Haymanot's next chapter

This campaign is to help an amazing young man in Ethiopia called Haymanot start the next chapter in an already pretty incredible life. I can't do it alone – and I'm hoping you'll help & share in his story.

I first met Haymanot in Ethiopia in 2006 – see photo above. He was 11 years old and didn't ask me for money (or anything else) – he just told me about his village and hopes for the future.

Fast forward 10 years – and against some pretty remarkable odds – he has graduated from university, and just started a business in the capital city,  Addis Ababa.

This wasn't meant to be Haymanot's life. He is the son of very poor subsistence farmers in the Ethiopian highlands – and was living hand to mouth.

Though we only met for a few hours that day, he made a big impression. Not long after,  I decided to help Haymanot.

Haymanot before he started university

For almost 10 years, I supported him – paying for his accommodation, food, clothing, healthcare and education.

Today, Haymanot is a university graduate and has just set up his own tourism business in Addis Ababa. Now he's working, we no longer support him, but there is one final chapter in this story.

The business, and the life that Haymanot has been working towards for 10 years, needs one last push to get off the ground. The set-up costs include purchases like a minibus to take tourists on excursions – something that is prohibitively expensive in Ethiopia.

He has shared a business plan with me, and we need to raise £18,000 to cover all of the costs. Unfortunately, this is more than we can afford alone.

I know this is an unusual request – helping a young entrepreneur to get his business started isn't a traditional "charity" appeal. But if you want to directly help change someone's life – a young man who has already beaten so many odds – I hope you'll contribute whatever you can.

Below, I'll tell the story of how Haymanot and I met – and what he's achieved since then.

I hope this will help you see the same spark in Haymanot that I saw ten years ago – and want to share in his future success.

Haymanot (left) leading one of his very first tourism trips 

==  Meeting Haymanot ==

When I turned 30, I took a trip to Ethiopia with my best friend. As we travelled, we met a lot of enthusiastic kids who wanted to practise their English, and (sometimes) ask us for money. 

Haymanot didn't ask for anything. We were walking from Lalibela to a hill-top cathedral, and he just joined the hike. He spoke softly, and told me about his life and family.

Haymanot and me hiking outside Lalibela in 2006.

Sometimes you just know someone is smart. Even though Haymanot wasn't getting proper schooling, he had a spark – we talked for an hour or so, exchanged addresses and that was that. 

A few weeks later, I arrived home in London. And then I received an email from Haymanot:

"Dear my Paul,

Hope you are ok with your job. Today I am send you scarp for Anna by tourist not by post.

Hope the parcel is arrived at the short time.
I wish you al the best!

 Yours Ethiopian friend haymanot!"

Anna is my partner. And the "scarp" turned out to be a lovely Ethiopian scarf. Haymanot didn't have money for stamps, so he improvised the postage – giving the scarf to another British tourist and asking him to post it to us when he returned to England.

After this, we began emailing regularly.

He began to tell me more about his ambitions – to study, to have a better life, and about his problems. This is an extract from an email on 6 June 2007 (I've left in the English mistakes):

"I don’t know about the future. Sometimes when I ask myself about future life I become shocked. Sometimes I couldn’t get my lunch and sometimes my dinner. When I lift my dinner I can feed my hope. 

"As I have told you before my parents are living in the country side. They don’t know about the importance of education. So their ideas are to be a sheepherder.

In my assumption I don’t want to be back to my parents because, after a month there is no one to support me. And I couldn’t feed my self."

Haymanot (left) taking part in 'cultural day' at school in 2011

== Trying to help ==

I wanted to do something.

During my original trip to Ethiopia I'd met an Englishman, Mark, who was working for the charity Save the Children in Addis Ababa, and also running a brilliant community tourism project (called Tesfa).

We talked about helping Haymanot move to a proper school in Addis – and worked out all the costs. 

I was worried about playing God with his life, and wanted to make sure his parents were happy with the idea. They were and Haymanot didn't let me down. 

Every month for almost 10 years, I transferred an allowance to Mark – and Haymanot would collect it. (I'm very grateful to Mark for his advice and time over the years – all of which he has given for nothing.)

Haymanot excelled at school in Addis. He then did well enough in his exams to get into a private university in Addis Ababa, studying tourism. And last year, he graduated with top results.

Haymanot on graduation day!

Throughout these years, Anna and I have had two children of our own (now 5 and 3). Haymanot calls them his "little brothers". In some ways, he truly is like a son to us now. 

How could meeting someone so briefly turn into this?

Over the last ten years, we have spent around £10,000 of our own money supporting Haymanot, paying for his life as he went through school and university, and covering small medical emergencies. But we've never regretted it once.

Haymanot's professional tour guide licence 

Last year, Haymanot got engaged – and he recently married. And he has one last ask.

To get his new business off the ground, Haymanot needs some backers, so he can make some critical purchases. This includes a vehicle so that he can take tourist groups on wildlife and historical excursions out into the country. (In Ethopia, these vehicles are very expensive because everything is imported and subject to government tax).

I am hoping that enough of you will be inspired by Haymanot's ambition, courage and determination to want to contribute – even a little – towards his future success.

It would mean a huge amount to me, and absolutely everything to him.

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Note: If we raise the money, I'll be sharing lots of photos and updates from Haymanot – so you can see how the difference you've made to a very special young man.

Haymanot was really happy his father (right) was able to come to his university graduation ceremony.