Often, Letikiros would arrive at the spring and wait up to 8 hours for her turn. Sometimes, she’d find the line of pots and women so long that her walk down would be in vain, and she’d climb back up the hill and head to the Bembya River for water.

The Bembya River was much farther away. It was a 6 hour round-trip to the West and boasted an even deeper descent, but it also showed a much prettier view as the rocky path led towards the foot of the towering Simien Mountains. Although the water wasn’t clean, there was no shortage of it and no waiting time as the river flowed freely through the deep gorge. On these long water walks with her friends, Letikiros would talk and dream about a better life for the people of Meda.

“Things will be changed for us if we work hard and fight to improve our lives!” she would say.

She walked four days a week for water, and attended school part-time the other three days. Since there was no school in Meda then, reaching the classroom in a neighboring village was another 6 hour round trip walk. In order for Letikiros to be able to attend school at all, her mother would pay to rent a donkey each week which could carry four pots of water on a single trip from the Bembya River. But there simply wasn’t enough money to relieve Letikiros of her water duty altogether, and she quickly fell behind. By the age of 13, she had only completed the third grade.

Following tradition like her mother, Letikiros was also given to be married at a young age. But her mom wasn’t going to see history repeat itself and chose for her 13-year-old daughter a young and handsome priest’s servant named Abebe. They were childhood friends, so falling in love was easy. Abebe was thin and tall and walked softly. He had a kind, gentle voice and thankfully bore little similarity to Letikiros’ father.

“She was beautiful to me. We were in deep love,” he said of Letikiros.

They married at the village church in January, and Abebe moved in with his new wife and mother-in-law. Although most girls in Meda immediately dropped out of school when they got married, Letikiros insisted on continuing, and even with another member in the house now, the new and larger family continued to rent donkeys for water so she could attend class. Abebe spent his days serving the priests at the church, earning precious little money. Letikiros spent her days walking and waiting.

In the evenings, they ate together and dreamed about an easier life.