A sanitation equipment support which will serve for six months has been provided for 200 female students at Sabian No. 2 and No. 3 Elementary School.
It is supported by a charity called “Me for Sister” and is made up of 6 young women and 5 men from Dire Dawa with a total of 11 young members. Mihret Walelign, the founder and member of the association, told us that the association was established a month ago to provide hygiene support to sisters in Dire Dawa and eastern Ethiopia.
According Mihret, the sanitation equipment bought at a cost of 25,000 Birr today will not be the last but the beginning of their effort. The sanitation equipment support will continue in every two months and will also include other items but she stressed that for the support to be continual, other concerned bodies should work together with them. She also said if the youths of the administration refrain from engaging in unwanted activities and participates in volunteerism, it will help the government to continue the country’s transformation beyond the benefit of the society.
The female students we spoke to also said that the support of Menstruation Model will not only alleviate their economic impact on sanitation, but also enable them to attend school safely. They stressed that other stakeholders should participate in supporting female students with other necessary supports to make them successful in their education.
Sabian No. 2 Elementary School teacher and gender coordinator, Bizunesh Lema, said the school is working to educate female students on gender and related issues and to enable them to pursue their education without giving up. She also said that the support from “me for my sister” charity will help the work of the female students and help the female students to achieve better in their education. Others should take “me for my sister” charity as a model to engage in such activities,
She emphasized.
W/ro Lemlem Bezabih, head of the Dire Dawa Health Bureau, said that there has been lack of access to sanitation facilities due to the limited resources of many sisters, and now the support from “me for my sister” charity will alleviate some of the students’ problems. She pointed out that the work started by the association requires a lot of effort, cooperation and initiative. It is happy to see such a local charity association founded by Dire Dawa Born Youths, W/ro Lemlem stated.
