Building hope after conflict in Gobiye

In a small classroom in the village of Gobiye, in the North Wollo region of Ethiopia, 10-year-old Marsilas reads aloud with a smile that lights up the room. Just a few years ago, education seemed impossible for her and her brother.

"Going to school was so hard before, I never felt safe," she explains softly.

In her village here, in 2024, Children Believe started a program that changed everything. Now, thanks to support from Children Believe and its longtime local partner here, Marsilas is a thriving Grade 4 student with dreams of becoming a pilot.

Unfortunately, conflict and insecurity have been serious challenges in Ethiopia for years. Many communities were damaged during the Northern Ethiopia conflict between the government and Tigray forces, from November 2020 to December 2021. And while they recovered somewhat after, another conflict between government forces and armed groups started in April 2023 and is ongoing. This led to displaced families looking for safe places to live.

Ertiban, Marsilas's mother, explains they have survived difficult times of the conflicts, where so many have been killed. At one time, they had to flee the village looking for safety. This meant an interruption to the education of the children and even after returning when the first conflict ended, institutions like schools were very limited in capacity as facilities were damaged.

“Although we had fear because of the ongoing conflict, we send our children to school to attend their education.”

Marsilas is among the children in Gobiye who have a sponsor in Canada. But the entire community benefits from the program. A portion of donations is pooled and the community, working alongside Children Believe and its local partners, give children the chance to learn again, including displaced families. This has transformed lives across a number of regions, tackling poverty, poor health, and lack of education, through a holistic approach.

Working together. Families grow stronger. Communities rise.

Change goes beyond school enrollment. In program targeted schools, dropouts decrease, enrollment increases and quality of education improves through the provision of teaching materials to the schools and training for primary school teachers.

Thanks to gifts from donors like you, the lives of Ethiopian children are changing – families are fighting back against the devastating effects of conflict. Kids can now go farther than poverty ever let them dream.

Check out more inspiring stories like this in our new edition of Childvoice!