Youth Speaks: Chandos

Chandos came out to Ethiopia on the CRED Team Trip this July, to get involved with the Women
At Risk project.

Here are his thoughts on the trip, and the impact it had on him. It was definitely a significant time for Chandos, so read on to hear from him.

My story!

 

You would think that after taking part in one of the previous CRED Team trips to Ethiopia, I would know what to expect and if I am honest the stories I heard, the things I saw have changed me. 

I have always been  told that change is good, and after about just a day into the trip I did start to question if things will ever change? My fear was soon shown a brighter light when we got to the school on Monday and the young people at the school came to greet us with smiles, that could light up a room and one young boy came up to each member of the team and gave us a hug. It was then that I began to see that even in pain or fear nothing can stop you from trying to be stronger and be happy regardless of the world around you.

 

I  know we see and hear the stories of millions of the new and on fundraising charity programs and events like Comic Relief or Children in Need, and we build up an image of what their lives arre like day in , day out. Even I used to see people living in extreme poverty and feel a mixture of feelings and hurt, but it doesn't really hit you until you are sat in a families house in the middle of the slums hearing a story of injury,death and suffering. In that moment you realise the true extent and meaning behind why people give up everything to help people in these positions.

 

I have always wanted to be a Social Worker, so that I can help to make change in our society in the community that has helped me and those around me. I remember that on one of the nights at the hotel we were sat telling one another of one thing we will take away from the trip, something that we would take back to the UK to share with the world. I remember  thinking the moment the plane lands back on UK soil I am not going to stop sharing the message of the people I had met and what they had helped me to learn in just a week.

 

it is funny how life can put challenging situations in your way and those that we met, spoke and lived with for those 10 days gave us an insight into how life in comparison to yours or mine is for them. Both times that I have been to Ethiopia I have seen those with wealth living a lifestyle of luxury and the lifestyle of those who live off nothing which to us would be less than £1 a day. This is no life for anyone no matter who you are. Yet this is the place that thousands of people call their home - a place of life, love and hope and in each person I met there was not one who didn't hold these values close to their hearts. 

 

One thing that hit me more than anything was the faith to believe that better things can come from anything even when it feels like you can not see light of the situation, and it was about half way through the week that my faith in God and Jesus grew
From a young age I always had faith in the word of God but it was around 7:30 in the morning and I had decided to join the prayer group and it was then that my faith grew. This gave me the strength to see that although there may be so much poverty this might not always be the case as the work  that CRED and other organisations do are helping to change or at least decrease the amount of people living in poverty. 

 

When you see the true hardship of the people in places like Ethiopia it leaves you feeling a whole load of emotions but these are both good and bad. This was hard for me to see at first especially when I learnt the story of Abel, a young man supported by Women At Risk. His story was one that left me speechless. I remember sitting with him and one of the social workers who work for Women At Risk and I  didn't have any idea of what he goes through day in day out. Nothing could have prepared me for what I was told about. 

He spoke about his parents separating and how his mother moved away living him and his younger sister to live another member of his family. If that wasn't enough for a young person to cope with he then had to go back to living with his father as the member of family who was looking after him and his sister moved to live elsewhere. What came next brought me to tears; he said that he gets beaten on a regular basis and has to leave school before everyone else so that he can take care of his younger sister and cook and clean. I asked when did this all start he replied " from my 17th birthday". 

He is now 18 and the thing that got me is this is someone the same age as me yet he is beaten, his pride taken away from. 

HOW can this happen? 

At the end of the week after hearing his and some of the other young peoples stories I did not want to leave! But I know that one day, once I have finished my degree, I will go back to Ethiopia as it's like a home to me now. 

Chandos and Abel