Yisak Seyoum is a young Ethiopian Orthodox seminary student from the small rural Aynalem kebele who sells quotations from the Bible. He explained his street-side enterprise to Girmay Gebre for the Amharic service's Monday feature, Kebele Lives.
Yisak, 24, pays 1.65 birr to ride the minibus 5 kilometers to Mekele to sell his illustrated religious quotes. He has been selling his religious quotations in front of the cafes of the city and along the streets. He walks down the street and stops to explain his colorfully illustrated quotations to passersby.
He sells about 30 quotes each day and takes the minibus back to Aynalem kebele to write more than a hundred more quotes on paper.
The quotations com from the bible and other religious sources. His favorite is "To live long on earth, keep God's promise not to have sex outside your marriage"
