A haven for destitute children
Her Story
TSEHAY RöSHLI
Tsehay, the first of 6 children, was born in Addis Ababa and grew up in the Old Airport area. As a child, she used to play in the fields, herd cattle and work in her parents’ chicken farm. She recalls that while playing in the woods at an early age, she noticed a family of foreigners – a sighting unusual for those days – and so approached them, communicating with gestures. She remembers hearing “ferenj loves eggs” and so she gave one egg to one of the girls. The following day, they brought her bread and as such Tsehay and her family’s relationship and friendship begun with the Röschli family. This relationship was further cemented when Tsehay moved to live with the family. Her siblings would soon after join her with the Röschli family upon the death of their parents and move to Switzerland as the revolution of the mid-seventies intensified in Ethiopia.
I wanted to distribute the materials myself so I went with the aid staff, because I couldn’t do it because what I had witnessed was unbearable
Adjusting well to life in her new home, Tsehay grew to take up a job in a factory and support her siblings who were attending school. One afternoon would however change the course of her life. Going home for lunch, a news item on television caught her attention – a news channel was covering the famine in Ethiopia. Shocked by the imagery and the situation, Tsehay recalls spending the entire night crying and praying in her room. By the following morning, she had made a decision – requesting a 2-week leave from her employers to raise around 10,000 Swiss Franc and boxes of clothes, Tsehay departed for Addis Ababa and upon arriving headed straight to the Children’s Commission. Declaring her intention to utilize the money towards the purchase of food, the representatives she met however directed her zeal towards the purchase of blankets as many deaths were also related to inability to stand the cold, in addition to food needs, in the highly affected Wollo region. Once in Wollo, Tsehay was unable to bear the conditions that she witnessed. She returned to Addis Ababa right away and soon thereafter departed for Switzerland. When she arrived, the contrast of life hit her hard as it was Christmas in Europe. Tsehay took time to contemplate on what to do next, re-emerging with a plan to raise 20 children who had lost their parents to the famine.
Within a week, Tsehay returned to Ethiopia with more money her family and friends raised. Seeking government support to raise children who had survived the famine, she was granted a plot of land, tax-free privileges to import materials, and any assistance she required. Within three months and utilizing proceeds of further fundraising in Switzerland, a shelter for children who had lost their parents to famine had been erected. Returning to Bati, Wollo, Tsehay once again struggled with the situation she encountered. Although she had originally planned for 20, she ended up taking in 97. The first 28 children that Tsehay had chosen were mostly older ones that no one wanted to take. Her adoptive father highlighted to Tsehay that the “the older ones needed not only food and education, but also a future.” He resigned from his work in Switzerland and joined Tsehay in Addis Abba to establish a vocational training center. In the last 30 years, Tsehay has raised about 800 children in Selam Children’s Village.
These children learn in Selam schools for free starting nursery all the way to college level. The clinics serve over 32,000 community members in the neighborhood for a very minimal fee and even free for those who cannot afford. The organization enables the children by educating them in high school, through vocational trainings in the workshop, various skills and entrepreneurship trainings such as tailoring and hospitality. Before they graduate, all are required to practice what they learn by working in the organization’s workshops, restaurant and other projects.
I used to feel that I am too insignificant to make big changes. But gradually when I see my children grow and change, I became very grateful that I could contribute with the little opportunity that I have. Now I realized that the little contribution I make matters. That is my passion and what keeps me going.
Selam also provides free lunch to 450 children daily through its school-feeding program. It gives start up capital to entrepreneurs in the community; financially and emotionally supports around 20 elders through a women’s rehabilitation program for those who do not have family members to support them. They come to the center every day, spend time with their peers while working on handcrafts and sell their products in the shop in the compound. Tsehay’s organization also closely supports sexually abused girls and women, and works with victims of gender-based violence. It provides shelter, medical and psychological treatment and fights for their rights.
The management is also involving Selam’s children for the sustainability of the organization’s future through technical advisory groups to assist children’s care, the school, the college, the management as well as the company established by Selam. As the children know Selam inside out, they are considered as strong assets that can improve the organization further. This explains formal participation. Considering informal participation, the children are considered the parent figures for the children growing up in Selam at the moment. They come frequently to provide social, emotional and psychological support to their younger brothers and sisters.
Selam Children’s Village is now a center of excellence. Considered one of the top ten technical and vocational training centers in Africa, they are now in the process of upgrading the college into a Polly technique Institute. And behind all of the works and its achievements is Tsehay Röschli. The famine that happened 30-years ago had changed the course of Tsehay’s life. And because of that she has been able to positively change the lives of thousands of people, raised hundreds of children that became exemplary citizens and created lasting impact in communities.
Tsehay’s vision for Selam Children’s Village is to divert from raising funds in Europe to locally by promoting Selam in Ethiopia. Although the organization has various training centers, they don’t require the children to learn in those centers if their interests are other professions. Tsehay shares, “we want to be able to pay for our children’s education elsewhere. We also want to secure the jobs of our over 600 staff. We have few children with chronic lifetime illness that we are taking care of. So we want to be able to provide quality healthcare for children with special needs. We also plan to add further trainings. We give seed money to our children who would like to start their business. So for all these, we need money and now we are focusing to fundraise from Ethiopians.”
What do they think/say about Tsehay?
Selfless is the one word everyone uses to describe Tsehay. The managing director of Selam’s Children’s Village describes her as in incredible woman who “when everything in the air smells like death and when everyone wanted to leave the country, she decided to come back and serve her people.” She is also described as someone who does not dwell on complaining when something is not right and rather focuses on working to change it. An extremely humble, pro-poor and disciplined woman with a can-do attitude is also used to describe her.
A woman doesn’t necessarily have to give birth to be called a mother. Tsehay is attached to all the children she raised as strong as her biological children. She was living in the compound with us when I came here. We can knock on her door anytime, even in the middle of the night. She has always been so close to us.
Her close childhood friends describe Tsehay as someone who does not discriminate. “Everyone is a relative for her. Sometimes I ask her to hire some relatives and she replies: “everyone is my family. I shouldn’t favor anyone just because we have some blood relation”. Unlike most of us, Tsehay truly believes everyone she meets is connected to her and welcomes them as family.”
HerStory
“I wanted to distribute the materials myself so I went with the aid staff, because I couldn’t do it because what I had witnessed was unbearable.” |
Tsehay, the first of 6 children, was born in Addis Ababa and grew up in the Old Airport area. As a child, she used to play in the fields, herd cattle and work in her parents’ chicken farm. She recalls that while playing in the woods at an early age, she noticed a family of foreigners – a sighting unusual for those days – and so approached them, communicating with gestures. She remembers hearing “ferenj loves eggs” and so she gave one egg to one of the girls. The following day, they brought her bread and as such Tsehay and her family’s relationship and friendship begun with the Röschli family. This relationship was further cemented when Tsehay moved to live with the family. Her siblings would soon after join her with the Röschli family upon the death of their parents and move to Switzerland as the revolution of the mid-seventies intensified in Ethiopia.
Adjusting well to life in her new home, Tsehay grew to take up a job in a factory and support her siblings who were attending school. One afternoon would however change the course of her life. Going home for lunch, a news item on television caught her attention – a news channel was covering the famine in Ethiopia. Shocked by the imagery and the situation, Tsehay recalls spending the entire night crying and praying in her room. By the following morning, she had made a decision – requesting a 2-week leave from her employers to raise around 10,000 Swiss Franc and boxes of clothes, Tsehay departed for Addis Ababa and upon arriving headed straight to the Children’s Commission. Declaring her intention to utilize the money towards the purchase of food, the representatives she met however directed her zeal towards the purchase of blankets as many deaths were also related to inability to stand the cold, in addition to food needs, in the highly affected Wollo region. Once in Wollo, Tsehay was unable to bear the conditions that she witnessed.She returned to Addis Ababa right away and soon thereafter departed for Switzerland. When she arrived, the contrast of life hit her hard as it was Christmas in Europe. Tsehay took time to contemplate on what to do next, re-emerging with a plan to raise 20 children who had lost their parents to the famine.
Within a week, Tsehay returned to Ethiopia with more money her family and friends raised. Seeking government support to raise children who had survived the famine, she was granted a plot of land, tax-free privileges to import materials, and any assistance she required. Within three months and utilizing proceeds of further fundraising in Switzerland, a shelter for children who had lost their parents to famine had been erected. Returning to Bati, Wollo, Tsehay once again struggled with the situation she encountered. Although she had originally planned for 20, she ended up taking in 97. The first 28 children that Tsehay had chosen were mostly older ones that no one wanted to take. Her adoptive father highlighted to Tsehay that the “the older ones needed not only food and education, but also a future.” He resigned from his work in Switzerland and joined Tsehay in Addis Abba to establish a vocational training center. In the last 30 years, Tsehay has raised about 800 children in Selam Children’s Village.
“I used to feel that I am too insignificant to make big changes. But gradually when I see my children grow and change, I became very grateful that I could contribute with the little opportunity that I have. Now I realized that the little contribution I make matters. That is my passion and what keeps me going.” |
These children learn in Selam schools for free starting nursery all the way to college level. The clinics serve over 32,000 community members in the neighborhood for a very minimal fee and even free for those who cannot afford. The organization enables the children by educating them in high school, through vocational trainings in the workshop, various skills and entrepreneurship trainings such as tailoring and hospitality. Before they graduate, all are required to practice what they learn by working in the organization’s workshops, restaurant and other projects.
Selam also provides free lunch to 450 children daily through its school-feeding program. It gives start up capital to entrepreneurs in the community; financially and emotionally supports around 20 elders through a women’s rehabilitation program for those who do not have family members to support them. They come to the center every day, spend time with their peers while working on handcrafts and sell their products in the shop in the compound. Tsehay’s organization also closely supports sexually abused girls and women, and works with victims of gender-based violence. It provides shelter, medical and psychological treatment and fights for their rights.
The management is also involving Selam’s children for the sustainability of the organization’s future through technical advisory groups to assist children’s care, the school, the college, the management as well as the company established by Selam. As the children know Selam inside out, they are considered as strong assets that can improve the organization further. This explains formal participation. Considering informal participation, the children are considered the parent figures for the children growing up in Selam at the moment. They come frequently to provide social, emotional and psychological support to their younger brothers and sisters.
Selam Children’s Village is now a center of excellence. Considered one of the top ten technical and vocational training centers in Africa, they are now in the process of upgrading the college into a Polly technique Institute. And behind all of the works and its achievements is Tsehay Röschli. The famine that happened 30-years ago had changed the course of Tsehay’s life. And because of that she has been able to positively change the lives of thousands of people, raised hundreds of children that became exemplary citizens and created lasting impact in communities.
Tsehay’s vision for Selam Children’s Village is to divert from raising funds in Europe to locally by promoting Selam in Ethiopia. Although the organization has various training centers, they don’t require the children to learn in those centers if their interests are other professions. Tsehay shares, “we want to be able to pay for our children’s education elsewhere. We also want to secure the jobs of our over 600 staff. We have few children with chronic lifetime illness that we are taking care of. So we want to be able to provide quality healthcare for children with special needs. We also plan to add further trainings. We give seed money to our children who would like to start their business. So for all these, we need money and now we are focusing to fundraise from Ethiopians.”
What do they think/say about Tsehay?
“A woman doesn’t necessarily have to give birth to be called a mother. Tsehay is attached to all the children she raised as strong as her biological children. She was living in the compound with us when I came here. We can knock on her door anytime, even in the middle of the night. She has always been so close to us.” |
Selfless is the one word everyone uses to describe Tsehay. The managing director of Selam’s Children’s Village describes her as in incredible woman who “when everything in the air smells like death and when everyone wanted to leave the country, she decided to come back and serve her people.” She is also described as someone who does not dwell on complaining when something is not right and rather focuses on working to change it. An extremely humble, pro-poor and disciplined woman with a can-do attitude is also used to describe her.
Her close childhood friends describe Tsehay as someone who does not discriminate. “Everyone is a relative for her. Sometimes I ask her to hire some relatives and she replies: “everyone is my family. I shouldn’t favor anyone just because we have some blood relation”. Unlike most of us, Tsehay truly believes everyone she meets is connected to her and welcomes them as family.”