Priority for Youth as Engines of Development

Lakachew Atnafu

Youth are a very essential sections of every society. Having more youth as part of ones society is like being blessed with a very invaluable volume of fortune. Especially if the youth are given due attention to be healthy, active, educated and committed it means a lot for the rapid and sustainable development of a country.

No matter how a country is rich in natural resources like valuable minerals, industry the number and situation of its youth is going to affects its overall development, peace and stability. Ethiopia in this regard is also endowed with this priceless and highly decisive form of wealth, which is a considerable proportion of young population which roughly accounts for more than half of the total.  

The question at the moment is making sure that youth are given the right care like education, health, and other socio economic supports that can empower them as strong pillars of the nation’s social, economic, and political development.

The government of Ethiopia has carried out many commendable works in empowering the youth. The government’s efforts start from devising youth policy.

Given that effective works have been done in bringing all school aged children to school, the next step is to avail the necessary facilities for their higher education. Accordingly the government has been taking fruitful measures in increasing the intake capacity of Universities as well as opening new ones. For example currently 31 Universities are educating 100 thousands of youth throughout the country. Furthermore the government has started construction of 11 additional Universities in various parts of the country which is a vital step in widening higher educational opportunities for the rapidly growing number of youth.

Those who couldn’t make it to the higher educational institutions for whatever reasons, still have many options at their disposal. One of such opportunities is creating their own jobs either individually or through organizing in micro and small enterprises.

The job creation schemes include inductive short term trainings, access and support to saving and credit, provision of working places, showrooms and market linkages as well as follow up and support services. The Micro and Small Enterprises development offices as well as the trade and industry offices established with hierarchical structure up to woreda levels so as to provide close support and follow up services to the youth. Credit and saving agencies also operate up to woreda levels throughout the country to operate closely to the youth.

In spite of some drawbacks many youth throughout the country have succeeded not only in creating job for themselves or fellow compatriots, but have graduated to medium level industries setting good examples for the entire community.

Apart from addressing the economic needs of youth, the government is working strenuously towards nurturing the social, psychological and aesthetic needs of the youth. Typically, the youth centers established in almost all woredas across the nation can be mentioned in this regard.

The youth centers mainly accommodate facilities like library, internet café, conference room, gymnasium and other sport facilities. These facilities can be used by the local youth as means of income generation apart from being used for building up themselves in knowledge skills and entertainment. They also serve as ideal places where the future leaders, entrepreneurs, artists and high profile people are cultivated.

All these concerted efforts of the government have manifested their impact in the consecutive and rapid economic development of the country. It should not be forgotten that the youth are the integral components that contributed significantly for the development that the country achieved. This is because in addition to the various investment incentives of the government  and pull factors like infrastructure, many of the investments both from home and abroad consider the massive and affordable work force in the country.

Youth still continue to be the indispensable hope for the future development of the country in all sectors. They are the foremost considerations in any future plan of economic, political or social development. This brings to the attention of every one that they should be mainstreamed and given due attention in all the necessary development activities.

For this end just as youth are the determinants of every ones future the government and all stakeholders should note that, they have to live up to their commitments to address their needs and problems. 

The government has actually noticed that the rapid urbanization in the country has brought more youth to cities and consequently more youth today than in the past need the speedy and effective execution of its policies and packages. It is crystal clear that the burning needs and problems of the youth are not easy matters that should be vulnerable to the arbitrary treatments of bureaucratic and governance related shortcomings that aggravated the recent chaos that flared up in various parts of the country.

The government’s plan to promote efforts of creating job opportunities by allocating about 10 billion birr is a remarkable pledge to address the timely issues of the youth. If executed with utmost commitment, by replicating lessons learnt in the past and addressing the governance and bureaucratic bottlenecks the plan seems to contribute significantly in cultivating strong and capable young entrepreneurs, leaders and work force.

It should also be noted that the plan doesn’t only address the economic problems of the youth, but also prevents them from falling victims to the manipulative machinations of radical and destructive elements who strive to implement their own agenda at the cost of the life and future of the youth.

The youth have a right both to have access to economic support as well as protection from such selfish manipulators propaganda that plunge the well being of both the youth as well as the nation. By way of empowering the youth economically the government can achieve another fundamental issue which is eliminating the fertile ground for anti peace and anti development forces and lay a firm foundation for peace lovers and developmental forces. And more importantly it nurtures the future development engines of the country, the youth.

Ethiopian Youth: the Challenges and the Opportunities

By Bacha Zewdie

Policy and Legislation

The National Youth Policy of Ethiopia marks a major step in recognizing and promoting the rights of young people in the country. Established in 2004, the policy aims “to bring about the active participation of youth in the building of a democratic system and good governance as well as in the economic, social and cultural activities and to enable them to fairly benefit from the results.” It envisions youth as “a young generation with democratic outlook and ideals, equipped with knowledge and professional skills”. A wide range of priority areas of action are identified, including democracy and good governance, health and education, as well as culture, sport and entertainment.

Health

Ethiopia's youth population had been facing a number of health challenges, including inadequate access to sexual and reproductive health information/services, prevalence of HIV/AIDS, and persistent gender inequalities. Young women used to represent a high-risk group in Ethiopia, being especially vulnerable to gender-based violence, female genital mutilation, early marriage and other harmful traditional practices. However, Ethiopian government has issued youth policy and implementing it to benefit the youth throughout the country. The policy includes:-

·   Create conditions to enable the youth to participate in and benefit from the implementation of preventive health policy;

·   Create favourable conditions for the youth to have proper access to information, education, consulting and leadership services in the areas of reproductive health and relate health issues; and

·   Create favourable conditions for the youth to actively participate in and benefit from the efforts to eradicate harmful traditional practices which are determined to their health. (FDRE National Youth Policy, 2004)

Education

Ethiopia has made progress in improving youth’s education: From 2005 to 2014 the net enrolment rate in primary schools rose from 60.5% to 85.85%. The literacy rate of people aged 15-24 years is estimated to have risen to 69.48% (2015). However, low levels of education quality and high drop-out rates, as well as gender and rural-urban disparities remain major challenges for the achievement of universal basic education and a smooth school-to-work transition. Particularly ethnic minority groups, youth from rural areas, girls and young people from poor households face major obstacles in accessing basic education. The probability of having no access to basic education is twice as high for female as for male youth. Low quality of education in terms of poor physical facilities, lack of well-trained teachers, and shortage of learning materials, exacerbate the problems of the educational system. According to the World Bank, Ethiopia spent 26.3% of its government expenditure and 4.5% of its GDP on education provision in 2013.

Employment

The labour force participation of young Ethiopians is significantly determined by geographical and gender disparities. Ethiopian women are more likely to be unemployed. In 2005, 11.2% of women and 4.1% of men between 15-24 were unemployed – and less likely to participate in the labour force – in 2005, 79% of women and 86% of men between 15-29. Beside high gender inequality, a strong duality between rural and urban areas characterizes youth employment in Ethiopia: In rural areas, young people leave school at a very early age and start to work in subsistence agriculture. Low labour income, large underemployment, and limited chances to enter the formal sector mark their working life. In urban areas, youth face high rates of unemployment, strong disadvantages compared to adults, and a school-to-work transition that is more than twice as long as in rural areas. The vast majority of young Ethiopians suffer from a lack of access to high-quality education, decent formal sector employment, and governmental employment programs. The demand for technical and vocational education and training programs is high, since the skills developed in Ethiopian schools do not match the needs of the national labour market.

Youth Participation

Ethiopia's youth has the potential to play a significant role in the country’s socio-economic and political development. The National Youth Policy (2004) recognizes the importance of youth, “to participate, in an organized manner, in the process of building a democratic system, good governance and development endeavours, and benefit fairly from the outcomes”. However in practice, there are still some barriers that hinder youth’s active participation in socio-economic, political and cultural life, including persistent gender inequality, youth poverty, and a lack of recreational activities. The government recognizes ‘the lack of entertainment facilities; scarcity of public library services; and the lack of physical education training institutes,’ Ethiopian Youth  Council for Higher Opportunities  http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/workingwithyouth/1421?task=view.

Africa has more young people than any other continent. At present, 65pc of the total population of Africa are below the age of 35. According to a UNICEF report The Generation 2030/Africa Report, in 2050 Africa’s under-18 population will reach one billion, making up two-thirds of the continent’s population. The report also noted that in 2050 40pc of all children in the world will be African, up from only 10pc in 1950. It observed that a legitimate youth policy was needed to help the continent and individual countries harness the demographic dividend.

As a dynamic, resilient, energetic and creative section of society, youths can be a social capital. However, they face unemployment, underemployment, poor access to education, health and finance, and poor access to civil and democratic participation. Failing to acknowledge the young as major stakeholders of today, while promoting the narrative of ‘tomorrow’s leaders’ will only further alienate this demographic. Such discourses could create ‘the young and restless’ or ‘the young and the violent’.

Ethiopia’s case is no different. Consider the evolution of the institutional set-ups under the incumbent government. For instance, in the first parliament from 1995-2000, youth issues were not considered important enough to be part of the government’s cabinet. So, youth issues were marginalised to the regional Bureaus of Youth Affairs. From 2000-2005 the Ministry of Youth and Sports was established.

One of the lasting legacies of this Ministry is its success in producing the first ever National Youth Policy of Ethiopia in 2004. From 2005-2010 the Ministry added another portfolio, amalgamating departments, resulting in the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture. In the incumbent 2010-2015 government, youth issues are addressed by the Ministry of Women, Children and Youths. Currently the issue of the youth is given more attention by separating from women and children and forming new Ministry of Youth and Sport. Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

Recently, the Oromia regional state announced its plan to create almost a million jobs for youth, as well as 21,000 youth graduates of higher learning institutions. As reported in the media, the Oromia State of Ethiopia plans to create more than 800 thousand job opportunities with an investment of 2.4 billion Birr. The job opportunities are said to be created in the coming months of the current fiscal year.

Indeed, this massive project of unprecedented scale is intended to occupy the youth force in manufacturing, mechanized agriculture, construction, and mining. For that end, 200 tractors, 1,400 water pumps, and 101 crushers have been prepared.

A similar youth focused work has been reported from the Afar region recently. In Afar State, over 10,000 youths were given trainings so as to equip them with the vision of the country and the opportunities created by the government and the plans set to enhance youth participation, benefits.

More recently also, the federal government announced an allocation of 10,000,000,000 Birr in a revolving fund to meet the self-employment needs of the youth.

The mass training, entitled National Capacity Building and Mobilization Program, benefited more than 10,000 youths, who have leading street life, was aimed at mobilizing support from various actors to create job opportunities.

Indeed, these youths have also received adequate work training from the Ministry of Defence for the past eleven months.

These and various similar activities that target employment creation and empowering the youth are the reason that Ethiopia have received praise from the Director for Economic Affairs of the African Union Commission. The Director for Economic Affairs of the African Union Commission listed Ethiopia among the three countries in Africa that have been performing well in this regard, in particular creating employment for the young generation.

Indeed, the government of Ethiopia is committed to promote the empowering of youth and to ensure their participation in building democratic system and good governance, social-economic and cultural development process.

In the past, proper attention has not been given to addressing youth issues and their organizations. The youth were left to waste their great potential to contribute, even though some governmental institutions had formulated plans to address the problems and needs of youth. However, these efforts were not in an integrated and satisfactory manner. As a result, there were no favourable conditions under which the youth could actively and effectively participate in the process of national development and perform multi-faceted tasks that would help accelerate economic and social development, which would in turn ensure their benefits and that of their society.

 It has been more than a decade since the government formulated a national youth policy in with the broad objective of ensuring the active participation of youth in the economic, social, and cultural life of the country, and to support democratization and good governance.

The basic principles of the youth policy were to ensure that the youth will be active participant and beneficiary of democratization and economic development activities. The policy addressed a wide range of youth issues, ranging from HIV/AIDS to environmental protection and social services.  

The government has also formulated the youth development package to translate in to action the national youth policy based on the formulated strategic plan with the view to alleviate the economic, social and political problems of the youth. The Ethiopian youth development package was also developed through full participation of the youth themselves and their organizations at different forum.

 As clearly stated in the Second Growth and Transformation Plan, the main objectives of the government in the coming five years will be the empowerment of the youth so as to enable them ensure full participation in and benefit from the socio-economic and political process as well as ensuring the welfare and rights of children. Indeed, as Ethiopia marches in the socio-economic stride, the future is brighter for the Ethiopian youth than ever.

Upcoming homework in empowering women as development forces

By Bacha Zewdie

One of the factors that drag a country’s socioeconomic and political development is the various types of discriminations, violence and deprivations committed against women. This affects half of the society from learning, working and contributing to the prosperity the entire community. Furthermore the gender based violence, discrimination and harmful traditional practices committed against women also render them as potential burden to the society by incurring economic, mental and physical problems against them.

With this in mind, the first Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP I), had given due attention to extricating women from all these hindrances and empower them as capable forces of development. This macro level long term plan which was implemented for five years from 2010 – 2015 had set goals in various sectors that are believed to be vital in transforming the lives of women. Among the salient issues that were highlighted in the plan are creating jobs for women in agriculture and non agriculture sectors, promoting girls education, and fighting harmful traditional practices, among others.

Accordingly though the implementation of the plan, it was possible to engage about 8.6 million women in agricultural and non agricultural works. 11.11 million women were also given land ownership certificate. To minimize labor load, 3.4 million women were provided with access to alternative energy and other adaptable technologies.

The increased participation of women in the industrial sector has significantly contributed in trimming women’s rate of unemployment while raising income for many others. In the sector of micro and small enterprises it was possible to train about 1.13 million in business management, 2.2 million in micro and small enterprise, and 1.8 million in self help organizations. By forming linkage with credit and saving agencies 6.62 million women and 80,148 associations that they formed have benefitted from access to loan.  Accordingly they have taken Birr 2 billion loan and saved Birr 2.82 billion.

The measures taken to  eliminate obstacles that prevent women participation in education have succeeded in increasing the number of girls school participation. Accordingly during the GTP I period girls primary school enrolment rate has grown up by 92.1%…, secondary school enrolment rate by 36.9%… and higher education enrolment rate by 32%…

The strategy implemented to eliminate harmful traditional practices against women, was also instrumental in addressing the rate of female genital mutilation, abduction and early marriage, among others. The major activities carried out in this regard include raising the awareness of the society, changing their attitude, increasing women participation in education and strengthening law abiding system.   

These being commendable achievements, there are some hindrances that need serious consideration in the future so as to further boost the role of women in the overall development of the country. Limitations in coverage and quality of agricultural extension service for women, shortage in farming and agricultural product processing, technologies that simplify women’s labor load and considers their interest, refusal of some women to accept land use right offer, and unfavorable supply of loan for some poor women were observed to be potential threats that could hamper the smooth progress in the field.

In addition, girls’ school dropout rate, poor performance of girls in higher education, adaptability of higher educational institutions for women, harmful traditional practices against women like early marriage and physical assaults are among the problems that need attention in the future. Thus, extending the good deeds registered to greater level and eliminating the problems identified from the grass root is the plan for the next time.

In the country’s political arena, involvement of women has reached 27.8% at Federal Parliament, 20.6% at legislative and 9.2% at executive bodies. Though a good beginning, the figure indicates that a lot remains in bringing more women to leadership at each level.  On the other hand, the weakness of women organizations in securing their rights and benefits has posed negative impact.  

Gender based oppression and partiality in the field of politics is a deeply ingrained problem of the country. This has kept its women passive and voiceless further leading them to all the other social and economic problems. To break this historical obstacle and maximize political participation of women gender issue was given attention by the government since 1992. At that time women affairs office which was subordinate to the Prime Minister’s Office was established. Women’s affairs departments were also instituted in regions and federal ministries. The Council of Ministers endorsed the first national women policy in 1992. The Ethiopian constitution that was endorsed in 1994 has also included articles that   duly recognize gender equity. Particularly, article 35 and 9 sub articles have contained legislative decrees that ensure the benefits of women in political, economic and social affairs and protect them from various forms of discrimination and abuse.     

Thus, participation of women in different activities of election has grown up to some extent in the federal and regional elections. For instance, the number of women voters during the fourth general election was 15,252,240 (47.8%) and out of 6,979 candidates, 1,000 (12.4%) were women. National Electoral Board is also working to ensure the involvement of women with disability in election. For example, during the fifth general election, different trainings were offered to women with disabilities according to their problems so that they can make informed decisions.

Women are also being benefited by being organized in development teams. Through the development teams women are organized to solve their social problems, accelerate their economic activities and protect their local peace and security. They also share ideas on different issues like health care, sanitation, maternity care and income generation. These organizations brought about several benefits. The major one is attitudinal change among the community regarding the capability of women in outdoor responsibilities. Through this, women can emancipate themselves  from economic dependency, and subsequently from all kinds of hindrances against their full scale contribution to the development of their nation.  

-  Sources

 – Amharic versions of

·           Report of GTP I & plan of GTP II

·         ‘Tiwlid’ magazine volume 1, No. 1, February 2016 

·         ‘Ethical Service’ magazine volume 1, No 1 January 2013.

·         MOE Annual GTP Report.  

የወጣቱን ተጠቃሚነት ማረጋገጥ ለነገ ሊባል የማይችል ተግባር ነው!!

ሳህለ ማርያም

ወጣትነት በሕፃንነት እና በጎልማሳነት ዕድሜ ክልል መካከል ያለ ዘመን ነው፡፡ የወጣትነት የዕድሜ ክልል በአብዛኛው ከ14 - 29  ዓመት የሚይዝ ሲሆን፤ ይህ የዕድሜ ክልል  ወጣቶች ፍፁም ጎበዝ የሚሆኑበት፤ ታግለው የሚጥሉበት፤ ሮጠው የሚያመልጡበት ነው፡፡ ወጣትነት ዛሬ ላይ ሆኖ ለነገ መሠረት የሚጣልበት ጊዜ ነው፡፡ ሆኖም በደርግ መንግሥት እና ከእሱ  በፊት በነበሩት ሥርዓቶች ወጣቶች በወጣትነት ዕድሜያቸው ሊኖሩት የሚገባውን ጣፋጭ የትምህርት፣ የሥራ፣ የልማት ጊዜያቸውን በአግባቡ ማጣጣም አልቻሉም ነበር።

በእነዚያ ዘመናት ለወጣቶች ይቀርብላቸው የነበረው አማራጭ አንድ እና አንድ ብቻ ነበር፡፡ “ሁሉም ነገር ወደ ጦር ግንባር” ፡፡ በመሆኑም ወጣቱ ባላመነበት እና ያለፍላጎቱ፤ በግድ በውትድርና ሙያ ላይ ብቻ እንዲሰለፍ ይደረግ ነበር፡፡ በግዳጅ እና በአፈና ይመለመል የነበረው ያ ትኩስ ኃይል በቀጥታ ለጦርነት ይማገድ ስለነበር፤ በብዙ ሺህ የሚቆጠር ወጣት መስዋዕትነት ከፍሏል፤ በብዙ ሺህ የሚቆጠሩ ወጣቶች አካል ጎድሏል፤ ለቁጥር የሚታክት ዜጋ ደግሞ ለእስር እና እንግልት ተዳርጓል፡፡  

ከዚህ በተጨማሪም በወቅቱ ተሸመድምዶ በነበረው ኢኮኖሚ ምክንያት በሚሊዮን የሚቆጠሩ ወጣቶች ለሥራ አጥነት በመዳረጋቸው ዱር ገደሉን ቧጠው እና በረሐ አቋርጠው ወደ ተለያዩ ሀገራት ተሰደዋል፡፡ በተለያየ መስክ ሀገሪቱን ሊጠቅሙ የሚችሉ ወጣት ምሁራንም ይፈጸም የነበረውን ግፍ እና በደል መሸከም አቅተቷቸው ወደ አውሮፓ፣ አሜሪካ እና የተቀረው ዓለም ክፍል እንደ ጨው ዘር ሊበተኑ ችለዋል፡፡

ዛሬ ዛሬ በኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ ሠርቶ መለወጥ የሚፈልግ ሁሉ የተለየ የንብረት እና የሕይወት ወይም የአካል መስዋዕትነት ሳያሳፈልገው መሥራት፣ ማግኘት፣ መለወጥ እንዲሁም የሀብት እና ዝና ጫፍ ላይ ለመቀመጥ ይችላል፡፡ ዛሬ ጦርነት የለም፤ ሁሉም ነገር ወደ ጦር ግንባር የሚል መፈክር የለም፤ ቀይ ሽብር ነጭ ሽብር የሚል የሞት አዋጅ የለም፤ ወጣት በየስርቻው እንደአይጥ የሚሸጎጥበት ሁኔታም የለም፡፡ በዚህ ምትክ ሁሉም ነገር ወደ ልማት፣ ሁሉም ነገር ወደ ዕድገት፤ ሁሉም ነገር ወደ ህዳሴ በሚል ተቀይሯል፡፡ ለዚህ ደግሞ መሠረቱ ያለው መንግሥት የተከተለው የልማት አቅጣጫ ነው፡፡ ይህን እውነታ ለማረጋገጥ ሕገ መንግሥታዊ ሥርዓቱን መሠረት በማድረግ በመንግሥት የወጡትን ዕቅዶች፣ ፖሊሲዎች፣ ስትራቴጂዎች እና መመሪያዎችን መመልከት በቂ ነው፡፡

እነዚህ ዕቅዶች፣ ፖሊሲዎች እና ስትራቴጂዎች መሠረታዊ ዓላማ ያደረጉት፤ የሀገሪቱን ቀጣይ ዕድገት ማረጋገጥ እና ዜጎችም በየደረጃው ተጠቃሚ የሚሆኑበትን ዕድል መፍጠር፤ ብሎም ፍትሐዊ የሀብት ክፍፍል የማስፈን አቅጣጫ ነው፡፡ ከዚህ በመነሳት በርካታ መሠረተ ልማቶች ተዘርግተዋል፣ የተለያዩ ትላልቅ እና አነስተኛ ኢንዱስትሪዎች ተቋቁመዋል፣ በርካታ ሜጋ ፕሮጀክቶችም ተገንብተዋል፡፡ እነዚህን ሁሉ ስናስብ የዚህ ሁሉ ሀገራዊ ልማት አንቀሳቃሹ ወጣቱ ነው፡፡ ሁሉንም የሙያ ዘርፎች ወጣቶች  ያንቀሳቅሰሷቸዋል፤ ገቢ በማግኘትም ራሳቸውን እና ቤተሰቦቻቸውን በመርዳት በሀገር ዕድገት ላይ የራሳቸውን ድርሻ እያበረከቱ ይገኛሉ።

ከዚህ በተጨማሪ መንግሥት የፈጠረውን ምቹ ሁኔታ በሚሊዮን የሚቆጠሩ ወጣቶች በአነስተኛ እና ጥቃቅን ልማት ዘርፍ ላይ ተሠማርተው ቤተሰቦቻቸውን ጭምር በተመቻቸ የኑሮ ሁኔታ ላይ አስቀምጠዋል፡፡ ብዙዎችም ከጥቃቅን እና አነስተኛ ወደ መካከለኛ ኢንዱስትሪ ባለቤትነት ተሸጋግረዋል፡፡

ለዚህ ማሳያ የሚሆን ወጣት ላስተዋውቃችሁ። ናትርሼህ አሚን ይባላል፡፡ ዕድሜው በሰላሳዎቹ መጀመሪያ ላይ የሚገኝ ሲሆን፤ የሚኖረው በጅማ ከተማ ነው፡፡ በጊቤ III የኤሌክትሪክ ኃይል ማመንጫ ፕሮጀክት መሥራት ከጀመረ ሰባት ዓመታትን እንዳስቆጠረ ይናገራል፡፡ ይህ ወጣት ባለቤቱን እና አራት ልጆቹን ጨምሮ የ8 ቤተሰብ አስተዳዳሪ ነው፡፡ እናት፣ አባቱ እና አንዲት የአሥረኛ ክፍል ተማሪ የሆነች ታናሽ እህቱ ከእርሱ ጋር ይኖራሉ፡፡ ከሰባት ዓመት በፊት የነበረ ታሪኩን ሲተርክ ሁለቱም ዓይኖቹ እንባ እንዳንቆረዘዙ ነበር፡፡

ቀደም ሲል አባቱ በግል ሥራ ይተዳደሩ እንደነበር ያስታውሳል፡፡ እናቱ ምንም ዓይነት ገቢ የላቸውም፡፡ እሱ እና እህቱ በዚያው በጅማ ከተማ የመጀመሪያ ደረጃ ትምህርታቸውን ይከታተሉ እንደነበር ይናገራል፡፡ ሆኖም አባቱ ባጋጠማቸው ሕመም ምክንያት የቤተሰቡ ገቢ ተቋረጠ፡፡ በቤት ውስጥ የሚላስ የሚቀመስ ነገር ጠፋ፡፡ በመሆኑም የስምንተኛ ክፍል ትምህርቱን አቋርጦ ቤተሰቡን የሚያስተዳድርበት የእለት ገቢ ማፈላለግ ነበረበት፡፡

በመሆኑም በአንድ የአካባቢው ነዋሪ በሆነ ግለሰብ ዘንድ የአናፂ ረዳት ሆኖ ተቀጠረ፡፡ ናትርሼህ እንደሚለው ይህች የሚያገኛት ገቢ ቋት እንኳ የምትሞላ አልነበረችም፡፡ ኑሮው እጅግ የተጎሳቆለ እና አሳዛኝ ነበር፡፡ ቤተሰቡን በዚህ ሁኔታ ማኖር እንደማይችል ስለተረዳ ግራ ቀኙን መመልከት እና ሰዎችንም ማማከር ጀመረ፡፡

አንድ ቀን ችግሩን ያወያየው አንድ ወዳጁ፤ የጊቤ III የኤሌክትሪክ ኃይል ማመንጫ ፕሮጀክት በርካታ ሠራተኞች እንደሚፈልግ እና በተለይ እንደ እርሱ ዓይነት ሙያ ላላቸው ዜጎች ሠፊ ዕድል እንደሚሰጥ ነገረው፡፡

የቤተሰቡ እና የእርሱ የወደፊት ዕጣ ፈንታ ምን ሊሆን እንደሚችል እንቅልፍ የነሳው ወጣት ይህን ዕድል ለመጠቀም አላንገራገረም፡፡ ማቄን ጨርቄን ሳይል ቋጥሮ ያስቀመጣትን ሁለት መቶ ብር ይዞ ወደ ደቡብ ብሔሮች፣ ብሔረሰቦች እና ሕዝቦች ክልል ተጓዘ፡፡ እዚያም እንደደረሰ አካባቢውን አጠያይቆ መደበኛ ሥራውን ጀመረ፡፡

ሥራውን በጀመረ በወሩ ለቤተሰቦቹ አንድ ሺህ ብር ሲልክ እንደተዓምር እንደቆጠሩት ይናገራል፡፡ ከዚህ በኋላ ሥራውን በትጋት እና በታላቅ ፍቅር እያከናወነ በርካታ ጥሪት መቋጠር እና በዚያው ተወልዶ በአደገበት ጅማ ከተማ 96 ቆርቆሮ የፈጀ ትልቅ ቤት መሥራት ችሏል፡፡ ትዳር እና የሞቀ ጎጆ ሊመሠርት የቻለውም ይህን ሥራ ከጀመረ በኋላ እንደሆነ ናትርሼህ ይናገራል፡፡

ይህ ወጣት እንደሚለው ቀደም ሲል ከተቀጠረበት ሙያ በተጨማሪ የግንበኝነት ሥራ መልመድ እንደቻለ እና እስከ ቅርብ ጊዜ ድረስ ማለትም ፕሮጀክቱ እስከተጠናቀቀበት ወቅት ይህንኑ ተግባር ያከናውን እንደነበር ገልጿል፡፡ ይህ ወጣት እንደሚለው የውጭ ሀገር ዜጎችን ጨምሮ ወደ ስምንት ሺህ የሚጠጉ ዜጎች የሥራ ዕድሉ ተጠቃሚ ሆነዋል፡፡ ከእነዚህ ውስጥ ከ90 በመቶ በላይ የሚሆኑት በወጣትነት ዕድሜ ክልል የሚገኙ ናቸው፡፡ እንደእርሱ አባባል እነዚህ ወጣቶች የኢኮኖሚ አቅማቸው ማደጉ ብቻ ሳይሆን፤ የቴክኖሎጂ እና ዕውቀት ሽግግር መኖሩ እንዲሁም ከተለያየ ክልል የተለያየ ባህል እና እሴቶቻቸውን መለዋወጥ መቻላቸው በምንም ነገር ሊተመን የማይችል ሀብት ነው፡፡

ወጣቶች የአፍላ ጉልበት፣ ዕውቀት ባለቤት በመሆናቸው በሀገር ሁለንተናዊ ለውጥ ላይ የሚያበረክቱት ሚና ከፍተኛ ነው። ስለዚህ ይህን ወሳኝ ኃይል በተገቢው መንገድ አልምቶ ሥራ ላይ ማዋል ሀገሪቱ በ2017 መካከለኛ ገቢ ካላቸው ሀገራት ተርታ ለመሰለፍ የያዘችውን ራዕይ ለማሳካት የወጣቱ ድርሻ ወሳኝ ስለሆነ፤ መንግሥት ወጣቶችን ለማትጋት የያዘውን ዕቅድ መተግበር አለበት። ከዚህ በተጨማሪ ከወጣቶች ጋር በቀጥታም ሆነ በተዘዋዋሪ ግነኙነት ያላቸው አካላት ሁሉ ሥኬታማ ወጣት ምሁር፤ ባለሀብት፣ ሥራ ፈጣሪ ለማነጽ የበኩላቸውን ድርሻ ባበርከት ይጠበቅባቸዋል።