I am whole

My life has been changed completely; [abduction] was a life-shattering experience, but I feel it made me grow and mature. I feel that I am stronger now. Thanks to KMG, I am going to nursing school, which is a dream I had from a very young age.

When I marry, I will marry for love, but my preference would be an uncircumcised girl, and I hope I will fall in love with the right girl.

If I want my people to be tested for HIV, I must set an example, and take the test first, myself.

I had a tongue that I never knew I could use; I had thoughts that I never knew were important enough to share with others until KMG taught us about women’s equal human rights as human beings.

I am happy to be a student. Before the construction of this school we had no opportunity to go to school. Though there were schools far away, our families were afraid of the dangers we may encounter to and from school. Without the school we would have married and started a family. But because the school is open nearby we are able to travel safely and receive our education, with the blessing of our families.

We talk forever about countries where the level of awareness of HIV/AIDS in very high, but behavior change is negligible…I’ve always believed that it would take generations even to show a willingness to address gender equality, and here it seems to have happened virtually overnight! Can the pattern be replicated elsewhere in Ethiopia? It’s already begun to spread. Can it be replicated outside of Ethiopia? Who knows, but it’s certainly worth a try.

This project has been evaluated three times –just recently it was evaluated by a team of experts from the European Union –and it has been regarded as the most successful project that we’ve ever funded in Ethiopia.

I never knew that the law is to protect us; I never thought I could go to court and get justice, until KMG helped me take my husband, who had cut my leg, to court and he was sent to prison.

This is my body, my soul, nobody has the right to damage it. Our parents are supposed to protect us, not harm us. If our culture is a killing culture, I do not want it.

I never felt that I deserved a human entitlement, until KMG came and taught us about our human rights and that we are citizens, therefore we have the right to land, education and everything.

When I attended KMG’s training on woman’s human rights, my husband was deceased, and his family was trying to take his property from me. The training changed my life; I realized that I have full rights to own his property and live my life. It was a great lesson. It made me know myself. I felt I can do anything. I immediately applied my new understanding by going to court to claim my husband’s property. I won the case, and began sharing my experience with women and girls in my area.