Zerihune, a Successful Farmer at 18!
Zerihune’s student days ended, but his education is paying off! Here is the letter he wrote to his sponsor to thank her for his years of sponsorship with HMCHA.
First of all, I would like to thank you. How are your families? My families and I are fine too.
This is what I would like to write to you. You started sponsoring me when I was in 4th grade, and you’ve been helping me up to now. For years, I deposited your sponsor money. I saved 8,000 birr. So last year, by using that money I bought farmland to grow onions. My expenses were 8,000 birr and my income was 46,000. Then I did it again with 33,000 was 239,400 ($400 US dollars).
So from the expenses of 33,000, my income is 239,400 birr. I succeeded! Now my sister got land in the town from the government. She is a teacher. She has land and I have money, so we are going to build a house.
You are the starting point for all of this. I succeeded because of you, but I stopped learning after grade 9.
Zerihune
Thank you a lot,
NOTE: Zerihune’s father is a deaf mute, and much of the family’s farming depends on his mother, Gadisse. There are 6 children in his family, Zerihune being the oldest. Gadisse does much of the work on their a very small plot of land. Zerihune is an outstanding student but he had to quit school after 9th grade to help his family. From reading his letter to his sponsor, you can see that he has become quite a successful and savvy farmer. We’re proud of him and how he has managed his responsibilities to his family, and of the dreams he has for the future.
