Groundbreaking Report
DOWN TO EARTH DEVELOPMENT
With our first school a resounding success, imagine1day has broken ground at our second project in the northeast of Ethiopia with a mountain of momentum.
Thanks to your generous contributions and caring support, construction is buzzing along. Out of the gates running, imagine1day is sprinting to keep pace with the committed community of Adi-Ajero to ensure a brand new school is ready for their children this fall. Already mobilized and trained is an enthusiastic Parent Teacher Association and they are busy planning and overseeing a school they know will be their own.
When imagine1day first visited this remote and isolated community, a village elder commented, "You have made this trip, nobody else has visited us in 25 years. When you go back over the mountain, please do not forget about us." Indeed, we have kept our promise and as a result of your donations, not only did imagine1day return, but it arrived with truck loads of cement, stones, beams and all the makings of a school. Soon this deserving community will have the school their children so greatly need.
donkeys to the rescue
"Many people feel donkeys have played a large role in the emancipation of women in Ethiopia"
Road intact, the terrain of Adi-Ajero still requires a bit more manoeuvring in order for the supplies you purchased to make it to the construction site. No need to worry as imagine1day's contractor has the solution; no more arduous road construction, or costly machinery; donkeys are the answer! imagine1day's respected contractor has purchased 10 donkeys to help with ease of delivery in this tricky landscape. After construction is completed, he has promised the community the donkeys as a gift. We're proud that imagine1day's partners are taking a true interest in each community. In Ethiopia, a donkey can cost at least half of a family's annual income, but are considered the most important possession. Able to carry large loads over long distances, donkeys are an integral part of the trade and transportation system. In fact, Ethiopia has the world's second largest donkey population with more than 5.2 million of the industrious animals helping families sustain livelihoods by carrying goods to and from markets. This is especially important to female led households as donkeys have enabled them to participate meaningfully in the market system and support their families. Many people feel donkeys have played a large part in the emancipation of women in Ethiopia; there is an old Amharic saying, "if a donkey can't carry it, my wife will have to." When the women of Adi Ajero learned of the plan, they understood the burden they would be released from. Maebel, a female PTA member commented, "This gift will allow the school to use fully the products of the agricultural planting planned to create income without further burdening the mothers and grandmothers of my village, it is very good." The legacy these 10 donkeys to the community school of Adi Ajero will be substantial.
school for life: an 8 year olds' experience
Although some problems are complex in Africa, imagine1day would like to say that some are very simple. Your support is the first step to enabling communities to find the solutions they need. Forget formulae for debt to GDP ratios, imagine1day has discovered how simple equations can make a difference in rural Ethiopian settings.
Our eight year old friend Daniel knows how he can help his family have a better life too. On imagine1day's visit, we asked Daniel how school impacted his life at home. Without missing a beat, he knew exactly where his lessons had come to use in his family. Addition. Subtraction. Multiplication. Daniel was proud to tell us he was first in his class in math and that he was able to help his parents with his new knowledge. In the rough, dry landscape of Adi-Ajero, eucalyptus trees and fruit-bearing cacti are valuable resources and two of the only plants that thrive naturally. By helping his parents with simple math, Daniel was able to help them determine accurately the number of trees necessary for building their shelter as well as the surplus they may be able to sell at local markets. Daniel's skills also came to good use when collecting prickly pear cactus fruit to sell at the market. Education is a powerful and valuable tool for entire families. Parents are recognizing this quickly as Daniel pointed out, "my father was very happy that I was learning such helpful things and now he saves the oil in our lamp for me to study because it is very important."
For the children and families of Adi-Ajero, this is just the beginning. We are confident that imagine1day will soon be telling you about all the other ways Daniel's education is making a difference to his village. Stay tuned.
the hard road to development
Adi-Ajero consists of five linked villages nestled between the majestic mountains about 30 kilometres from the nearest town centre of Adigudom. When imagine1day first visited this community four months ago, access meant a 2.5 kilometre hike up and over one of these mountains. It was a visit well worth the effort to meet the beautiful people of this village who welcomed an organization that would work with them to provide a primary school for their children. During the visit, the community pledged their steadfast devotion, agreeing to build a road to accommodate the transport of the materials needed to build the school. Without hesitation, they committed not only each person's labour, but continued support to the school's construction contractor. Today, this road is complete. This was no small feat.imagine1day has learned that 1,500 Adi-Ajero men and women worked in shifts of 20 for almost two months to carve the necessary road into the mountain. With simple instruments like shovels and pick axes the road came to life. They admitted they possessed no specific skills but they had ample labour to contribute and were pleased to do so. After expert advice from Woreda zonal engineers, the community continued to work to ensure each turn was safe and would support truck after truck of building supplies that you have donated through imagine1day. This road to development may have been difficult but it was a challenge Adi-Ajero tackled and accomplished. The community knows that this road is the catalyst for future self-sufficiency through expansion of their agricultural and commercial potential. This is one road that paves a direct path to a positive future.
Adi-Ajero today and tomorrow
imagine1day knows you must be as excited as we are that your school is now underway in Ethiopia. We also want to share with you how excited everyone in Adi-Ajero is right now as well. To fully take in the gravity or your gift, it's important to understand the tangible difference it will have.
35 million Ethiopians are deprived the dignity of adequate sanitation facilities and the villagers of Adi-Ajero are among them. Girls in particular are kept from attending school where latrines do not exist, as privacy and safety are important cultural concerns. Teaching children, teachers and parent teacher associations about latrines directly impacts the prevalence of parents building latrines in their own homes. The result is the increased health of entire communities. Hand in hand with sanitation is water. Clean, safe, running water. Of course this makes us happy. Now imagine you're one of the children that walk long distances each day to a hand dug well only to find it has insufficient water to fill your family's canister. Consider that without that water your school day under the hot sun means both dehydration and poor sanitary practices. Water at the touch of a tap, right at your school seems like a miracle. School is getting more and more exciting right? Now imagine, your school day is spent in a three meter square structure built of branches that is half protected from the sun by an old tarp; you teeter on a stone for a chair and your only learning resource is an old blackboard. You've made it diligently through grades one and two only to find that this is as far as your education will take you. Continuing means walking two hours each way to a neighbouring village and on top of daily chores, this trek is not permitted by your parents. But wait, generous donors half way around the world have supplied all the materials for a complete primary school right in your village that will have the capacity to teach 378 children. It has proper furniture, protective walls, a sheltering roof, and teachers newly trained in a student-centered approach to learning. School is now your favourite place to be.
When imagine1day visited Adi-Ajero, villagers repeatedly spoke of how the new school would be a palace. This comparison may at first seem grand, but in the context of what it means to the children, parents and teachers of this remote village, a palace seems quite an accurate description.