Meseret joined the HOPE school when she was 13. “I don’t remember much, but I knew I was going to join HOPE school, a school that all the children in my community wanted to go to.” “When I joined the child care program, I was provided with clothing and food, and a monthly allowance of Birr 40. This was a dream come true because this took some of the burden that my mother had to struggle with.” Once enrolled, she was able to continue her education at HOPE school pursuing her lessons up to grade ten. Afterwards she attended her 10+2 vocational training in the field of General Mechanics in the morning, in addition to high school lessons in the afternoon at a government school, with HOPE covering the tuition fees. After successfully graduating, Meseret obtained the help of the Career Planning and Placement office, and secured a job at the Kombolcha Steel Production Industry. “HOPE helped me to help myself. Now I am able to earn my livelihood to support myself and my mother too.” Though the job is 30 km away, Meseret says, “Travelling 30km to work and back at a cost of four birr a day did not hold me back. All I can envisage was my first job, my first income. I saw myself take one step away from poverty and that was all that mattered.”