Ribbon Cutting Report
A NEW SCHOOL AND A NEW FUTURE
Over the past three months, Maego has been buzzing with activity. Trucks have been weaving their way down the steep mountain road to deliver sand, cement and materials to the school construction site. Crews worked from dawn until dusk to build the school in just 120 days. During the construction, eager students hovered in quiet anticipation as the last stones were set, the roof was nailed down and 68 new desks, 4 blackboards, 4 teachers tables, 4 reading corners and 1 school notice board were carefully put into place.
O-Class (Kindergarten) students love the community-built tire swing at their new school. What's O-Class? Scroll down to Chapter 2 to read more!
Today, your school is thriving. Meet Maego’s students, teachers and community members as they share with you the various ways in which your investment is impacting their community.
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Fact: Maego knows how to party and at the inauguration of your new school, the community turned out in droves to celebrate this new opportunity for their children and community to usher in a bright future through education.
On hand were representatives from the various government offices that imagine1day works with as well as a film crew from the local TV station. If smiles could measure people's excitement about the new school and the work imagine1day has been able to do because of you, then people were absolutely ecstatic.
Your investment in building a new Grade 1-4 School in Maego has already brought transformation to the community. For many, it has been a dream come true and eliminates many problems that they previously faced: girls now have a clean, private latrine to take care of their business, students have desks instead of sitting on the floor, teachers have proper blackboards and resources, and the school's leaders have received training to become more effective and efficient in their work.
Who better to describe the impact that the new school has made than the students from the school itself? Meet Girmay and Temesegen, two brand new Grade 1 students whose attitudes and lives have changed because of you.
Grade 1 ain't easy. Temesegen (left) and Girmay (right) are attentive in class.
i1d: Both of you are 11 years old, which is typically a bit old for starting in Grade 1. Can you share with us why you are starting late?
G: I came to school once a long time ago but I never came back again because I would rather be taking care of my cattle. The old school was the same as sitting in the forest. We sat on the ground for lessons. It was cold and dirty. I figured that if this is what school is like then I might as well be outside where I could walk around.
T: I never came to school before because I didn't want to sit on the ground. I knew it would be uncomfortable and I knew I would have to sit there for many hours each day.
i1d: What did you do instead of coming to school?
T: I looked after our cattle, watered the plants and fetched firewood and water for my family.
G: I also looked after our cattle and I tilled the farmland.
i1d: Why did you decide to come to school now?
T: One day I saw the people carrying the desks down to the new school and then someone told me that we all get to sit in them. Then I decided to go to school.
G: I like the floor of our new school. It is smooth and I can walk on it with bare feet. The floor is cold but because we have desks we don't feel the cold. It is very comfortable.
i1d: Why do you think education is important?
G: Education is important for anyone who wants to become a doctor, nurse, teacher or engineer. I don't know what I want to do in the future yet but I know that education will be the thing that helps me get there.
T: Learning in school helps us to be able to teach others. If you don't know anything, you can't teach anything to others.
Maego's original Grade 1-4 school may not have been conducive to quality primary education and, with the completion of the new school building, it is finding a whole new life. Now that Grades 1-4 have moved into the awesome new school, a new class is moving into the old school: the Grade 0 Class.
Meet Maego's Grade O Class!
Grade 0 Class, otherwise known as Kindergarten, is an essential part of a complete primary education and is rarely available in remote communities due to scarce resources and space. With a free classroom and a committed community, Maego is now home to 20 little ones, running around in dark blue smocks, learning what going to school is all about.
"I completed my Grade 10 education and then I stayed at home," says Medhin, Maego's brand new Grade 0 Class Teacher. "When imagine1day started to build the new school, the community approached me to see if I would be interested in teaching the Grade 0 Class. Of course I wanted to and I participated in a special month-long training program at a teachers college. After I completed the course, I began teaching here."
"Many students enter Grade 1 without going through Grade 0 and they struggle to understand how school works and what their responsibilities as a student are. It can be very frustrating and scary for them. Grade 0 classes prepare students for school and make them ready to learn. Yes, we do teach ABCs and 1-2-3s but the focus is more on what learning is rather than learning something specific."
A couple of the gorgeous students in this year’s Grade 0 class.
Click here to learn more about other Grade 0 Classes that have popped up in communities after imagine1day has built a new Grade 1-4 School.
A home for Maego's Grade 0 Class isn't the only new use that school administrators have found for the old school building. Where Grade 4 students used to sit, perched atop stacks of notebooks or simply settled in on the cold ground, there is now a bookshelf filled with storybooks, language manuals and textbooks.
Principal Netsanet proudly shows off the beginning of Maego's library: 102 brand new books.
"As soon as there was discussion about imagine1day building a new school for us, there was also discussion about turning one of our old classrooms into a library," says Principal Netsanet. "Many of our students were passive learners and we knew that if they had the opportunity to read and write outside of class that it would help them a lot. Today, we have a small library that we are very proud of. We can see the impact it is making. Now the students are developing their reading and writing skills and are becoming active, responsible learners."
"Our goal is to continue to add books to the library so that there is a book that interests every student in our school. We can already see the impact the library is having so further development of it is a priority for us."
Everyone knows that going to primary school is more than classes between 8AM and 3PM. The five school clubs that you are supporting at Maego Grade 1-4 Community School have a student participation rate of 100%. School clubs are a fun way to teach valuable lessons and provide leadership opportunities to some of the school’s best and brightest.
School clubs are a fun way to teach valuable lessons and provide leadership opportunities to some of the school's best and brightest. Meet the five school club leaders and get to know what their clubs are all about:
Name: Tsegay
Club: Civics and Ethics Club Leader
Responsibilities: "Our club's purpose is to create peace and understanding between teachers and students, and students with other students. We mentor students who fight or quarrel and help them to practice peaceful conversations to solve their problems."
Why her club is important: "It is important for students to create a nice school. We may get angry with each other but if we fight it makes our school dark. Our club helps to keep our school a bright place."
Name: Desta
Club: Environmental Protection Club
Responsibilities: "Our club makes other students aware of all the different ways we can beautify our school compound and how to take care of plants. We care for our school's fruit trees and keep the school's property clean."
Why his club is important: "This club is important because we create a healthy environment at our school. Many of the things we teach other students about are things that they can do at home to improve their families' lives too."
Name: Ashenafi
Club: Anti-HIV/AIDS Club
Responsibilities: "Our club is responsible for educating other students about HIV/AIDS, why it is dangerous and how to protect yourself from it. We do this by sharing poems and short stories as well as hosting small training sessions for students."
Why his club is important: "We already learn about HIV/AIDS in Science Class, but having fun, informative ways of sharing more about the disease helps people to fully understand."
Name: Kidan
Club: Library Club
Responsibilities: "Our club is responsible for encouraging and helping students to use the library. We clean the library and organize the books so that people have a pleasant place to read books."
Why her club is important: "Reading improves literacy and encourages studying but students don't always know that reading can be fun too."
Name: Desta
Club: Question and Answer Club
Responsibilities: "Our club prepares long lists of questions and then we hold competitions for each grade. The participants have to answer the questions correctly and whoever gets the most right wins a prize."
Why his club is important: "It is a fun way for students to study. We use material from our classes to create the questions so students study and learn more just by having fun."
We could tell you all day about the many ways in which your investment is transforming Maego. But don't take it from us, meet some students from Maego's Grade 4 class and find out what they love about their new school:
Berhane
10 years old
"Before you built us a new school I was sitting on a stone while I listened to my teacher. It was very uncomfortable and it was difficult to write and focus. Now I sit at a new desk. It is comfortable and there is even a place for me to store my books."
Desta
10 years old
"When I sat on the ground in my classroom my bum would become sore. I was also scared of the different animals, like scorpions, that would hide in the corners. Our new school is safe and clean. There are no scorpions and I am not afraid."
Helen
10 years old
Before, coming to school was very uncomfortable. Some days our teachers would not finish the lessons. Today everyone is happy and has what they need. We are learning much more now."
Kifela
10 years old
"I like the new latrine. Before, we didn't have one and would simply go in the open air. Now we have privacy and I even learned how to build a latrine at my home for my family."
Tsegay
Grade 4 Teacher
"My students were always distracted by something. Sometimes they would be too hot or too cold. Sometimes there would be small scorpions or bugs. Sometimes their bums would hurt from sitting on the rocks. There was always something that took their attention away from learning. Today, because of you, students are much more attentive and they actually enjoy their lessons."
Principal Netsanet has big dreams for her school and we believe she will achieve them. We are excited to support Maego as it flourishes and will update you in another 6 months about the school's progress.
From Maego with Love,
The imagine1day team
Top students of the week get to wear special hats and sit at the front of the room. It's just one of the many creative teaching methods Maego's teaching staff are employing now that they have a comfortable school and many resources at their disposal.