Help Build House for Student in Ethiopia!

Hello friends and fam! I’m back from the Facebook dead to ask ya for your money…. again!!!

But for real. ;)

In short: My friend, Biruk, is being offered a free parcel of land in Lalibela, Ethiopia. However, he is being required to build a dwelling on the property this summer in order to keep the gifted land. He is a full time student with no financial means to build a house at this time.

Longer version: I met Biruk several years ago while he was driving me in a Tuktuk to a village near Lalibela where I was teaching local midwives. Biruk was in his early twenties at the time, and as he drove my friend Abebe and I to the village, he told me that his dream and goal in life was to become a nurse. I told him that if he was sure he wanted to pursue that, I’d help him find a way to go to nursing school. He was sure, and shortly after that time, he was enrolled in a nursing program in the capitol of Addis Ababa. Since then, I have been sponsoring him through nursing school and he is now slated to graduate from the nursing program later this year.

As some of you may know, Ethiopia has been in a civil war for the past year or so. For a couple of months, Lalibela was taken over by the TPLF terrorist group and Biruk was sent from Addis (where he attends school) back to Lalibela in order to give aid to wounded soldiers. Biruk spent several weeks in Lalibela volunteering as a nursing student. The hospital and government in Lalibela must have been impressed with this young man and his service to his community, as the government of Lalibela gave him a parcel of land as a kind of “thank you” for his work during this time.

The government of Lalibela gave the land, free of charge, to Biruk. However, if he wants to keep the land, he must build a home on the property. This summer. I don’t understand exactly all the reasons why the government gives land conditionally like this, but I do know that if he builds a dwelling, then he is able to keep the land, indefinitely, and will not ever have to pay tax on it in the future. Whoop!

Bottom line: we need 3,000 bucks to get this brothers house built this summer.

***ALSO, larger picture: Biruk is hopeful that he can work to build a clinic on this property in the future. If approved, this lot could also be a clinic location that could be operated by local Ethiopian nurses and midwives. ***

Thank you for taking time to read this. Any amount you can give toward this need will be greatly appreciated! Blessings! ❤️