One of the first off the beaten track workshops I was excited to discover after moving back here 10 years ago was Entoto Beth Artisans – a small compound with women from Entoto working on creating innovative jewelry made from local recycled materials and scrap metals including coffee beans and bullets excavated from the Entoto Hills!
This business began with the inspiration and help of their NGO partner (Beza Entoto Outreach) and they still work closely with BCDA to transform the community on Entoto.
We have all seen the women backs arched carrying loads of branches down the Entoto Road. Most residents of Entoto have come to St. Mary’s Church on the mountain seeking healing from their disease through a regime of fasting, praying and bathing in the holy water near the church. Or they come with afflicted family members. Many women have left their rural communities and family members for the chance to be healed or because they have been outcast by their families… and they find solace in the Entoto community with others who share the disease. However the chance for meaningful employment is slim and often the only resort for earning money is through begging or carrying back-breaking loads of firewood on their backs into the city for less than $1.25 per load. This is where Entoto Beth Artisans comes to light and provides these women with viable and sustainable opportunities.
Bethlehem Berhane started Entoto Beth Artisans with the vision of empowering these women living with HIV so prevalent in the Entoto hills above Addis. She began providing counselling and once the women gained confidence she offered fair wage employment and technical training which enabled them to reintegrate into their communities and to become self-supporting earning a living to support themselves.
Nigist Haile, founder and executive director of CAWEE says: “Betty is focused, persistent, strong, assertive in achieving her dreams and stubborn when it comes to her visions. She also has endurance. She’s not the kind of person who just gives orders. Her leadership style is service-oriented. She’s a role model for her employees.”
Artisan Tizita explains, “it is like being part of a family we are friends to each other. We are always discussing our social problems, we find a solution together. It is priceless when you compare it to my life alone years before.”
Today the organization employs over 200 employees and they offer much more than just coffee bean jewelry!
Find their products at the monthly NGO Bazaar at IEC church in Sarbet or visit their workshop near the Egyptian Embassy
0118965097 or 0912605468
