Hagush

A few weeks ago, I met a brilliant young man from Gondar, Ethiopia. Sintayehu Gudeta, a 19-year-old orphan who dreams of becoming a software engineer. Playful, smart, and an avid reader of Amharic fiction, Sintayehu quickly struck me as someone who is determined to give life his best shot no matter how many hurdles he must face on his path. Right now, that means learning how to program without a computer to call his own.

I met him via Zoom in a meeting organized by the director of Bridge of Hope (BoH), the orphanage in Gondar that Sintayehu calls home. The reason for the meeting was simple. A few friends and I have been working to donate refurbished computers to Bridge of Hope (at present, BoH doesn’t have regular access to computers or the internet). We’d wanted to meet some of the youth to see if they were interested in online learning, so that we could curate some educational resources for them.

That morning, in what turned out to be a remarkably fun meeting, I learned Sintayehu’s story.

Sintayehu joined Bridge of Hope when he was only six years old. He is a bookworm, a fan of stories, and a devoted student who loves learning for the sake of learning. Despite limited resources, he’s doing his best to make it in a world that has been hostile to him since birth. He wants to go to university, work hard, and give back to his community. He not only wants to become a successful software engineer, but also an educator. When orphanages in his area have access to computers (something he hopes will happen by the time he’s done with his degree), he wants to teach young orphans how to code, so they get a chance to explore the world of computer programming early on.

Sintayehu and 11 of his peers from Bridge of Hope are headed to university this year.

But here’s the thing: this young man who dreams of one day becoming a software engineer will be going to university without a computer.

The computers that we’re donating to Bridge of Hope will be of little use to him because he will be at a university, miles away in another city.

I've created this GoFundMe page to help Sintayehu get a laptop and achieve his dream of becoming a software engineer.

This is where y’all come in. It starts with a choice to show a small act of kindness to a young man with a dream. No amount of money is too small. $5 will go a long way. I have found an organization that sells good quality, refurbished laptops starting at a unit price of £95 each ($130).

Our priority is to raise enough funds to purchase a refurbished laptop for Sintayehu (total = $162 including shipping costs).

If we reach our goal, we will also purchase refurbished laptops for Sintayehu’s peers, who will be starting university with him this year (total = $1,782).

And if this GoFundMe ripples out and we surpass our goal, we want to make Sintayehu’s dream of teaching young orphans a concrete possibility. We will give computer access to as many orphan youth as we can, so that when Sintayehu graduates from university in three years’ time and ventures out into the world as a newly minted software engineer, he can volunteer his time and expertise to his home. We will purchase desktop computers (at a unit price of $75 dollars) for orphanages that lack computer access, starting with those in Sintayehu’s hometown of Gondar.

Thank you to all who are able to contribute and share!

Please note: All donations are eligible for 501(c)(3) tax exemption as I’m organizing this fundraiser through Hagush, a non-profit organization that works to provide computers to orphanages.

P.S. Unrelated to computers, but relevant info nonetheless is that Sintayehu is a die-hard fan of Manchester United. As an Arsenal fan, I’m obviously not too thrilled about this. However, save for this vice, Sintayehu is alright :), and I’ve no doubt that he will go on to do great things given a chance.

Again, thank you for choosing to make a difference!