Meet Amenetch
Originally from a place called Welayta in Southern Ethiopia, Amenetch has lived in Sendafa for five years. She has an eighth grade education and had to stop school when her father died. After leaving school she began working as a maid. She got married at the age of 18. After she became pregnant, her husband became abusive. He was a drunkard who beat her regularly, so she was forced to leave her abusive husband and moved into her mother's home when her daughter was 19 months old.
She worked in hotels as a cleaning woman with the aim of bettering her life, but the money she got wasn't enough to support her and her daughter. While working there she became acquainted with women who said that they "did businesses". At first, she didn't understand what the term meant, but in time she learned that "doing business" meant engaging in prostitution. These women made more money than she did, so she decided to become a prostitute. But life as a prostitute wasn't easy. She was abused, beaten and used for the pleasures of people she never knew. But she endured the life of prostitution so that she could get enough money to live and feed and clothe her daughter.
Amenetch has known Dr. Frew and the PAAV team (YeNoh Merkeb) for about a year and a half. She shares that this compassionate relationship has helped her regain her self-confidence and self-respect. Through Yenoh Merkeb she has learned a lot about sexually transmitted illnesses and how to prevent getting infected with HIV and other diseases. YeNoh Merkeb has been providing food materials to Amenetch and her daughter who is now 7 years old. Additionally, Yenoh Merkeb is helping her with providing school supplies and materials needed for the academic education of her daughter.
With the help of Yenoh Merkeb she has now decided to come out of prostitution. Currently she is renting a small room and has drafted a business plan to start her own coffee shop. Yenoh Merkeb is providing her with seed money and materials to start this business. They continue to teach and guide her with the business aspects of this new endeavor. Thanks to the PAAV team and Dr. Frew the lives of Amenetch and her daughter will continue to be favorably changed forever.
