Mestika Negash Akalie, born in Ethiopia, Amhara National Regional state in South Gondar zone, joined school lately at the age of 14 after being out of school for some years due to lack of access to schools and low awareness of families on the value of education.

So far, he has participated on a multitude of national and international learning, advocacy & lobbying workshops focusing on education, child labour, fund raising, child protection, women empowerment, livelihood and other development issues that concerns vulnerable children, youth and women.

He is the founder of Wabe children’s Aid and Training (WCAT), an Ethiopian resident charity organization which was established in 1993. With his initiation, the collaboration of donors, local stakeholders and likeminded individuals, the organization has brought significant achievements in improving access to quality basic education for out of school children in the hard to reach areas by constructing schools. His work also brought improvements in the lives of vulnerable children, youth and women and contributed for the skilled human power development of the country in general beyond individual benefits of the target beneficiaries. In the areas of child labour, thousands of children have been liberated from child labour and accessed to school in South Gondar zone. He feels proud when he sees that the lives of children who were under child labour and under difficult circumstances improved. .