Ayele had to work very hard instead of studying. He washed beef tripe, carried beer crates and barrels, and endured his boss's scolding. By the age of 13, he was the family's main breadwinner. "I want to go back to school," he said: a chronicle of a difficult childhood – with a happy ending.
Ayele Terefe, 13, tells:
"I often ask myself: Why do I have such a hard life? Other children go to school. I go to a café. Every day, without a break. Even on Sundays. From early morning until late at night."
I get up at five o'clock. Then I wash beef tripe, kidneys, and other offal. Many guests eat this for breakfast. After that, I work as a waiter. I bring food, I clean, I carry crates of beer. Sometimes it goes until midnight.
I get 1500 Birr a month for that. And food, three meals a day. I almost never get tips. I give the money to my family. I only buy shoes myself if I need them.
I went to school until the fifth grade. I wasn't bad; I was fifth best in my class. But then I couldn't go anymore. We didn't have any money and I had to work. Now it's been three years. I want to go back to school. I want to become a doctor. Or a pilot. In any case, I want to study.
We live in a building under construction. No windows, no doors. There's a tarpaulin in one corner, and we sleep underneath it. My mother is always afraid my little brother will fall. He's already crawling, and there's no railing. There's an open floor below us.
My father is no longer alive. He drank heavily. That's why my mother ran away. He died later. Now we're living with Bekele, my stepfather. He's a security guard here at the construction site. That's why we're allowed to live here. But he doesn't get paid. Besides, he's ill. He has high blood pressure and sometimes he just collapses.
My mother works in homes. She cleans, she bakes. But now she's sick herself. She hasn't had a job for two weeks. She says she hopes to start working on a flower farm soon.
I'm usually down in the dumps. I'm happy when the number of customers in the café starts to dwindle. Then I know I can go home soon. Or when I know the truck with the beer crates isn't coming. The crates are really heavy, my arms ache. Or when I can watch football with my boyfriend. Manchester City is my team. I like it when they play combinations.
I'm often sad. When the employees at the café scold me. When I do something wrong. They say they'll cut my wages. They don't, but I'm still scared. Sometimes I cry.
My mother says it hurts her that I have to work so much. But there's no other way.
I just hope I can go back to school. That's my biggest wish.
