2009 - Ethiopia - Kapisho Kalo

June 2009
Dear Friend,
Hello! Thanks to your support of The Next Step-here in Ethiopia, my family and others in our community are now able to take part in community activities and lead a better life. With the help of Solomon Medahne, from ActionAid, I would like to tell you how this is possible.

My name is Kapisho Kalo and I am 42-years-old. I live in Ufa Kabele, a village abput 470Km south of Addis Ababa, with my
wife and children.

There are two groups of people living in our community; The Kaffa people and the Menja people. I am part of the Menja group, and as such, I used to be excluded from society. We were not seen  as equal.

This made life very difficult. I was forced to build our home in the forest, away from the Kaffa community. My children were discriminated against at school. None of the Kaffa children would sit next to them or play with them.

I collected honey from the forest, but I was not able to sell this at an equal price to the Kaffa's at the markets. We were turned down at the health clinics and not served in places to eat.

ActionAid came to our community and started some activities to help us. They met with all the community and educated us on people's rights. The Kaffa group learnt how we are equal to them.
With this training, the attitudes of everyone in the community began to change. We finally started to become one community!

ActionAid also helped us to improve our incomes. ActionAid purchased modern beehives and taught 45 families, including ours, how to keep bees and produce honey. Over the past year I have been able to earn 1,700 birr (£100).

We started a bee-keeping association to assist each other. This association became a way of learning and we were able to expand by growing coffee, spices and cereal crops.

Things are now becoming much better! I have built a proper home near the Kaffa community, and my neighbours have started inviting me to their community meetings. My children are much
happier at school.

I have also been asked to represent the Menja people in meetings with the local government. This will ensure the Menja people will always be included in important decisions.

On top of all this, I was awarded by the Ethiopian State to become a model farmer. This was a great honour. Before, it was unthinkable that a man from the Menja community would receive such an award. This was one of the happiest days of my life!

Thank you so much for supporting ActionAid through The Next Step. Without your help, our people would not be where they are today. You have made such important changes in our lives.

Kind regards
Kapisho Kalo

PS. Along with this letter, I have sent a photograph of myself with our new beehives, and a photo of me with my wife and my medal.