Second Saturday Shout-out: Jonah Larson
For the month of February, we are giving our Second Saturday Shoutout to Jonah Larson, who has used his crocheting skills to raise money for development in Durame, the Ethiopian town that he was adopted from.
14-year old Jonah Larson was adopted from Ethiopia when he was six months old and raised in Wisconsin. When he was five years old, his aunt introduced him to crocheting, and with the help of online tutorials and a lot of practice, Jonah developed his skills. Three years ago, Jonah founded Jonah’s Hands LLC, which allowed him to sell his crocheted designs and raise money in order to give back to the Ethiopian neighborhood. he was born in.
Jonah’s Hands partnered with Roots Ethiopia in order to build a library and science lab in the nearby school in order to provide a better education for the town’s students. The library was completed in early 2020 and features over 3,000 books and trained library tutors to help students who fall behind. The science lab was completed in August of 2021 and contains different equipment and supplies like microscopes, goggles, and other basic tools to help the students learn and get a more hands-on education.
Additionally, the organization built a new bathroom for the schoolgirls that meets better safety standards and provides more privacy.
Jonah stated in November of 2022 that his next goal is to raise enough money to build desks for the students, due to the fact that three classrooms don’t have any desks and the children must sit on the floor to learn. He is currently accepting donations for this project on his GoFundMe, as well as selling his crocheted work on his website, which sees a part of the proceeds go towards the organization’s various projects as well.
We believe giving back is so important, and Jonah choosing to help out those in the town he was born in really makes it a full circle moment. We are very excited to see what projects Jonah completes in the future and are thankful for him and everyone else who donated to his cause. Now the students in Durame can get a better, safer, and more comfortable education!
