Ribbon Cutting Report
LAELAY WUKRO IS COMPLETE
The first shovel broke ground to begin construction of the new school for Laelay Wukro in mid-September 2010 and, on February 13, 2011, the imagine1day field team joined the Laelay Wukro community to celebrate the inauguration of the school that you built.
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Construction of the school happened so fast that we wanted to make sure you didn't miss a beat. Here's a photo timeline of the construction of your school starting from the very beginning:
We could spend a great deal of time telling you how awesome the new school is at Laelay Wukro and the incredible impact it has already made on the students. Instead, let Laelay Wukro's Grade 4 class give you the inside scoop on their two weeks of class in a brand new building.
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Tsegaw Before the new school was built, we went to class in the open-air dass school and it was too hot. We were under the sun all day and my eyes would begin to hurt from the sun and the dust. This made it very hard to concentrate. Now everything is different! We have a beautiful school with walls, windows and a roof. It is cool inside our classroom and it is comfortable. Now I can concentrate with no problems! |
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Hishi In the old school, I sat on a stone and my bum would hurt. I would have to move all the time or else it was too painful to sit. I was not able to listen to my teacher very well because I thought more about how uncomfortable I was. Now I have a desk to sit at! I am comfortable here and there is a good place for me to write and another place for me to keep my books. |
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Abraha Our old school was made out of stones and branches. It was not pretty. But today, the walls of our school are yellow and green. The colours make me happy and when I am happy, I learn better! |
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Gebre-Hiwot In the outdoor school we could see all the people and animals that would walk by. It attracted our attention and we did not listen to our teacher well. Today, we have windows but we cannot see all the people and animals that pass by. It is much easier to focus on our lessons and not get distracted. |
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Tesfay The conditions in the old school were very poor. There was rain, wind, unbearable heat and both our students and teachers would be eager to skip class because it was very uncomfortable. As teachers, we used to keep all of our teaching materials at home because there wasn't a safe place to store them. If we didn't bring something from home and needed it in a lesson, we would either have to walk 20 minutes to bring it back or we would have to go without it. The quality of education suffered. However, now we have a building and our students are comfortable and attentive. We also have a safe place that we can store our materials and models. We can lock the doors after school and everything stays safe. Now everything we need to be good teachers is in one place. |
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Building a school in a remote community like Laelay Wukro can radically transform the lives of students. From eliminating a long walk to school to simply allowing them access to quality education, the potential is limitless. Opening the new school in Laelay Wukro has improved the comfort level of many students and provided excellent teaching facilities. For many of Laelay Wukro's newest students, their lives have changed.
Meet Azeb, Melat and Tesfu. They are all in Grade 4 and very thankful for the new school in their community. We sat down with them and asked what has changed since the school was completed:
Tesfu: Before I started to come to this new school, I went with Melat to Selam Primary School in the town of Wukro. The walk to school was 6km each way.
Melat: We walked every day to school and it was too far. My parents were worried about me because it can be dangerous for a girl to walk that far by herself.
Tesfu: I would be so tired when I got to school and I often fell asleep during class. My teachers would get upset at me but there was nothing I could do. I had to come to school and I had to walk over 10km there and back every day.
Azeb: I used to go to Berhara Primary School. I moved to the town where the school is located because my father lives there but my mother lives in Laelay Wukro. When the new school opened in Laelay Wukro, I was able to come home and live with her instead. That made me very happy.
Tesfu: The best thing is that it is only a 10 minute walk from my home! I have so much extra time now to study and help my family with chores. Before the new school was built, I was spending so much time walking that there wasn't time for anything else.
Melat: I agree with Tesfu. I live close to the new school too. I don't have to walk so far anymore and I have much more energy. I am more awake in school, I have more energy and I think that I am able to study better because I can focus.
Azeb: I am very happy to be living with my mother again. I missed her very much and my parents said I must go to a real school so they sent me to live with my father. Now there is a real school here in Laelay Wukro and I can live at home. It is great!
The teacher poses a question and twenty little hands shoot up in the air, fingers snapping and reaching for some imaginary prize. At the very front of the room, arm outstretched, is Merhawit. Even though she is tiny in stature, this 8-year-old knows what she wants, where she's headed and isn't afraid to tell us all about it.
M: My favourite part about my new school is the desks. Sometimes I would stand up during class because it got so uncomfortable sitting on rocks for such a long time. Sometimes I would even try and make a pad out of my backpack and books to make it more comfortable. It was not very good. Now I am comfortable all the time in my new desk.
M: I like to study Tigrigna (the local language) because it is very easy for me. It is easy to understand, learn and remember. It is also easy to practice because I can do it when I am at home with my family or with my friends. The more you practice something, the better you get at it!
M: I know that one day I will be a teacher. I know this because I already like to teach my younger brother things that I have learned when I get home. I love sharing the things I learn with other people. That makes me want to be a teacher one day.
M: Our teachers have talked to us a lot about how to stay clean and I have taught these ideas to my family. It is very important to stay clean every day because it keeps you from getting sick. Also, we have a new latrine at our school and our teachers gave us a lesson about it. I went home and I told my family about it and now we have our very own latrine at our house!
Sometimes after a new school is built, the old dass open-air classroom is neglected and falls into disrepair, serving only as a memory of times past. This isn't the case at Laelay Wukro. The school's administration is constantly looking for new ways to improve the quality of education in their community and, after they moved into their new school, they decided to keep using their dass school. What will they use this extra classroom for? The old stick and stone structure that everyone was eager to replace has been revamped and is now home to the Laelay Wukro Grade 0 students (the equivalent of Kindergarten in North America).
Every morning, 48 eager students don their blue and white bibs and pile into the old Grade 1 and 3 classrooms. Tottering atop the old stones and shaded by dry branches, these little ones get familiar with the basics of school and prepare themselves for a lifetime of learning.
Grade 0 teacher, Abrahet, tells us why it's never too soon to start learning:
I used to be a farmer in this community. Then, while the new school was being built, the Kebele (the local district) raised money to pay a new Grade 0 teacher because they thought it would be important to start educating students at an even younger age. So they hosted a competition to find the best Grade 0 teacher and I won. They sent me to participate in a month-long training course at the Adwa Teacher's College. While I was there, I learned about a teaching-learning system that is effective with four-year-old students. I also learned how to understand the way these little ones think and how they understand the things that they are taught.
Today, I have 48 students that come for two hours of class every morning. They are learning many things, including:
Grade 0 is important because it eases students into the education system. By the time my students enter Grade 1, they will already know how to go to school and how to learn. It will be an easier transition for them. We are only able to teach Grade 0 because of your support. Your help is enabling us to bring education to more people in our community and for that, I thank you!
Now that the paint has finished drying on the walls of the 8-stall latrine at Laelay Wukro, it's important that you know that it has also been set up for a sustainable, successful future. Laelay Wukro's school administration, Parent Teacher Association (PTA) and community leaders are committed to working hard to make your investment sustainable so that it can be used by generations to come.
Principal Gerezgeher Gidey Weldegebriel gives us the breakdown of Laelay Wukro's current income generation activities as well as the community's hopes and dreams for the future.
We have had many changes occur over the last few months. While the school was being built, the community was skeptical that it would bring a big change, but now they think differently. Now that the school is finished and they can see their children learning inside, they are amazed. They are very grateful too. They now understand the impact the school can make and have been very generous in their support. Recently, the community donated three hectares of land around the water point for the school to use for income generation activities. The community is even volunteering their time to farm the land.
This is what we plan to do:
From these income generation activities, we predict that we will make over 12,000 birr (Ethiopian currency) per year to reinvest in additional income generation activities and to purchase new supplies and materials for our school!
We are also doing animal fattening as an income generation activity. We started off by purchasing six oxen for 9,600 birr (1,600 birr each) with money provided by imagine1day. We had to sell three of them because they were sick but we will soon replace (them) with three healthy ones.
We will sell all six oxen three months from now and we expect to make 200 birr on each (one) for a total of 1,200 birr profit!
That is what is currently happening in Laelay Wukro. You're probably wondering what's in store for the near future. The PTA at Laelay Wukro is planning for a future as big as it is bright. Here's what they've got cooking:
One particularly unique feature of the new school in Laelay Wukro is a small, two-room structure situated between the road and the school building. It currently looks like an empty shell but in a few weeks it will be a bustling administration building for the school.
What makes this building unique? The school fundraised all of the money to build it by themselves. We caught up with Principal Gerezgeher and asked him to tell us more:
PG: All of our classrooms are being used during the day so we needed a safe, quiet place for our teachers to store their documents. We also wanted a place where the teachers could be alone and focus on planning or marking papers. It is also a proper meeting place for us to use when visitors come to our school.
PG: We worked hard to raise money from many different sources so that we could build this administration block. We talked to the Woreda Education Office and they gave us 1,000 kg of cement and the tin roof. We also went door-to-door in the community and raised 5,000 birr from people who gave straight from their own pockets.
PG: I think that they were excited about it because since imagine1day has started working in the community, people have begun to learn more and more about how important education is and the impact it can make. I think that when we had the dass open-air schools, the community did not know how much education could affect their lives. Now they see this school in action and I think they can see that education will change their children's futures. It is our responsibility as teachers and administrators to go above and beyond to deliver the highest quality of education possible to these students.
At the inauguration of Laelay Wukro Grade 1-4 Community School on February 13, 2011, a young man named Tesfay read a poem that he had written for the occasion. Having gone through primary school at a time when there was no school at all in Laelay Wukro, Tesfay had to walk 5km on foot to the nearby town of Wukro to attend class every day. Today, Tesfay is in high school. At the school's inauguration, he was overjoyed that a future generation of students would not have to travel as far as he did to receive a quality primary education.
Title: In My Home
This is a good season because the people's rights are respected.
It is announced that the people who can learn must learn,
And those who can work must work.
The people live with peace forever and with relaxation.
People will learn and work day and night.
The days of war have passed us,
The days when they were against us.
They pushed us back,
Our good seasons turned to droughts.
When the child was born we celebrated.
But when the child grew up,
He will receive his family's responsibility and he will go to war.
Without a doubt he did this.
The days have passed us,
When instead of giving our time to education,
We gave our time to war and for going backwards.
There is nothing we can do about this time that has passed.
We learn from the past.
The priest says, "We must look to the past,
We must learn from our problems."
But we need to change our plans for today.
The school was finished by Canada,
Within a short time.
It is completed and inaugurated within a half a year.
Therefore, from our community we expect,
That they will send their children to learn when they are supposed to.
Our community will use teamwork to help this school.
We will destroy seasons of drought and bury it forever.
Yes, the support of imagine1day to build our school,
Is like a mother carrying her child on her back.
She walks with confidence and she knows her child is safe.
This is my turn to thank you even though I did not participate in construction.
Yes, even now, I want to thank imagine1day.
Without having to walk far I will learn in my community.
My community is always worrying about sending the children away to school.
We will respect imagine1day because we don't worry anymore.
Hence, students must study hard through planning.
They will be lights of life and clear away our problems.
To fulfill our health and clear our diseases,
They will develop Ethiopia and the world.
It is my turn to say,
My country will develop and develop.
My parents must say, "lelelelelele" (to celebrate).
Yes, our school is constructed in our community,
So that we will not have to walk to go to school.
By imagine1day this is now here in my home.
This construction will give us long and good life.
Thank you.
On behalf of the Laelay Wukro community, the students, teachers, PTA members, community members and the imagine1day team, we are truly grateful for your enthusiastic and unwavering support. We are all excited about Laelay Wukro's future and will update you about the school's progress and exciting new developments in the coming months.
From Laelay Wukro with love,
