An Accessible Space in Bekoji, Ethiopia: Girum's Story

In the bustling community of Bekoji, Ethiopia, there sat an empty munitions storage building, a looming reminder of the civil war that devastated communities and displaced millions. When we visited our local partners in Ethiopia, they showed us the abandoned space and suggested that together, we could turn it into a place of belonging.

Girum is a seventeen-year-old girl living in Bekoji with her family and she uses a wheelchair to get around. Without any accessible programs or even accessible buildings in her community, Girum told us that weekends were depressing because she had to stay inside.

With your donations to the Belongathon, the munitions storage building is now a Child Development Centre – a place where people with disabilities, like Girum, can attend accessible camps, physiotherapy, entrepreneurship classes, and more!