Transformation, in their own lives.
Real journeys from the field, captured with care, and shared with the dignity of those who lived them.
A Widow in Lideta, a New Beginning, and the Business She Built
In Lideta, a sub-city of Addis Ababa, a widow works from her doorway. Steady, focused, building a livelihood for her family. Her story is what the Widow Empowerment Program looks like when training, mentorship, and an interest-free microloan meet a woman who was already determined.
How to Teach Product Design and Entrepreneurship to Orphaned Youth
Board member Truman Pollard walks orphaned youth through the full product creation lifecycle, starting with what they actually care about: fashion, sports, boxing, poetry. From pencil sketches to digital files in Photoshop and Illustrator to finished custom t-shirts, this is the foundational training behind Collaborative Ventures. Graduates of this exact program now run a functioning t-shirt printing cooperative from a commercial storefront in Ethiopia.
Where Child Sponsorship Money Actually Goes
Child sponsorship at Life Center Ethiopia works differently. Support goes directly to the caregiver, not an anonymous fund. Once a month, single parents, relatives, and trusted community caregivers come to campus to collect funds strictly for the child’s needs: food, clothing, and school. In this video, one caregiver shares what that monthly support has meant for her family.
What Businesses Do Widows in Ethiopia Start?
Meet a few of the women in the Widow Empowerment Program and the businesses they’ve built with an interest-free microloan. Sore weaves traditional Ethiopian garments. Bezualem runs a coffee and bottled water shop. Nurit handcrafts electric stoves. Others have launched dairy farms, daycares, shoe cleaning businesses, convenience stores, street vending operations, and traditional bread businesses. This is what becomes possible when a woman is trusted with a first loan.
By Day He Sews. By Night He Studies. Meet Eyuel.
Eyuel was raised by a single mother. By day he apprentices as a tailor. By night he finishes school. This is what child sponsorship looks like when it actually works. Not a handout, but the education, stability, and quiet support a kid needs to grow into a self-reliant adult who can shape his own life.
The Energy on Campus at Life Center Ethiopia
There’s a particular kind of energy on the Life Center Ethiopia campus this season. Staff are preparing for a full summer calendar, founder and director Mulu is back on campus, and visitors are arriving from around the world. A look at the growth, connection, and transformation already underway.