Background of REAL Founder, Tsehai Wodajo

Habitat home provides a springboard for local, global educational opportunities

As a child in Ethiopia, education was a value that was instilled in Tsehai Wodajo. She and her sisters had to travel great distances to get to high school because there was not one in their area. “Even though my father had four girls, he still wanted us to be educated,” Tsehai recalls. “Education is something that I take great pride in.”

As Tsehai started her own family, she applied the values that she learned at a young age to her own children. “I was determined to provide all of the necessary opportunities for my children to succeed in their education,” Tsehai said. One of those necessities was a stable home.

In the early nineties, Tsehai was living in a cramped two bedroom apartment with her mom, dad and three children while she attended college. Even though she was an extremely busy woman, Tsehai took the time to apply to Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity. She was accepted into the program and in 1995, Tsehai’s family moved into their new home.

Since the move, her family has been extremely successful. Tsehai was able to complete her master’s degree at Augsburg College. Her daughter, Derartu, completed high school, graduated from St. Cloud State University and went on to receive a master’s degree in International Business and Project Management from St. Mary’s. She now works at State Farm Insurance.

Tsehai’s next oldest, Fufa, is in the process of going back to school, working and is also getting married in August 2010. The youngest, Fedha-Waaq, is a junior in high school.

Currently, Tsehai works full time for Hennepin County, out of the Hopkins Police Department on a program called the Joint Community Police Partnership. The program’s goal is to facilitate understanding and communication between the multicultural residents of the city of Hopkins and the police.

With her educational background and willpower, Tsehai was able to start her own nonprofit organization, Resources for the Enrichment of African Lives (REAL), with eight different sites and 120 girls currently in the program in Ethiopia. An additional site will be added in January.

REAL’s mission is to educate and empower African people, living in the United States and in their native countries, to lead productive and satisfying lives, building strong communities. “If we can reach out to these people, we can make a difference,” Tsehai said with excitement in her voice. “There are many people that are passionate in making a difference. That’s why I decided to start this organization. Education is something that no one can take away from you; and women and girls need education the most.”

Tsehai hopes that by teaching the girls in the program about education, they will become self-sufficient and have the tools to break out of poverty and oppression.

Besides helping her native country, Tsehai has also given many hours to Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity. “Habitat is so, so dear to me,” Tsehai stated. “I have referred several people to the program.”

Of all of the people that Tsehai has referred, at least ten of them are now living in Twin Cities Habitat homes.

In ten years, Tsehai hopes that, “My kids will be married and have their own children. They will come back to the house that they once called ‘home’ and visit.” She also hopes that her youngest will pursue a master’s degree and beyond.

For herself, Tsehai hopes to expand her organization within Ethiopia by reaching out to more families and communities. With all of her previous successes and determination to empower girls and communities, this dream definitely seems within reach.

Contributor: Laurie Krinke
Reprinted with permission of Habitat for Humanity of Minnesota

Unforgettable Moment

It was midnight, one evening in June 1990. I sat at my regular place of prayer. There was a clear sky with stars warming my heart and I thought, “This is the only comfort I think I have available to me” after long days of work or after beatings I received from someone I thought would be my soul mate and friend for life. I had experienced this for over twelve years. All of a sudden I started to question why I had to put up with this. I asked God to show me a way out.

My mom once told me how she asked God to send her a rope that could pull her out of a similar experience. And then to her surprise, God heard her prayers and got her out of the situation.

My prayer this particular night was for God to reveal something to me. And then I remembered that I had a health condition that I had forgotten about for a couple of years. The voice in my head said, “What if this condition is a way out for you?” Listening to the voice, I went to a doctor the next day and was told that I had to go abroad to deal with my health. And this is how I ended up in the United States. I will always remember that day I asked God to give me solution to my problem.

God gave me an answer to an abusive relationship and also the courage and desire to stand for other girls and young women so they would not have to tolerate humiliation or mistreatment. REAL grew out of my experience and sacrifice. I am forever grateful for those who also are standing to make this world a better place for girls, women, men and humanity. Because of those who stand with us, we are improving the situations and life experiences of many girls and their families.

This past week I spoke to five of the eight mentors that work with REAL girls. Most of the girls are doing well in school, home and community.

Tsehai Wodajo, REAL Founder and Executive Director

REAL July 2009 Newsletter

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News July 2009-3.Doc

Why I sponsor a girl through REAL

I have always been pulled to make a difference in people's lives. There are so many ways to do that in this day and age, and I was looking for a way to make a real difference in a person's life in another country, who did not have some of the advantages that I had been born into (free education, clean water, food, clothing, etc.). When I learned about the opportunity to sponsor a young woman's education through REAL in Ethiopia, I knew this was the right place for me. I believe strongly in education (my father was a teacher) and the gifts that it can provide and also, in sharing what we have with each other.

When I read about what a difference educating an Ethiopian girl can make in her family and indeed, her whole community, I was completely on board. And when I received a letter from the young woman I was matched with, I was overwhelmed. Here was a voice - a real person - reaching out over the ocean - to thank me for sharing a dollar a day. It meant food and clothing for her family, and an education for her so she could fulfill her dream to become a teacher. A dollar a day for me is coffee, a pack of gum or maybe just pocket change. I have to admit that there is rarely a day that goes by when I don't think of her and her family and all the other girls and young women who are being sponsored with her. I know REAL's program is growing and is successful. I only wish that more girls could be sponsored sooner!

Cheryl Kyle, REAL Board President

Inspired by one woman's journey

When I heard Tsehai's story... I was very moved. Here was a woman, who has been through so much in her own life, committed heart and soul to providing education to girls in Africa. And not only education - her vision is to empower all African people! She knows, from first hand experience, what a huge difference it makes in a persons life to be given a chance for education, to build community and what it takes to immigrate to another country and establish a new life. Now she can draw on her own experience to create programs that build bridges... between families, communities and countries. How could I resist joining the board of such an organization? Tsehai's dream of empowering people is my dream as well... we all work to provide programs for today and tomorrow that will stop the cycle of poverty, the spread of disease and harmful practices. Best of all - these are programs that will allow others to reach their dreams as well!

Cheryl Kyle, REAL board president

Editor's note: Tsehai Wodajo is the executive director of REAL

About Us

Resources for the Enrichment of African Lives (REAL) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation. The board includes immigrants from Ethiopia, a former Peace Corps volunteer to Ethiopia, and other friends. While REAL envisions a broader pan-African focus in the future, it is presently concentrating efforts with people in and from Ethiopia.