office for meetings and record-keeping. The center serves 4,000 Hamar in their immediate area – and up to 8,000 additional people from neighboring communities.

            Ama Oita, Gulu Bola and Dina Didu

Because of the trading center, demand for education has skyrocketed. When Gulu started school in 2010, her husband threatened violence. Now elders are urging men to send their wives, and men, themselves, are coming.

 

“Teach us first. Then, after we have the skills to run it, help us build a trading center.”

                                                                                - Aykee Letam, Hamar elder