Our School Supplies Are Finally Delivered!
Ita’a in the airport customs area.
Luggage ready to be taken to the airport.
Fall of 2016 when uniforms were 1st delivered to the children.
With the civil unrest in the country, in 2023, no one from our organization was able to travel and deliver the school supplies to the children in Ethiopia. Good news was our non profit organization was able to finally receive charity status in Ethiopia. This was several years in the making and once that was complete, and all documents were obtained, in June 2023 we sent 7 school supply bags of uniforms and other supplies to the airport.
Unfortunately, the corrupt government would not allow the bags to be released from customs and our Director Ita’a spent the next several months going to offices of Ministry of Finance, Education etc. After much perseverance of Ita’a and several additional documents and bribes, in November 2023, the bags were finally released. The bags were held in customs for five long months. One of the conditions of the release was that government representation would need to be at the school to see that the supplies were distributed to the students. We so glad this finally happened.
Families gathered to receive uniforms Nov. 20, 2023
Backpacks with uniforms finally ready to be given to the children!
Teacher Joins our School Staff in 2022
This school year we have also added a new teacher to our staff. We are happy to introduce Diribaa Gutataa. He previously was a high school teacher at another private school near the city of Gudar. According to our head teacher Kumela, he is very knowledgeable and great with the children.
Mr. Diribaa Gutataa with his class
Teachers Receive a Motorcycle
Since the time we opened the school in 2016, one of the challenges was finding teachers that were dedicated enough to be willing to walk the seven miles to the school day in and day out. We opened this school so the young children wouldn’t have to walk this distance but the teachers coming from the nearby cities have had to make this journey which consists of walking through fields, crossing irrigation ditches and walking the dirt roads which are many times, washed out in sections.
Right before the school year of 2021, we recieved generous donations from several returning donors of Pangaea and in October 2021, the purchase of the motorcycle was completed! This has been such a moral boost for the teachers in addition to making their transportation issues much more pleasant.
Our teachers, Mr. Kumela and Mrs. Mimi on the new motorcycle
2020 Challenges
2020 has been full of challenges – even for school children in the United States, but our little rural school in Ethiopia has experienced those same challenges and so much more. The children were so excited to register for and start the new school year, but our opening has been delayed several times for many reasons including excessive rain, COVID19 restrictions, and political turmoil.
The teachers were finally able to open the school the first week of November, but then were physically threatened and forced to close down – just as the government schools were required to do. We continue to pay the teachers through our sponsorship program, however, so that the teachers, students, and school are ready to go.
On November 30th, Tadela and his Mom Buzu, who are our liaisons for the school, were able to visit the school, deliver half of the school supplies and uniforms that finally arrived in the country, take photos of the new students, hand out postcards of the children’s American sponsors to the returning students, and most importantly share a treat with the kids as pictured above. We are happy to announce that the with the masks that were also delivered to the school that day, restrictions have been lifted and school is back in session since the first week of December.
Medical Team Visits School
The last week in February 2020, a team of approximately ten plus doctors (including eye doctors, dentists, and nurses) arrived at our school, Hundee Ibsaa, as part of a humanitarian effort to serve the rural areas in Ethiopia. We were so happy to find out that our school children were examined and given medical care as needed.
The school grounds were used as a community area to serve the rest of the village. More than 700 men and women and children were looked at and treated as necessary. Glasses were given out, teeth were pulled, and vitamins were administered among other things. We are so grateful for this service! The doctors reported back to us that this was one of their favorite stops as they got to take a little time out of their busy day to play with the school children.
One of our goals when building this school was not only to serve the children but to also become a gathering location for community services. This gathering has helped this goal come true and we hope this will be the first of many more humanitarian trips by the medical professionals.
We were also happy to help provide a driver, translator and cook for this group of doctors by our family members, Buzu Eshete and Tadela Eshete. Love the good that is happening in Bojjii!