One day, Destu lost her shoes. While it would be unheard of for students to attend private school without shoes, Destu was so eager to learn that she walked barefooted all the way to school, unphased by either pain or potential bullying she might encounter because of her poverty. Sata and Aynalem quickly bought her a new pair of shoes.

A few months into the program, small government housing opened up, and Destu and her family moved to a promising new home. Unfortunately, this housing was in a bad neighborhood, and one day as a male neighbor was harassing Destu, Fetiya hit him in the face with a stick causing blood. Fetiya was promptly seized by the police, being held in confinement at the police station while waiting for her sentence. For months she stayed there, and her daughters, having no where else to live, stayed with her at the police station too. Every day, Destu would leave the police station to attend school, and every evening she would return and spend the night in those quarters with her mother. PATH worked hard with the local government’s women’s and children’s affairs office, but not much could be done. Finally, when Fetiya was officially sentenced guilty, she was moved to the prison, and her daughters would no longer be allowed to leave during the day. Destu, in her spunky spirit, boldly asked Aynalem if she could live with her while her mother carried out the last few months of her sentence, and Aynalem tenderly brought Destu into her home to take care of her for this time.