Building a school is the easy part. Sustaining a quality learning environment that addresses the needs of girls and boys requires vision, commitment and partnership.

CREATING THE FUTURE

On the far side of an Ethiopian mountain, hidden and forgotten, Adi-Ajero was a village that stood still in time. A cycle of poverty, unbroken by neglect, had plagued its people for generations. This year you ended that cycle, you chose not to ignore their plight. They have shown their gratitude by taking full advantage of this opportunity.

Using the skills acquired during their three days of training provided by imagine1day, the Parent Teacher Association has formed several committees to maintain and improve the school and to expand its impact on the community as a whole.

The Labour Committee has already supervised the building of a school fence and coordinated the care of the 2,000 newly planted tree seedlings that you funded. The Sanitation Committee created "Friday Cleaning Day" to organize and tidy the four classrooms, latrine and school grounds instilling pride and responsibility in the students and parents. The Curriculum Committee is busy tracking the performance of the children while the Question and Answer Committee has organized an inter-school trivia competition with neighboring villages.

Meret, Adi-Ajero's Principal told imagine1day "I am anticipating a first place finish in the competition. The students' grades are greatly improved due to being free from disturbances that come from learning outdoors under a tree, as well as teachers being able to give frequent quizzes." Meret explained that previously, without desks or writing surfaces, teachers were discouraged from creating learning materials or marking tests or homework. In rural communities, retaining teachers can be difficult, but this year, despite its remote location, the teachers of Adi-Ajero are feeling fortunate with their placements. Each has taken on the task of supervising one school club. The Drama and Literature Club is collaborating with the Anti HIV/AIDS and Child Rights Club on a series of small performances that will bring awareness and fight the stigma of having a family member who has tested positive. The new Sports Club has organized Adi-Ajero's first girls' football team and together with the boys' team they are getting ready for matches with the community of Adi Keyih, a one hour walk down the mountain.

From a new Grade 3 classroom to the football pitch, the momentum in Adi-Ajero is growing. When opportunity comes along as infrequently as it does for a forgotten village like Adi-Ajero, not a single ounce is squandered. A desk given is a catalyst for change. A new latrine is an opening to girls' education. You have interrupted the cycle of poverty and for Adi-Ajero the future is something they are not just looking forward to but something they are creating for themselves.

goal keepers

Inspired by imagine1day's commitment to goal setting, the day after inauguration Adi-Ajero's Parent Teacher Association met and was eager to develop their vision, mission and objectives. On the school grounds stands a billboard listing them so that everyone can be part of accomplishing them.

vision

• Every member of the community is able to read and write.
• The school is a centre for learning that plays a leading role in implementing the educational polices and strategies of Ethiopia.
• Create students that are not job seekers but job creators.

mission

• By positively implementing the policies and strategies of the country, the school will build and satisfy the trust of the community in the power of education.
• To convince donors outside of Ethiopia to have trust in their investments.
• To devise strategies of how students can bring about positive behavioral change.

objectives

• To effectively and efficiently implement the strategies of imagine1day and the government.
• For Adi-Ajero's education package to be a model in all directions.
• By introducing new educational strategies, students' achievements will improve.
• To strengthen the positive linkages between society and the school.

spring into action

Witnessing the celebration at Adi-Ajero's newly constructed spring water system you would think that it was opening day at the world's biggest waterslide. For the children and villagers of Adi-Ajero, access to ample clean water makes a world of difference.

Fact: Clean, safe water flowing at about 20L every 2-3 minutes- that's 400L per hour, 9,600L a day. With an average village household need of 30L a day, the output is more than enough for Adi-Ajero's population of 1,500. Impact: Girmay, a farmer and father of four no longer has bad headaches from being in the sun all day without sufficient water to drink and his wife Salamawit is happy that her children will be able to practice proper hygiene and will no longer become ill from consuming contaminated water.

Fact: imagine1day has implemented a sustainable design for the water system that uses gravity and natural filtration. No pumps, no generator, no chlorine. Impact: Minimal hardware means minimal maintenance, low risk of breakage and easy water management. Fact: The water station is centrally locatd in the village and only a couple hundred meters from the school site. Impact: Children can rehydrate during recess, wash their hands after using the toilet and easily fill their buckets to water their new seedlings.

Fact: imagine1day has created a design that makes valuable use of excess water with a livestock trough and micro-irrigation outlet. Impact: Eight year old Tesfey Abraham no longer needs to walk 5 kilometers to the river with his family's cows. After micro-irrigation is complete, Adi-Ajero can plant and harvest several crops per year instead of relying on only one annual rain-fed harvest.

tekli's brave new world

When imagine1day asked Tekli Kiros, a grade 3 student at Adi-Ajero, to share with us a challenge she recently faced, her response could have been that of any child around the world. "I tripped and came very last" she said shyly as she recounted a recent school sports day where an ill-fated stone stopped her from finishing her favored 100 meter race. A small stumble like Tekli's should be all that a nine year old child should ever worry about, but Tekli's world presents her with far more challenges. As we talked more with Tekli we began to understand her daily reality.

Tekli starts her morning with the first of three daily thirty minute walks to collect river water for her family. Her breakfast consists only of a small portion of bread, 'I want more, but we do not have it", so she leaves for school still hungry. When school ends at noon, Tekli is eager for her lunch of local injera, a flatbread staple and shiro, a bean paste. Her next five hours are spent minding her family's one cow, seven goats and two beehives. They are long hours in the hot sun and although she brings along her books she told imagine1day "it is difficult to study in the heat and besides, I must look out for the fox that may hurt one of the goats." Just before dark, Tekli will arrive home to two small structures of stone and branches, one for cooking, the other for living and sleeping. Since her mother's diagnosis two years ago with breast cancer, Tekli's home responsibilities have grown substantially, as have those of her younger sister and brother. In the evenings Tekli helps her mother prepare the injera and shiro before the long day has everyone ready for some much needed rest. They have one locally made metal bed with a hay mattress and two beds made of mud to share.

Last year Tekli's family was able to harvest eight quintiles of different cereals and fifty kilograms of each lentils and linseed. The harvest although modest was enough to enable the family to survive. Due to this year's drought, the family reports not having a single thing to harvest. The drought has also affected their beehives; last year's output was nearly four kilograms of honey, this year it is half that. Tekli's father had a $200 small business loan to begin income generation activities but was forced to spend the money on his wife's treatment. The year has not been easy for anyone in Adi-Ajero or throughout Ethiopia and Tekli's story is regrettably not very different from that of other children in the community.

There is however a reason Tekli and her family are hopeful about the future. They belong to the community that you chose to help a few short months ago. The school that you supported has opened and along with it a new community water station, a latrine, and a plot of 2,000 fruit and shade tree seedlings. For Tekli and her family this means access to ample, clean water and an animal water trough that is five minutes away. Tekli's father has been employed as the school's guard and his income will help the family survive despite not having a harvest. Tekli herself is thrilled to be sitting in a real classroom and not fighting with animals or sun to study. She reports that previously she was worried that she would have to drop out of school as not having a latrine presents safety and cultural barriers for maturing girls. Despite traditional practices of early marriage Tekli's father is inspired by the new school's potential and is determined to make his daughter's full education a priority. He boasts that all of his children are now enrolled in the new school.

There is no doubt that Ethiopia's drought means that this year will continue to be a struggle for the community of Adi-Ajero but your intervention are already making a difference and will continue to as a village full of motivation and increased capacity makes plans for income generation activities and micro-irrigation. For Tekli, as should be the case for all grade three students, her biggest challenge will be to win the 100 meter race in the upcoming inter-school sports competition.

On behalf of the imagine1day team I would like to express our sincere gratitude to you for investing in the Adi-Ajero Primary School and for helping us take important steps towards achieving our goal to bring quality primary education to all children in Ethiopia by 2020. We are having so much fun implementing our projects, getting to know our communities in Ethiopia and connecting you to what's happening on the ground.

Thank you for joining us on this incredible journey.