Ethiopian Schools Project

                               Working with local people in Ethiopia to build

                                     a hope and a future through education

 

  ”For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord,

  ”plans to give you a hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29v11

 

 

August 2011

The team with their co-workers and friends in Shasemene in August. Kevin and Christine led the team of 8 from N.Ireland.There were 4 first timers on the trip, including our long time volunteer, 16 year old Paul. Claire, Claire and Catriona, two nurses and a teacher also made their first trip. For Helen and Mairead it was their 2nd time as they had both been over the previous year.

Earlier this year we started to support a second school with 150 pupils.This now brings the total number of children between the two schools to around 500!! The team were warmly welcomed by both schools. This is our second school at Tesfa, Shashemene

The children are eager to learn and extremely grateful for the opportunity they have been given to receive an education.

The children at the Alelu Kebele school enjoying the enclosed playing field. Charnot and friends have fun with the ball they’ve been given.

Medical checks were carried out on the children at Tesfa by nurses Christine, Claire and Catriona.They diagnosed and treated a wide variety of ailments.

A party was held for the members of the deaf community who Helen, Mairead and Paul spent a lot of time with during the trip. In a culture where the deaf are very much ignored because no-one can communicate with them, this was an amazing experience for each of them.

The team were deeply moved by the plight of the starving children in the local hospital, many of whom were suffering from starvation due to the ongoing famine in Ethiopia.They were able to distrbute food and blankets and comfort the mothers who were helplessly watching their children suffer.

A team will be going back in January 2012 and be working very much with the hospital in addition to our schools.

January 2011

A team of 6 visited Shashemene in January providing medical checks, educational training for the teachers and practical support.

Matthew and Sabrina completed health checks on all 320 children.  

    The children, in the second school we now support, playing with Duplo for the first time

    Most of the classes have around 50 children. They love the bright colourful rooms

   There’s always painting to be done.Christine and Matthew making the second school more colourful.

     Sabrina, Seman and Matthew at “bunna” (coffee) ceremony. A very special occasion in Ethiopian culture.

   As eldest person there, Kevin always has the privilege of cutting the bread and getting the first cup of bunna!

        The children now eat their dinner every day in the new dining  hall.

      Nicola and Christine with some of the educational equipment they brought out.

     There weren’t many photos of Moore! ( Yes, Hilda he CAN paint!)

   

                             

 

September2010

A group of nine people from N. Ireland visited Shashemene 11 – 24th August 2010 to engage in summer school activities and practical input.

We had a wonderful time involved in the following:

Daily sports and games and fun activities with the kids

Organisation of Medical room for basic healthcare

Daily sessions of teacher training

Communication sign language training for local deaf people

Painting of toilets and shower blocks

Nail painting  and jewellery making for local ladies

In addition we had a great family day involving our 287 kids, their siblings and parents. We had a great time of fun and games and provided food for all….around 1000 people! It was quite an experience.

           

While we were there, construction began on our new block for Kitchen, Dining room, staff room and store. This building by local contractor should be complete before end of November. This will help towards self-sufficiency for daily food provision for the kids and will be good for long term economic efficiency.

Earlier this year our local committee here in Shashemene was successful in obtaining more land adjacent to our school. This has now been fenced in and just about doubles the ground area of our school and gives the children a safe area for outdoor play and PE

Back home in Randalstown, our charity support shop continues to be busy  daily with collection and sales of furniture, clothes, toys, books,bric-a-brac and household items. We continue to receive good support which enables us to push forward with plans for further development of our school in Shashemene.

 

January 2010

Kevin and Christine visited Shashemene 23rd – 30th January to review progress at the new school since it opened in Sept’09.  We now have 287 pupils attending and have plans for future development over coming years, possibly up to 600 maximum.

On this short trip Christine spent time working alongside our newly appointed housemother Ainelem, helping her into her new role in caring for children’s health and wellbeing, including hygiene and care of uniform & appearance. Kevin brought a basic toolkit and worked alongside  the school caretaker to carry out some necessary finishing work to classrooms and toilet/shower block as well as some basic shelf construction and furniture repairs

We also had lengthy discussion with our local committee on a range of issues including our plan to build on a kitchen for preparation of meals. At present food is purchased from the local town. In the long term having our own kitchen will reduce future costs and assist towards independent meals provision. We also discussed improving the present dining area for the children which is one of the classrooms.

 

September 2009

Hope and a Future’s new school opened in Shashemene in September 2009, and now hosts 285 pupils who were not previously receiving any formal education. The school building has been funded entirely by proceeds from the shop in Randalstown, and voluntary donations from local people. This is a tremendous credit to the people of Randalstown and the surrounding areas, who have consistently supported this project. The difference this will make to the lives of the pupils in the school, their families, and their communities, is incredible.

Pictures of the new school and its pupils will follow shortly – watch this space!

 

February 2009

We have seen some exciting development since our previous entry:

The situation in Shashemene now is:

1.We now have 210 children attending school in our rented building, 45 began in Sept’08 in addition to 165 who began back in Sept’07. The children are making good progress following standard Kindergarten curriculum under the locally employed teachers

2.The new school construction is well underway and may be completed by early June’09 if we can continue to meet the finance needs.

The new buildings can accommodate up to 320 children, initially our 210 children will transfer in Sept’09 and a further 40 will start so we will have enrolment of 250 for the school year 2009 – 2010. Further children will be added over coming years up to capacity.

The new school is approximately ½ mile from present school within reasonable walking distance for all the children from the present school

Following this transfer of children the present rented building will close.

We have also included on the new site plan a 3^rd block of classrooms which may be built over next few years, this would bring capacity up to around 500.

We are very excited about this development and plan to include many ideas to promote this site for the benefit of all the local community through after school classes, adult literacy, health promotion and other relevant concepts.

Other developments:

Three of our local N.I. project members were in Shashemene in January 2009 to view the progress and meet with local committee as well as children and their families. We are very pleased with the progress being made in all areas.

While the project has also presented challenges along the way, all obstacles have been overcome. We have formed a strong bond and unity with all our partners and volunteers who share our commitment to this project and the children and people of Shashemene.

Developments in our local support here in N. Ireland:

Since 9^th June 2008  we have opened our very own charity support shop in Randalstown and have been receiving great support from the local people. The shop is open each day, Mon – Sat, 10am – 5.00pm and is staffed by unsalaried volunteers from across the community.

This development is giving the school project a good financial boost with regular income for as long as we can have the shop premises.

We are able to sell a range of furniture, household items, books, toys, dvds, clothing etc and we welcome any donations which will help support the ongoing costs of the school project.

This is the main source of funding for our school project and all income goes directly into the project account except for any necessary shop expense eg. Light & Heat.

 

October 2008

Much has been happening since our previous entry in January 2008.

The 30% deposit required by the Ethiopian local government has been sent, 50% from Hope and a Future in Northern Ireland, and 50% from Schools for Humanity in the USA.

This was a payment of US$28,000 each – total deposit of US$56,000 – 30% of the estimated total cost for the new school of US$186,000.

The progress towards construction has been slow, due mainly to administrative bureaucracy. To move the process forward, three of our N.Irish team went out in May for meetings, and two members of the USA team were out in June. Together, we have been taking steps to move the project forward.

The situation in Shashemene now is:

1. The full required deposit is in the local bank
2. The land site for the new school has been identified and made available
3. The process of fencing off the land will begin on the week of 4th August
4. The construction plan is going out to tender with local builders

Other developments:

1. A team of 6 people from Northern ireland are going to Ethiopia for 2 weeks, 4-19 August 2008, to assist with the fencing process, but also to run a summer school for the local children, including a sports day with trophies and medals provided by a N.Irish sponsor.
2. We have made a decision to continue to lease the temporary school while the new school is being built. This will avoid disruption to the children’s education, and will enable us to faciliatate a larger number of children.

Developments in our local support here in Northern Ireland:

On 9 June 2008, Hope and a Future opened its very own charity shop in Randalstown, Co.Antrim. We have been receiving great support from the local people. The shop is open each day, Mon-Sat, and is staffed by volunteers from across the community.

This development is giving the school project a good financial boost, with regular income for as long as we have the shop premises.

We are able to sell a range of furniture, household items, books, dvds, clothing, etc. We welcome any donations which will help support the ongoing costs of the school project.

 

January 2008

In January 2008, Kevin, Christine and Winston visited Shashemene to view progess in the temporary school and to have meetings with the school committee to discuss the new school project.

161 children are presently completing their first semester and making very good progress, particularly as they have only been in school for 4 months. We were really thrilled to see the enthusiasm and commitment from the children and the four teachers who each have a class of 40 children.

We had a lengthy discussion with the committee in relation to temporary school issues and the new school project. The committee have been busy over the past year obtaining approval from various goverment agencies and at this point, all approvals have been obtained.

The priorities to move the project forward from here are as follows:

1. 30% deposit of total budget is required to go into local bank account. This will be shared 50:50 between Ethiopian Schools Project N. Ireland and Schools for Humanity USA

2. The school committee will complete a final submission of a 3 year plan to the local government office.

3. Upon completion of 1 & 2 the area of land will be formally identified and secured for the school site

4. An architect will provide a detailed construction plan

5. The school construction will be put out to tender and a local construction company selected for the contract.

Now, back home in N. Ireland our immediate priority is to raise our part of the 30% total budget and to send this over to Shashemene before the end of February. Our co-partners in the USA are engaged in raising their share of the deposit at the same time.

If you would like to contribute to this fund, please contact us by email: info@hopeandafuture.co.uk

 

September 2007

We hope that the permanent school in Shashemene will be up and running by the middle of 2008. In the interim period, the committee in Ethiopia have secured the use of a temporary building for the school. Christine and Sybil travelled to Ethiopia in Sept 2007, in time to see the temporary school open its doors to its first eager students.

While in Shashemene, Christine & Sybil were able to deliver school uniforms for the children, which had been provided through the financial support given to the Hope and a Future project in Ireland. They also spent time with Wondimu and the other committee members, discussing the immediate needs for the temporary school, and the ongoing efforts required to establish a permanent school for the children of Shashemene.

The following photo albums will show you both images of the temporary school, and of the children receiving their new school uniforms. Wondimu and his committee have been estalishing relationships with local businesses to make arrangements for school uniforms to be made, so that the permanent school will be able to provide these from within the local community.