Meet Fadumo Ali Muhamad, a 28 years old casual farmer and a mother of five children, two boys, and three girls. Fadumo is the chair lady of the Gawido Women Sanitation Group who are engaged in environment cleaning. Fadumo has been living in Gawido, a village along the Dawa river in Belet Hawa district,  for thirty years after her parents fled their home in Garbaharey district during the civil war and settled in Gawido village. 

Before starting the environmental cleaning activity, there was garbage and litter in many parts of Gawido village, the environment was not safe, and people were at a high risk of falling ill. Fadumo was selected as one of the beneficiaries for the cash for work environmental cleaning exercise along with her women neighbors’ to reduce unsafe waste disposal in the village and improve its cleanliness. She explained how the activity had a positive impact on the town’s cleanliness and the community’s lives. “We suffered to get a clean environment. Today we are happy to see a clean and pleasant environment.” She beat all the odds by taking care of her house chores and showing impressive leadership by providing guidance and support to her group during the working days. The activity has helped Fadumo a lot. “With the incentive from ASEP/ARCHENOVA, I managed to save money through group savings and use it to manage my grocery and buy food and clothes for me and for my children,” Fadumo said. 

Fadumo, with her husband, also grows crops such as watermelon, onions and sells the produce to the nearby town of Belet Xaawo. The farm produce feeds her family and is sold to members of the community, enhancing their health and nutrition. The savings from the money provided by the activity enabled her to buy farm input and seeds for her small farm and support her small hotel/shop located in Gawido village.

“The success of the group and my business would not be possible without the sanitation activity,” Fadumo said. Fadumo was happy and grateful to ASEP/ARCHENOVA for boosting her financial situation and appealed if the activity can be extended for a longer period and increase in the incentive.