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

 

Tsega Hadush Tsegay

Tsega is excited to go to high school because, “there will be many clever students at high school and we will be more competitive together. There will also be a bigger library with more reference books that I can use to help me understand my classroom lessons better.”

 

Name: Tsega Hadush Tsegay

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

Gender: Female

Age: 15

Birthday: (DMY: 21/03/1988 EC)

Hometown: Gabela, Tigray, Ethiopia

Former elementary school: Mukoat Grade 1-8 Community School

Distance between hometown and nearest high school: 7 km

High school she is attending: Wukro Secondary School

Academic record: Tsega was first in her class 6 out of 8 years and was the top student in her Grade 8 class.

Favorite subject(s): Science

Extracurricular activities and leadership positions in Grade 8: Vice Chairperson of the Classroom Monitors, Secretary for the Civics and Ethics Club, Vice Chairperson of the Student Parliament.

Challenges encountered during elementary school: “The biggest challenge I faced in elementary school was struggling to purchase materials for school like notebooks and pens. I also have lots of responsibilities at home like cooking, cleaning, fetching water and taking care of our animals so sometimes it can be hard to balance the workload of both school and home at the same time.”

In 10 years Tsega wants to be a doctor because, “then I can educate my community about basic practices that will improve their health and help to protect them from further diseases.”

Favorite quote: “Education is not just about knowledge, it is also about beauty."

Role model: “My parents because they allowed me to go to school and encourage me to continue my studies. Lots of girls’ parents want them to stay at home or get married when they are young, but this has never been a problem between my parents and me.”

Favorite celeb: Abebe Bakela – an Ethiopian marathon runner.

Hobbies and interests: Mentoring and supporting her peers so that they can do well in their studies.

Family: “I am the youngest of the six children in my family. One of my older brothers went to high school and is now working as a teacher but the rest of my family is uneducated and were either married early or began working as farmers at a young age because they didn’t think that going to school was important. My parents are very old so they do not work anymore. Instead they have leased our farmland to a neighbour and get ½ of the products for the lease payment.”

Family’s skills for potential income generation activities: Micro-irrigation to grow vegetables and fattening sheep and goats.

What her mother thinks about her daughter having the opportunity to go to high school: “She will be able to support herself in the future and one day she will have her own family and her own life. We have great hope for her future as she is bright and a hard worker. I know she will be successful.”

What her homeroom teacher is saying about her: “Tsega is very strong academically and excels as a leader as her peers respect her. She is confident with her ideas and shares them freely. My hopes are high that she will finish high school, especially because she has the full support of her family. They are not interested in having her get married soon, which is irregular in a remote community like this.”