Abebech, the female bajaj driver
Dawit Girma
Yirgalem Birhanu
A bajaj is a three-wheeled vehicle.
It is used in town to move fast from place to place.
In our community, driving is a male-dominated activity.
Females are usually not involved in it.
One day, Abebech asked her parents to give her money to take driving lessons.
Her parents said to her, "This work is not good for girls. What would people say?"
However, Abebech said, "I have the ability to do anything other people do." She convinced them.
Her parents permitted her to start taking driving lessons.
Abebech successfully completed the training.
Her parents discussed what to do next.
Afterwards they agreed to buy a bajaj for her.
So, Abebech started to drive a bajaj on Debre Birhan roads.
One day Abebech had a great idea.
She posted at the back of her bajaj a notice with her phone number on it.
The notice read, "I transport for free, pregnant women, mothers who have delivered, and children."
Women and mothers whose children got sick all called Abebech.
Abebech earned money by transporting people.
She continued to give free service to people who did not have money.
Abebech was very happy with her work. The elderly blessed her. Everybody talked about her work all the time.
Abebech told them, "Doing good pays off."
You are free to download, copy, translate or adapt this story and use the illustrations as long as you attribute in the following way:
Abebech, the female bajaj driver
Author - Dawit Girma
Illustration - Yirgalem Birhanu
Language - English
Level - First paragraphs
© African Storybook Initiative 2018
Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0
Source www.africanstorybook.org
Original source This story was developed at the Ras Abebe Library in Debre Birhan with the help of Janet Lee and funded by a grant from the International Library Cultural Exchange Interest Group of the Colorado Association of Libraries (USA).
