PROJECT UPDATES: MOBILIZING - PLANTING - MAINTAINING

• implementation - September 8, 2008
• 6 month update

implementation - September 8, 2008

one tree planted = one child's future...and now you've helped plant 16,000.

"Not only will the trees and tools help provide income for our school, but the planting and knowledge helps in many more ways. It provides practice for farmers and teaches them models for the environment; it shows them diversity in food and encourages healthy fruit consumption; it also teaches people to value all trees so they cut down fewer village trees and helps us control soil erosion"
Ato Welde Kidane, PTA

Real results, real impact:

• 4,418 children impacted
• 16,000 trees planted
• 77 PTA members trained

In total 77 PTA members in 11 communities gained knowledge of leadership, financial management, ecology, gender equality, project sustainability and income generation. 16,000 fruit and shade seedlings and 560 agricultural hand tools purchased by donors like you combine with that valuable training to create sustainable livelihoods that ensure children can attend school and flourish while there. Together we have impacted the lives of 4,418children.

By 2010 the 2,000 trees planted in each of the 11 communities, will provide every student with a piece of fresh fruit every day as well as enough surplus fruit to sell at local markets to generate income for PTA initiatives such as library expansions and ongoing maintenance of school property. The members of these communities understand the potential return on your investment in trees. Each household has taken personal responsibility for specific seedlings and are committed to their survival and longevity.

girls go green

Ato Welde Kidane, Wazza Primary School's grade one teacher is happy to have recognized a special group of avid young students that have shown dedication and promise in their school's new tree planting project. After three days of tree planting training from imagine1day's Program Coordinator Ato Yeheyis Berhane and regional agricultural specialists, Ato Welde shared his newly acquired green knowledge with his students. Six young girls stood out to Ato Welde. Their keen interest and nurturing cultivation skills were valuable assets when it came time to plant the 2,000 seedlings on Wazza's surrounding school grounds. New tools in hand, this group of planters dug in and made a difference. With the full participation of their community, the girls lead and accomplished the planting initiative in no time at all. Alganesh, Ganet, Ameta, Mangesha, Asadi and Birtuken worked side by side, digging while giggling. For women in Ethiopia, time spent in the field creates special bonds and empowers women to help one another. This group of six is well on their way to success and Welde knows it. To thank them and encourage fellow students to follow in their green foot prints, the Wazza PTA has given each of the six girls tree seedlings to plant in their family plots. With the new knowledge they've acquired, these girls will play a significant role in helping their community overcome nutritional and economic challenges. Go green; Go girls!

Birtuken's Story

"My name in Tigigna means orange, I love oranges and soon we will have a forest of orange trees and people will always remember who helped them grow"
Birtuken, age 7.

With new hand tools and key knowledge, young children like Birtuken are taking ownership of development projects that are greening and growing their communities. Along with blackboards, desks and shelves, wheel barrels and shovels have become essential classroom necessities as valuable life skills become integrated with lesson plans.

Every child imagine1day spoke with was excited about watching the trees they planted grow and bare fruit. Every child had their favorite. Oranges, papayas, mangos, avocados and guava trees comprise the list of closely watched seedlings. During school ecology class students will continue to learn how to care for the trees and structured time will be provided to ensure each seedling receives adequate watering. In communities where water scarcity is an issue, imagine1day is digging wells and constructing water points.

In two years grade one student Tseru will be entering grade three and his zeitun (guava) trees will already be bearing fruit. "I will be happy to eat zeitun every day in grade three and grow even bigger to finish all my school grades." Not only have you contributed to a project that is helping trees to grow but even more so, it is helping children grow.

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6 months later...your trees and communities are flourishing

a short environmental history - why is Tigray so dry?

The scarcity of water in this region is partly a result of water runoff due to the mountainous topography. A 17-year civil war saw deforestation in the past, wherein ruptured community structures meant unsound land management practices. Deforestation further aggravated water runoff, taking with it soil and nutrients essential for plant growth.

Planting trees at our community schools and their surrounding areas plays a crucial role in protecting against this cycle of soil erosion and environmental degradation. Tree roots protect against washouts by keeping water in the soil and render imagine1day's construction projects carbon neutral with their uptake of carbon dioxide.

mobilizing community dedication

Mobilizing a community means inspiring its active participation to take ownership of its development…It is therefore a vital first step in promoting not only our environmental aims, but fosters the growth and wellbeing of our young learners as well. We can provide tools and seedlings, but without a dedicated community to nurture young trees and young minds, survival in the arid mountains of Tigray is severely compromised. The Parent Teacher Associations (PTA) in each of our communities participated in tree planting and hand tool training sessions and spread their knowledge beyond the schoolyard. Here are some stories that showcase the results of their infectious enthusiasm.

Zeggaw

No community we work with has shown more initiative than the community of Zeggaw. After just three days of training, seven motivated PTA members enrolled the entire community to build a four-room school to replace their open-air school. As we supported Zeggaw with infrastructure, the community repeatedly topped our efforts. So it was no surprise when our field team visited Zeggaw and saw the seedlings you supplied just six months earlier nurtured into papaya trees standing almost three feet tall! This accomplishment is even more outstanding when we take into account that Zeggaw's only water source is a natural spring more than a kilometer and a half from the school site. To achieve these results, Zeggaw's teaching staff organized the students into special groups and assigned a plot of trees to each of them. Each day, students collect water from the spring on their way to school and tend to their trees. "Group Sustainable Development" and "Group Chip Wilson" rally in healthy competition for rewards like pencils and crayons. Ato Goitom Berhe, Zeggaw's School Director, reports that once parents saw the potential of the trees they were compelled to invest their own resources in seedlings. Ten families at Zeggaw are now borrowing tools and growing their own fruit trees.

Wazza

Wazza Full Primary School is an example of success on all fronts. The active PTA and keen School Director, Halefom Gezai, report that all of your tree seedlings are surviving despite the dry climate and lack of water nearby. Row after row of seedlings are tended daily by little hands carrying water and clearing weeds. Around the school yard, hand-painted signs inspire children to "water trees for sustainable life." Wazza also has a successful tool-borrowing program for parents who want to improve their own land for growing. Community enrollment has been very successful, but the good news does not stop there. At Wazza, the mobilized have become the mobilizers. The local government recently joined us in awarding Wazza Full Primary with an Award of Excellence for turning their energy and commitment to our program aims into a model for all schools in the area. In fact, at that very ceremony, government officials started some mobilization of their own. Fuelled by Wazza's success, they are currently reviewing their budgets and planning funds to start similar tree planting programs at every school across the woreda. Central to their proposal is an Experience Sharing Program that will allow other schools to visit Wazza or teachers from Wazza to mentor fellow teachers. Your investment in Wazza Full Primary School is compounding with sweeping impact across the woreda.

Aggo

PTA training has cultivated a spirit of innovation in the pro-active community of Aggo. Following the drought which left this community with virtually no rain to nourish the seedlings planned for this year, Aggo's land was not found to be suitable for planting. But this did not stop the steadfast PTA. Instead of giving up, they made improvements they could more readily control. With local resources they constructed two additional learning classrooms, dug the pit for a new latrine that is now under construction, and planned income-generating activities. Aggo is a candidate for a new water well this year and they are determined to see their world in green next season.

success stories

Making full use of the agricultural training and hand tools you provided, Parent Teacher Associations developed a variety of income and fundraising programs in their communities. These are some of their impressive accomplishments in the last six months:

donations decrease vulnerability

Drought and migration were especially serious this year in Ethiopia. As the annual harvest is dependent on an unreliable rainy season, a failed harvest puts inhabitants immediately at risk. Many imagine1day communities receive food aid from international sources and several of our schools benefit from Word Food Program's "In-School Feeding Programs". These solutions will save many lives this year. Looking forward, imagine1day's goal is to remove the dependence on an unreliable rainy season and build sustainable, self-sufficient communities. Outfitted with proper tools and training, these eager communities can combat the soil erosion that exacerbates drought conditions. By making schools the centre of water access and mobilization efforts, we ensure that new generations build the capacity to fight the poverty and dependence that has plagued Ethiopia for too long.

-posted on a heart-shaped sign among the growing seedlings of Melba Primary School

Thank you for investing in the budding young trees and vibrant communities of Tigray. We're blessed to watch them flourish before our eyes and are delighted to share their success stories with you. We'll write again in six months to fill you in on the further impact your contribution is making.

Wishing you a happy Earth Day on April 22nd.

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