Providing food and shelter to the poor and impoverished children and families of Debre Zeyit is a lifesaving work but… we want to break the cycle of poverty. We want to enable our children and families to become self-sufficient to help themselves and to help others. We can’t accomplish this goal by just meeting their immediate needs and not giving them opportunities to grow, learn and development.
For children, we are accomplishing this goal by ensuring they receive a good education, which is the foundation to an independent future.
For adults, this goal is being met through our Income for Life Programs such as The Spice Project, Beekeeping, Agriculture and Food Production Programs. Another program we offer is the Loom Program. We currently have 20 widows working on nine looms, 5 of which are metal and 4 are wood.
Working on a metal loom.
The women have been trained to use the looms to make scarves, which are a staple for all women and girls in Ethiopia. The scarves are worn in a variety of ways but the most traditional way is wrapped around the head. Surprisingly, 80% of scarves in Ethiopia are imported so by hand looming them, we are able to provide a superior product for a more reasonable price.
A handloomed scarf.
To keep costs low on the startup and future production, our National Director, Dawit Moges, has found a way to reverse engineer the looms and save us almost $1,200 each! Dawit is a blessing to the ministry as he has a heart for people and a mind for business. Using this skill, he purchased a new metal loom from the market for $1,420 and was able to reverse engineer it to create four more looms for just $240 each.
Saving this money means the women can start seeing profit from their work sooner! It has been so inspiring to watch the women’s dedication and perseverance as they learn a new skill that is enabling them to support their family. If you would like to be a grassroots supporter of this program, a gift of just $300 will purchase a loom and start up supplies for one woman to begin working towards her future.
You can make your donation online, via mail, or phone. Every dollar helps!
http://www.blessingthechildren.org/donate
You can also purchase a small selection of scarves (and baskets) made by the women in the program through an online Etsy shop – Weaving Blessings.
Hard at work.
A Wooden Loom.
Blessing the Children International 
What a great program / opportunity. Our family is happy to donate to the loom project! Is there any chance for communication with the project recipients (similar to the child sponsorship communication)? Bless you and this great work. –
Hey Holly, thank you! We appreciate your willingness to be a part of this! Yes, I certainly think it would be possible to have communication with the women in the Loom Project – what a wonderful idea! I will talk with our Ethiopian Director and see how we can make that happen. 🙂