Tamru’s story

Tamru is 11 years old. He comes from a village near Awassa where his family is still living. He was a first-grade student. Instead of continuing his education, he got attracted to the life offered by the bigger city. His father worked for a while in Awassa at the fish market. Sometimes he would take the boy with him, where he could see other children who lived on the streets. He noticed that they received money from people, so he decided to befriend them and share their fate. At some point, Tamru’s father stopped working at the fish market. The boy wanted to stay in the city to such an extent that he tried to manage on his own. He has moved to his grandfather who lives on the outskirts of Awassa. Yet, the man does not have the necessary means to live and to send the boy to school. Consequently, Tamru’s days pass by in the proximity of the fish market. When we visited his family, his father insisted that Tamru had moved to Awassa without their permission. We do not know much about Tamru’s relationship with his family before he left, or what was the real reason behind the boy’s decision to abandon his home. He is living at the center and attending school for a year. We are planning to reunify him with his family when the school year ends. We are praying for him, working with him, and are carefully trying to examine his situation to be able to provide him with proper care and help in the future.