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Name: Mihret Weldu Tekle

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

Gender: Female

Age: 16

Birthday: (DMY: 10/1987 EC)

Hometown: Geregam, Tigray, Ethiopia

Former elementary school: Daieretta Grade 1-8 Community School

Distance between hometown and nearest high school: 30 km

High school she is attending: Adigudom Senior Secondary School

Academic record: Mihret was one of the top eight students in her grade every year Grade 1 to Grade 8. In Grade 8 she was 8th in her class and finished with an academic average of 78%.

Favorite subject(s): English

Extracurricular activities and leadership positions in Grade 8: Secretary of Girls’ Club, Vice Chairperson of Civics and Ethics Club, Vice Chairperson of Anti-HIV/AIDS Club, member of Sports Club.

Challenges encountered during elementary school: “My father died four years ago because he was sick. After that I had to drop out of school for three months so that I could support my mother at our home. When we learned how to make things work without my father here I got to go back to school. After he died we also struggled to have enough money and food. As a result I have struggled to have enough money to purchase notebooks and pens for school.”

In 10 years Mihret wants to be a teacher because, “teachers are knowledgeable people and make changes in peoples’ lives every day.”

Favorite quote: “An adult who has not been to school is like a child. From this person you cannot expect a goal to be achieved.”

Role model: “My mother because she is the one who put me back in school after my father died. It would have been easier for her to keep me at home to help her but she knows how important education is so she put me back in school.”

Favorite celeb: Keneneesa – an Ethiopian runner.

Hobbies and interests: playing volleyball, reading, supporting her family around their home.

Family: “I live with my grandmother, my mother and my brother and two sisters. I am the second youngest but I will be the first in my family to go to high school. We farm our small plot of land and eat and trade the cereals that come from our land.”

Family’s skills for potential income generation activities: Breeding hens, selling eggs, raising goats, breeding animals.

What her sister, Selasse, thinks about her having the opportunity to go to high school: “I am happy that she has this opportunity to go to high school. She will be the first in our family – change will follow. She will be a role model for my own children and they will finish their education one day as well.”

What her homeroom teacher, Yerge, is saying about her: “Mihret is a very well behaved, clever student. She is confident and freely shares her ideas in front of her classmates. She is a leader in our school and many of her peers and teachers respect and admire her. I believe that with this support she will succeed in her life and achieve her goals.”