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.

HOW YOUR DESK GAVE BIRTH TO A SCHOOL

imagine1day has a bold mandate to work in remote areas of Northern Ethiopia where vehicle travel is often challenging. For example, the community of Zeggaw is so remote that even government officials have never stepped foot in the village. When it was recommended to imagine1day that we target the Zeggaw Primary School for furniture delivery, a PTA was promptly mobilized and invited for training.

On our first visit to the village of Zeggaw, imagine1day immediately learned that there was no formal school at Zeggaw, only an open air dass school where 176 children sat on stones and learned under the hot sun. With the announcement of the furniture delivery, the newly trained and motivated PTA quickly returned to Zeggaw and communicated to the village the opportunity for their children to learn on real desks and benefit from ongoing support from a new and innovative organization called imagine1day. They took it upon themselves to improve their children's learning environment and within a month they constructed a four classroom school made of local stone and mud. Second-hand tin root sheets were donated by the local government and the surrounding land was donated by community members for a sports field and a tree planting area.

As a direct result of your desks, tables and chairs, a community had the foundation and inspiration to construct an entire school. They recognized that they could go above and beyond with the support of your efforts and provide their children the benefit of quality education that not long ago, seemed out of reach. Today, over 200 children are headed towards a bright future. It all started with a simple furniture delivery that you made possible.

furniture: a launching pad for greater things

The furniture you helped provide does much more than provide children with a comfortable and convenient place to read and write. There are countless things that your chair, desk or table brings to the schools and their communities such as...

seating goals achieved; setting goals ahead

After countless interviews that we at imagine1day had with children across the region, we continually hear of the difference it has made in their day to be seated at a proper desk and not on a misshapen stone without protection from the elements. Teachers tell us how classrooms have become calm and inclusive spaces where the children are eager to learn without the need to fight over limited space.

Enrolment has increased and the occurrence of student drop-out is decreasing. We hear countless stories from the children that they enjoy school much more than before and improvements in their academic performance serves as proof. Children are expressing to us that they feel a new future is now within reach, when in the past it was just a distant dream. Thanks to your investment, our goal of creating access to classrooms and quality education for all children in Ethiopia is one step closer.

Here's a snapshot of some of the schools where overall GPA has increased over the past year since being provided with tables, desks and chairs.

On behalf of every child in each of the 24 schools in which you have created positive change, we would like to say thank you. Your gift was simple and direct. Implementation in Ethiopia was the same; you bought a desk, we delivered it. However, the impact of your actions has been immeasurable and will continue to grow.

Thank you for being a part of providing children in Ethiopia a chance to dream big.