We spoke with Fitsame Woldemichael, an Ethiopian diaspora member, children’s book publisher, and project manager. Through WIDU, she supported a young Ethiopian author, Yamrot, in building a social enterprise focused on empowering children through culturally relevant books. In their collaboration, mentorship, creativity, and shared values came together to overcome challenges and foster intergenerational impact.
Kindly tell us a little bit about yourself.
My name is Fitsame and I am from Ethiopia. I moved to Germany 10 years ago and have been staying in Berlin for 6 years to do my Master’s. I am a children’s book publisher and a project manager for a community led project in Sierra Leone and Ethiopia. That’s my full-time job. Since I moved there, I have been publishing books and you only see the relevance of it later when I talk about the projects that I have supported. Other than supporting the project, I have also been working as a focal person for the diaspora to create awareness about the WIDU project for the last two years which resulted in me having a deeper understanding. Aside from that, my background is in childhood and children’s rights. The projects I currently work on are on education and women empowerment in the two countries I mentioned.
Can you please tell us a little bit about your experience in participating in WIDU?
I think my first interaction with WIDU was a couple of years ago. At that moment, I didn’t have a particular family member or friend that I was considering supporting. So, it was kind of in the back of my mind. Then, in 2022, I reconnected with a girl I knew, a young author. She is the younger sister of a friend that I knew when she was a little girl. She still talks about her first interaction with the world of books which was with the book I gave her. And now that she’s grown up and also started publishing books, it was obvious what I had to do. She also has a background in social work but she self-publishes stories part time. It kind of also reminded me of when I was back home. I had my main job but I was always writing and publishing stories. At that time, who knew how much I could have done with a little bit of financial support.
Think of a project that you have supported in your home country. What knowledge and skills did you successfully contribute to the projects?
Apart from the financial side, I also supported her with her strategies. How to market the book, or rather how to kind of make the book available to the community. We also thought about what creative ways we can use to make the books more available to kids, such as the pricing. I was doing all that 10 years ago and a lot has changed meanwhile, so it was an interesting learning process for both of us. Finally, we came up with certain creative ways how we can use street vendors. I consider it a successful project and I’m definitely going to do more with her. She is one of these people that can kind of give you hope on what the younger generation is doing. Very well spoken, very sharp on how to use the limited resources available.
What I learned from this project is that you can also support by being a mentor for someone outside of your family. Like everywhere else, it is also through networking, right? It can also be a person in your field or area that you’re passionate about.
At the end of the day with Yamrot, we have the same target group with a different location, right? So, in the next term, we kind of want to explore what we can do more aside from the WIDU project. It gave us the potential to explore what I can do with her books and what she can do with mine. So, it’s kind of grown into an intergenerational collaboration.
Are there specific challenges you have experienced in supporting projects in your home country and how did you overcome them?
The challenge we faced is probably a challenge anybody would face. Because after we started a project, there was an increase in printing costs and the printing sector in Ethiopia is very unstable. At some point, the price was so high, we didn’t know what to do. But I think a lot of people also face it in a way. So, in this sense, it also helped that she was very creative in exploring different ways. It’s not only about giving the money, that’s easy but it’s also about going through the process together and trying to find solutions.
What motivates you to continue investing in the development of your home country and what advice would you give to other members of the diaspora who would like to make similar contributions?
I only assume it’s a given for a diaspora member, someone living outside of their home country. It’s kind of a feeling of wanting to continue my life here but there’s something positive holding you. I think most of the people in the diaspora have the same feeling. There is always this connection that makes you desire to see things change. I think, this is the biggest factor that would kind of motivate you or push you to do something. And also, what I love about the project is the inclusion of the diaspora. Overall, I would say that everyone living outside their country wants to be there for their friends and families and for the community in general. So, if I see for example, the availability of books here and how people have access to so much knowledge, then I will want kids in my home country to grow up and have that access, too. It’s also about the younger generation like Yamrot who can really make a difference and when you pass through that, it’s a kind of mentorship. I feel like we owe it to the younger generation to share what we’ve learned or what we’ve achieved in supporting financially.