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.

Monday, June 1, 2009

THE DREAM TEAM

In our Ribbon Cutting report, Adi-Ajero's principal Mered Radae was anticipating a first place finish at an inter-school trivia competition organized by Parent Teacher Association's (PTA) Question and Answer Committee. Last December, a team of five of the school's top students placed second in the competition. We thought that was impressive enough, but two months later, the Adi-Ajero dream team took home the gold!

 

imagine1day sat down with the trivia champs for a little Q&A of our own.

"The questions were clear, which didn't bring any difficulties for us. But this was our first competition with other schools, so we had a big fear. That was our only challenge."

- Nigus Luel, age 11, grade 3

"It's all about working and studying hard. Before with all the wind and discomfort of sitting on stones at the dass school, it was a challenge to be a clever student. But after this school was built, there was no more dust and discomfort and I could focus on my exercise books. Also having more books to study made me a more clever student."

- Nigus Luel, age 11, grade 3

Last year, when Adi-Ajero was still a dass school, Nigus stood fourth at the in-school competition so he didn't qualify for the inter-school competition. This year he stood first at the in-school competition and went on to help bring his school to victory at the inter-school competition. The smallest boy with the highest marks in his grade three class, Nigus is pictured here in the centre.

"Our teachers always work hard to help us. Even our mothers and fathers-rather than making us work at home, they leave us alone and do it by themselves and give us the time to study."

- Nigus Luel, age 11, grade 3

"A temporary stage is set up outside and a lot of students will be there. A lot of followers students, brothers, sisters, family who shout 'Yay! Bravo! Great! Wow!' Like at a football game. It makes our fear go away and makes us happy to hear them cheering for us."

- Teame Micheal, age 10, grade

"It was an Environmental Science question: 'The type of food that protects us from different kinds of diseases are vegetables: true or false?' I answered 'True' and got it correct. Then the teacher asked 'The other type of food that protects us from disease can be found from animals: true or false?' It was a tricky question and the teacher was trying to get me to answer wrongly. At first I answered 'True' but I quickly changed it. It was one of the toughest questions and I was very relieved to get it right for my team."

- Goitom Hayelom, age 11, grade 2

"'For education, we need to give time. And for playing games, recreation, sport and so on, we don't have to give any time: true or false?' I said 'True,' but I got it wrong. It was a tough question, but I liked the answer. Now I take some time to play as well as study hard."

- Abebe Hetay, age 7, grade 1

"Football! It's so much better now that we have the Italian ball," he lights up, referring to the soccer balls provided with the imagine1day sports program.

- Abebe Hetay, age 7, grade 1

"Even though my parents can't read and write or really help me with my studies, they allow me the time to study and they push and encourage me to do so."

- Silas Emanel, age 10, grade 2

As part of the teachers' mission to have frequent contact with parents, Silas's mother recently spent the day observing her daughter in class. Right: Silas's mother signs a parent-teacher interview form the only way she can with her fingerprint.

"After being in this real school and winning this trivia competition, I believe that if I study hard, I can become a doctor. If those things are possible, this can also be possible."

- Goitom Hayelom, age 11, grade 2

Abebe Hetay:

"A government leader. Like the president. I want to help my family and my community. I want to build schools and develop my tabia."

Silas Emanel wants to be a pilot because:

"I want to fly in the air like the birds."

Teame Micheal wants to be a pilot because:

"I want to leave the rural area and go see downtown."

Nigus Luel wants to be a pilot because:

"Coming from a rural area, becoming a pilot is a challenge that will make me proud and happy."

 

AIDS AWARENESS

Do you remember what grade you were in when you giggled, beet red, through the gym class unit about the birds and the bees? For children in Ethiopia, sex education is no laughing matter and at Adi-Ajero it is delivered very early on. The Child's Rights Club recently teamed up with the HIV Prevention Club to perform a play about the transmission and prevention of the AIDS virus. In the audience were all of the students, starting right from grade one, as well their parents. The PTA recognized a lack of awareness in the community about the transmission of HIV and a stigmatization of those infected. As grade two teacher Milashu Abay, told us, "People believed they could get the disease by kissing on the cheek or shaking hands. On the other hand, parents who were HIV positive would sometimes engage in risky behavior, like using a blade to shave their face and then using the same blade to shave their child's head. Now because of the play, they have a better understanding of how the disease is spread." The audience also learned about condom use and the risks involved with extramarital sex. Your investment in Adi-Ajero's school clubs is not only enriching the academic interests of students, but also fostering a new generation whose children are much less likely to be orphaned by AIDS.

Following is a poem inspired by the play:

 

DEDICATION, NOT JUST DICTATION

When we ask Milashu how the drought is affecting student life at Adi-Ajero, she admits it has been difficult. There have been five permanent dropouts due to migration and one child who fell ill and relocated to another community to receive medical treatment. Attendance has been fluctuating as well. On a given day, there will be 30 students instead of the usual 50 in class. With basic survival currently surpassing all other needs, parents rely on their children to keep livestock while they relocate in search of labor. Students will spend between one day to two weeks working at home, and then come back to school. Recognizing the gravity of the situation, the extremely dedicated teachers at Adi-Ajero offer weekly tutorials and extra help for students coming back to school.

Siyom Mekonnen, grade two student who slipped from 6th place in his class to 10th because he had to stay home and keep cattle. He's studying hard to get back up to at least 7th place.

In some cases, an intervention becomes necessary. Three female students left the rural community to work as servants in town. Milashu has gone to the family homes of the girls and negotiated with their parents to bring them back. When parents tell her that they need their daughter to help them out with some money, Milashu explains that droughts will pass, and that their daughter's education is of utmost importance for the long run.

"If she gets an education, the temporary problems of droughts won't be such an issue," Milashu says. "Rather than sending their daughter I tell them to solve this private problem by looking for labor themselves and let the girl come back to school." Milashu has succeeded in convincing one family to bring their daughter back, and has been promised that the other two will come back after a temporary leave. She will be waiting with open arms and extra help to catch them up when they do.

 

GOAL CHECK-IN

Six months ago we showed you the PTA's billboard listing their Vision, Mission and Objectives for their new school. We're tracking their progress every step of the way. Here's the update:

Despite the daily hardships of families in Adi-Ajero, their community school continues to be regarded as a palace, and education has become increasingly valued. What has changed? Teacher Milashu explains:

Remember 10-year old Tekli Kiros, the grade three student whose mother had breast cancer and whose father was forced to spend his small business loan on his wife's treatment? Today Mrs. Kiros is doing better. She is no longer bedridden and is often around the school, taking her husband's shift as the school guard while he is away working for the government safety net program. Mr. Kiros receives 70kg of sorghum in exchange for labor, which has brought the family up from two meals per day to three. Tekli still reminisces about better times before the drought when her family harvested their own grain, but she says that if her father were not employed at the school, migration would be the next and last resort.

Tekli Kiros, grade three student.

Mr. Kiros is still committed to Tekli's full education and pushes all three of his daughters to prioritize learning. Since the ribbon cutting, the Kiros family has even moved to be closer to the school. Mr. Kiros is managing things at home as much as possible, and his three daughters are slowly improving in their studies. His eldest, Tefawit, is 13 years old and in grade three with Tekli. She is a high achiever and helps Tekli and their little sister Belaynish who is a struggling grade two student. The two weaker Kiros sisters also take advantage of the Tuesday tutorials to keep up as much as they can.

Like us, you might be wondering what kind of behaviors students had that propelled the PTA to create a goal to change them. "Some students used to come with knives, some with sticks. They would try to hit us and some even tried to stab the teachers," explains Milashu. "Many also just came to school to pass the time and avoid working at home. We created the mission to bring about a positive change in them-to show them how to act like students and to show them the real reasons why they should come to school."

In some schools, imagine1day has seen teachers use sticks and sometimes rocks to control students. When we ask about the Adi-Ajero teachers' disciplinary methods, the answer is clear and logical: using sticks to discipline students and expecting them not to bring weapons to school sends a mixed message. Instead, teachers resolve conflict by sitting students down and talking the problem through. In turn they have peaceful, respectful students. "If students were hit at Adi-Ajero, they wouldn't come back to class. Their self-worth is respected and in turn they value themselves," says Milashu.

Nine year-old Solomon Berhe is a student in Teacher Teklay's grade three class. He talked to us about his own big changes since school became a place he could focus in.

"Before, I didn't know all the alphabet letters. All the other students knew them but I didn't because I didn't study hard. I didn't know why I was coming to school because I wasn't very bright. At the dass school, while the teacher was teaching, I would go out and play."

"Now I am more alert, and I know the reasons to come to school. In grade one I was 39th out of 63. In second grade I was 24th, and now I'm at 20th out of 65. I plan to stand 16th by the end of this year and I'm studying very hard to get there."

"The reason I go to school now is to gain knowledge about everything. If you have knowledge, you can change yourself from being poor to rich. When you live in the rural areas, you depend very much on the rain, but if you have knowledge you can be employed somewhere and receive a salary instead of depending on the rain."

"I want to be a building construction engineer so I can employ many people and build schools everywhere."

Solomon was recently awarded a book for taking the best care of his tree seedlings. All nine of his assigned seedlings survived and he received a book from the principal as a prize.

The Active Learning training that teachers received at Adi-Ajero has inspired the following strategies to improve students' achievements:

Impact of these strategies:

• Compared with the dass school, students have been much more focused and thus are performing better.

• Despite absences due to drought, students' results have improved in the last 6 months.

 

 

THE TRIALS OF TREES

imagine1day and Adi-Ajero Community School have been doing our best to ensure the survival of the 500 shade trees and the 1440 fruit-bearing tree seedlings you supplied six months ago. Counting on the spring-fed water system we constructed to nourish these seedlings proved more ambitious than anticipated. With the slow dry up of the spring caused by severely low rain fall over the past two years, the steadfast students at Adi-Ajero used a nearby pond to nurture their trees, and have been bringing water from home for their own consumption.

Although the pond also has had a tendency to dry up, 370 shade trees and 551 fruit-bearing trees have survived and are looking healthy. Learning from this experience, imagine1day is taking extra steps to ensure seedling success in future projects and has put micro irrigation-fed planting plans on hold at Adi-Ajero until after this year's upcoming rain season, when the spring will be replenished.

Thank you for investing in the future of the talented and bright students of Adi-Ajero Primary School. We can't be more impressed with their achievements in the first six months of attending their new school. We'll update you again in six months.