imagine1day is a growing, global community of people making passionate contributions to ensure every child in Ethiopia receives a quality education.

 

Hiwet Hagos Gebremedhin

Hiwet is excited to go to high school because: “All of our subjects in high school will be in English. I love English and this way I will be able to work on my speaking, listening, reading and writing in all of my classes, not just in a specific English class.”

 

Name: Hiwet Hagos Gebremedhin

What her name means in Tigrigna (local language): “Life”

Gender: Female

Age: 14

Birthday: (DMY: 16/08/1989 EC)

Hometown: Zaena, Tigray, Ethiopia

Former elementary school: Zaena Grade 1-8 Community School

Distance between hometown and nearest high school: 15 km

High school she is attending: Wukro Senior Secondary School

Academic record: She was 4th in her Grade 8 class.

Favorite subject(s): English

Extracurricular activities and leadership positions in Grade 8: Vice Chairperson of Civics and Ethics Club, Member of Language and Literature Club, Anti-HIV/AIDS Club member, volleyball, soccer.

Challenges encountered during elementary school: “I received a request from a man to be married two years ago but my brother (the oldest man in our family) refused for me because he knew that I wanted to keep going to school and he also knew the importance of me staying in school. I have a responsibility to support my family in our home by taking care of animals, cooking, collecting wood and fetching water so I often miss weekend tutorial classes. Not having very much money has also made it difficult to purchase notebooks, pens and other materials I need for school.”

In 10 years Hiwet wants to be a teacher because, “if I am a teacher then I can work towards eliminating illiteracy in Ethiopia. Illiteracy is bad because if you cannot read you cannot grow and develop. I want my country to move forward. To do that, the people need to be able to read and write.”

Favorite quote: “Learning is life.”

Role model: “My brother because he works as a day labourer so that he can support himself to continue going to school. He is in Grade 10 and I know he will finish Grade 12. I want to be like him because he is smart and a hard worker.”

Favorite celeb: Haile Gebreselassie

Family: “I am the fourth oldest child in our family – we have seven children. My mother is sick with a heart problem and Tuberculosis but she does her best to work around the house when she can. My father died eight years ago. He was a farmer but after he died we couldn’t take care of the land ourselves so we leased it to a neighbour and now live off of 1/3 of the production that he pays us as a lease fee. 1/3 of the products is not very much so we always struggle to add more food to it.”

Family’s skills for potential income generation activities: animal fattening of oxen, dairy farming, raising and selling chickens.

What her mother, Fitsum, thinks about her daughter having the opportunity to go to high school: “It makes me very happy to see her have this opportunity to continue her education. Now she has the chance to live a good life. One day soon she will have a job and she will not have to struggle like I have during my life. I want her life to be better than mine – isn’t that what parents want for their children?"

What her homeroom teacher is saying about her: “Hiwet is an all-round student and is a leader in her class, in our school and in her home. She has encountered many challenges but has overcome them and stayed in school. I know that she wants to go to high school but didn’t know how she would be able to. You are giving her an opportunity she has hoped would come for many years."