News

NEWS Update December 2022

Here we send more news from our dear Ethiopian girls.

After having helped them during two years of Covid plus the war and then the siege of the Tigray province, we know that it is necessary for each one of them to find their way and become independent from the foundation.

Nine of the eleven girls have found a job to get to know the world of work, learn the basic tools of how to run a business, however modest it may be, and earn enough to support themselves.
We have asked each girl how they imagine their future and what they would like to do if given the opportunity.
Nine girls are seeing themselves running a small food store, clothing store or a small place to drink coffee or tea.

As seen in the photos, the possibilities they have are basic, we are talking about very small businesses. But we think that it is a way to become independent and carve your way, with your effort, kindness and know-how.
Our idea is to give them a sufficient amount of money to open a business of this type.
They will know that it is possibly the only opportunity that life offers them (they are all orphans), and we sincerely hope that they know how to take advantage of it.

The other two girls, Meron and Tsarkan, are very clear that they want to continue studying. Both aspire to be doctors.
The two got the best grades in school, Merón being even the best in the entire school.
With Merón and Tsarkan we face several challenges:

  • Wait for schools to open in Tigray (maybe in September??)
    and hope that they will be accepted back into their respective courses, already being two adult women aged 19 and 20.
  • Or try to send them to Addis Ababa and see how they can get hooked on the last years of high school, and then go to university in the capital.

As we progress, we will continue to report.
We love seeing how well all our girls have developed, thanks to all the support of this great family that we are at the foundation.
Isn’t it nice to see the smile of each one of them.

Thank you, thank you very much!!
A big hug from

Ula y Carlos

NEWS Update December 2022

Carlos and I want to send a big hug and our very special thanks for being there, supporting the Carula Foundation.

When the trajectory of a project is interrupted by a war, and the rules of the game are changed so drastically,
it is easy to become frustrated and throw the towel.
Not having fluid communication, not being able to enter the region, not having reliable data
on the country’s politics and, of course, very little, sometimes causes us unease.

It is when we receive photos or some audio that we feel great joy and hope invades us and we are certain that bad times always pass, that the situation is getting a little better each time, and that sooner or later the region will open and everything will be normalized. With the war in Ukraine, little is known about the government’s siege of Tigray. If it is true that a normalization agreement has been reached, although totally dictated by the Central Government. It has not materialized yet, but they have been letting international aid pass for some time now. The trend is positive.

As soon as we can communicate with each of the 11 girls, we will be organizing the path to their economic independence in the short and medium term. We love seeing how healthy and happy they are in the photo. We know from Kibatu, that they get along very well. There is a lot of camaraderie and generosity, and they have formed a great family between them.

They are wanting to progress in life.

NEWS Update

Several months have passed and the situation in Tigray is calming down. There are no more soldiers in the streets and the population is finding its new rhythm. The government has not restored internet and banking services.
Schools have not yet opened.

The situation is still very precarious, but international aid is arriving!
So the prospects are much better. The mission of the Carula Foundation is the secondary education of those girls who live in distant villages, with a lot of potential but without resources. In these difficult two and a half years the mission became to protect and feed our girls.

Unfortunately the school year passed for them. Almost all of them are of legal age and will not be able to re-engage in secondary education when it starts to work again. That is why we have decided, much to our regret, to send all those girls, who have families, back to their villages. Little by little they will have to find their way and care for themselves. After several years at Casa Carula they are much better prepared and with a very different vision of life.

We wish you the best of luck in life!

However, there are many of our girls who are orphans, without family support. They have nowhere to return to and zero financial resources.
Their only way out now would be to prostitute or beg on the streets and both is unacceptable. They are girls who have finished very good grades during their studies, they have made a lot of effort, they are polite, sweet and intelligent.
They simply lost their parents in the two wars or because of AIDS.
These girls are still in the Carula Foundation. We provide them with housing and food.
Once institutions and communications are restored, we will see how we can help them get their lives back on track.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for being there and giving them all the support!!
How hard is life for some people, right?
A very, very big hug from Ula and Carlos.

This is part of the report Kibatu sent us.
When he talks about “family displaced” he means that they crossed the border as refugees