Alem* is a 15-year-old girl who was born and raised in southern Ethiopia. She lived with her parents and two brothers in a small town where she went to school until third grade. Her family members were small-scale farmers.

One day her aunt visited and suggested taking Alem to the capital city and raising her as her own to alleviate the family’s financial stress and to secure a better education for Alem. Her parents agreed, thinking it was a wonderful opportunity.

As soon as they reached the city, though, Alem realised it was all a lie. Her aunt forced her to the hardest domestic work, and the promises of care and schooling never materialized. Alem said:

While all of this was going on, Alem was also dealing with a pain in her stomach that she did not understand. Her aunt refused to get her any medical attention. Eventually, the constant physical and emotional abuse drove Alem to run away from the house. She tried to live alone on the streets but was intensely vulnerable to further exploitation. Luckily the person who found her was a kind-hearted stranger, not a trafficker. She was brought to the police, who realized she would be served best at a Hope for Justice Lighthouse.

When Alem first joined the Lydia Lighthouse in the capital Addis Ababa, she was shy and did not interact with others. She had low self-esteem and talked very quietly. Medical check-ups revealed the source of the unexplained stomach pain: an umbilical hernia. The Lighthouse nurse arranged for an operation at hospital and Alem was given all the emotional support she needed in the lead-up to the day of the surgery.

November 30, 2020