Nurias Salia worked as a cook for a family in Saudi Arabia before returning to Ethiopia and to her home-town of Butajera.
She worked in a restaurant when she first returned with her family, but subsequently set up her own business after joining a local Self Help Africa savings and credit co-operative.
Nurias has taken out a series of loans from the SACCO, and has used her most recent loan to purchase a large fridge at her ‘Hayat Restaurant’ business.
'The fridge has been very good for business, and people come in at all hours of the day to buy cold soft drinks from me', she says. The fridge has also allowed her to cut down on waste, as she has a place to store foodstuffs until they are needed.
A practicing Muslim with a business that caters for a mainly muslim clientele, Nurias Salia currently employs eight staff – but says that she expects this number to grow in the coming year, as her business is growing all of the time.
'I now want to buy myself a coffee machine for the restaurant, and after that would like to convert some of the rooms into bedrooms, so that we can also operate as a guest house. The opportunity is there - it is very exciting', she says.
A mother of five, Nurias estimates that after paying her staff and all of her overheads, she is currently earning a clear profit of 1,000 birr (€82) from her restaurant every month. |
Self Help Africa in Ethiopia |
Self Help Africa began working in Ethiopia in the mid-1980s, and the organisation's model for integrated rural development programmes was first developed in the country.
The organisation is currently engaged in implementing a series of area based programmes, and measures to build capacity at regional level, so that communities can improve their lives and the living standards and conditions of their people. |
