Four years after Wenzel Waldstein first visited Ethiopia and had the first idea about an own aid project, PROJECT-E was getting started in Addis Ababa, looking for a potential local partner organisation for its project implementation. The project had been planned by a group of students and aimed at empowering former orphan girls, who don’t have a right to a children’s home’ place anymore when they have finished high school. An educational training for these young women ought to open new perspectives for them. The three-year-long vocational training to become a secretary and the national diploma which they received after graduation offers a great chance for an independent life. PROJECT-E designed the concept of the training with a great focus on practical training which the students gained in regular company internships.

Moreover, the young women are constantly supported personally and financially. The former is ensured by the cooperation with a social worker and a mentor programme with successful business women. The latter is guaranteed by a shared living space for the students and monthly transport and food money. The AOSTD College has been successfully led and constantly developed by PROJECT-E for over four years before it was officially handed over to Selam Children’s Village for full project management in October 2015. Up to then, over 60 students have graduated the secretarial science college and all of them were able to find jobs or even built up their own business. All of them have become self-determined, strong and independent women with clear goals and the skills to achieve them – we couldn’t be prouder of the students.