Self-Help Project:

“Engage, Equip and Empower”

Started: October 2022, Expected End Date: September 2023

We believe that the causes of poverty are complex, and bringing justice involves both aid to relieve suffering and action to address the root causes of injustice. Hence, besides providing immediate practical needs to the vulnerable, we aspire to empower our community by creating opportunities.

Our first Income Generating Pilot Project for women - dubbed “Engage, Equip and Empower”. Initially, thirty women were selected in association with Fitche Town Women and Social Affairs Bureau. The women are the poorest of the poor in Fitche town who lack the resources and means to meet their daily needs and live a life of dignity.

The project provides the women with seed money, equipment, market connections and all other support they need to start an injera baking business. [Injera is a flatbread that is consumed daily by most Ethiopians]. Salale Univeristy, a local third-level institution, trained the women on topics ranging from entrepreneurship skills, sustainable livelihood and sexual health. We secured sheds and all the necessary equipment for baking injera. Our supporters and members of our Fitche Community donated seed money, including on the GoFundMe Platform.

This self-help small-scale business pilot project for women started in October 2022. Of the thirty women that were organised and trained, twenty dropped out. Ten women who showed commitment to continue and agree with the project's basic requirements are given all the necessary resources (including workshop and seed money). The women will save and re-pay some of the funds back to FICDO (which will be used to support a new group). We would like to thank all of you who donated towards the seed money.

This pilot project will be an important lesson for FICDO's future similar projects.