A JOURNEY TO SELF-EMPLOYMENT: LETAY WOLDU STORY

“Before the training, I thought my only choice was a government job. Afterward, I realized opportunities are all around—I just needed the courage to begin a new chapter.”

Letay Woldu lives with her family in Tahtai Maichew, Wokrow Marai Kebele 03.

She graduated in 2021 with a degree in Chemical Engineering, full of hope and ambition. However, the northern region was unstable, and finding a job was very difficult.

One of her fellow graduates, who had also studied Chemical Engineering, began making soap on her own. Letay admired her courage from afar, but without the money to start, she could not follow the same path. She recalled those days: “So I sat quietly, waiting, for two long years.”

Everything changed when the MaYEA program reached her kebele. Implemented  by The Well in Action in the Shire Cluster in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation under ORDA Ethiopia’s leadership, the program selected her to join in 2024. She attended soft skills training, followed by beekeeping and allied value chain training in poultry, sheep, and goat fattening, among others.

That was the turning point. She reflected: “Before the training I took on the soft skills, I believed my only option was a government job. But after, I realized there are many opportunities. I felt empowered to take control of my future.”

After the three-day soft skills training, Letay participated in a six-day beekeeping training. It brought back old memories. “My family once kept many hives, but over time most of them disappeared—only one remained,” she said.

The training showed her that with proper care, bees could produce plenty of honey. “I also learned that transitional hives can be made at home instead of bought, cleaning the hives and planting bees’ forage, and that clean containers are essential for storing honey.”

Encouraged by her new skills, Letay also joined poultry training. At first, she was doubtful. “I thought chickens were not profitable,” she admitted. But determined to try, and with the support of her siblings, she borrowed 110,000 birr, purchased 500 one-day-old chicks, and bought their feed.

Forty-five days later, she sold the chickens and earned a 25,000 birr profit. “It wasn’t easy— the market had challenges—but the venture showed me the potential. At peak times, 45-day- old chicks sold for up to 250 birr each,” she said.

Letay Woldu poses with day-old chicks feed, Wokro Marai kebele, Michew woreda, Shire, Sept. 16, 2025

Motivated by this success, Letay took a loan of 93,500 birr, facilitated by the MaYEA Program through Kifiya Digital Financing, and combined it with borrowed money to raise 1,000 dual- purpose chicks for both meat and eggs. That was when her mindset shifted completely. “I stopped waiting for employment. I became self-employed.”

Today, Letay rents two rooms for her poultry business at 5,000 birr and is already planning the next stage of her journey. “I want to expand into goat farming and strengthen my beekeeping activities. I will not spend money on personal luxuries until my debts are cleared and my business is secure.”

She now stands as a determined entrepreneur—no longer the graduate who sat quietly, waiting for opportunities to appear. “This is just the beginning,” she says with pride. “I am building my independence, step by step.”

        Letay’s day-old chicks Wokro Marai kebele, Michew woreda, Shire, Sept. 16, 2025

The MaYEA Program is implemented by ORDA Ethiopia, ICIPE, and IIRR in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation