Brick by brick

Unemployment among young Ethiopians is high. There is a lack of jobs, especially away from the larger cities. This is a social time bomb: frustrated young people are losing confidence in the government and, in the worst-case scenario, allow themselves to be recruited by extreme forces. In order to offer women and men prospects and show them how they can get on their own feet economically, Menschen für Menschen organises practical vocational training and provides support in setting up micro-enterprises.

The machine vibrates and rattles, pouring the mixture of cement, pebbles, sand and water into the moulds. The men top up with shovels, one of them pulls a lever and presses the mixture into hollow blocks. “Seeing them so perfectly formed in front of me is always the best moment,” says 35-year-old Sesu Bekele. Dressed in overalls to protect against the dirt, he carries the finished specimens out into the sun to dry. “Let’s go,” he calls out to his colleagues. Together, they have been running the brick production facility in Alga, in the heart of the Nono Benja project area, for just over a year.

Sesu grew up around 18 kilometres from the small town, one of six siblings. His parents were farmers. They grew teff and maize on their small field. The harvest was just enough for the whole family. When his father suddenly fell ill, Sesu had to drop out of school. He helped in the fields and earned some extra money for the family in a flour mill. “That was a really difficult time,” he recalls. He moved to Alga in his early twenties. Here, he believed, there were better job opportunities. He helped out on building sites, usually assisting a carpenter. This allowed him to gain experience and earn a little more money than before. But his job as a day labourer did not offer a secure income.

When he heard about the vocational training programmes that Menschen für Menschen was planning at Nono Benja, he immediately registered his interest with the district authority. Together with the Foundation, it selected the most suitable candidates based on their previous knowledge. In a 20-day workshop, Sesu and the other men then learnt about the different brick shapes. They saw how to mix cement and the other ingredients correctly and how to operate the press. They also learned how to draw up a business plan in a training course for entrepreneurs. The authorities then allocated them a plot of land, Menschen für Menschen set up a small warehouse made of corrugated iron, provided the machine as well as shovels, wheelbarrows, water barrels and some sacks of cement and sandstone aggregate.

Like many small towns in Ethiopia, Alga is growing steadily. New apartment blocks are being built, government offices and schools are being expanded and shops need premises. And as the men are the only ones who make bricks locally, they now have orders for more than 2,000 pieces. They have already delivered around half of them and earned 65,000 birr, the equivalent of around €1,000. The men spent almost 28,000 birr (€430) on raw materials, and they also pay themselves 130 birr (€2) a day as wages. If business continues to go so well, they plan to buy a larger machine at some point.