School Sponsorship Archives - Page 2 of 3

Girls At The Top of Their Class

Meet Three Ethiopian Girls Who Are Ranked At The Top of Their Class

The biggest reward of any Roots Ethiopia project is not just marveling how your collective generosity can transform a community or a school or a classroom. It’s seeing how that loving investment can light up a child’s face.

So we want to celebrate the smiles of three students we are proud to support at Wanja School, which serves over 500 children from the surrounding Halaba district. These three Ethiopian girls—ranked 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in their class—are the future.

Learn more about our commitment to the Wanja School and our fundraising efforts on its behalf by clicking here!

Top Of The Class! Dubane, Lubabe, and Redit Are Three Ethiopian Girls Beating The Odds…

DUBANE

Dubane with her Da

ddy and her grade 3 brother, Bergena

Dubane is a 17-year-old Wanja student preparing to enter the 7th grade in September. She ranked first in her 6th-grade class. (Get it Dubane!) Dubane’s background is particularly hard; her family is both poor and socially marginalized within her community. The teachers and students of Wanja have worked hard to create a safe and welcoming environment for Dubane.

The financial crisis of her home life forced her to drop out of school for three years so today some of her peers are getting ready to begin 11th grade. Undeterred by such a tragic loss of momentum, Dubane secured an after-school laborer job at a nearby building site that allowed her to return to school last year for 6th grade. She earns 20 Birr (roughly 85 cents) for a half day of work. With that money, she contributes to her family’s food expenses, purchases school materials, and buys her clothes.

Dubane wants to be a doctor when she grows up. Roots Ethiopia attended the end of year school ceremony and awarded her a new school backpack to begin her 7thgrade, praising both her grades and grit. Dubane is an outstanding role model for all the kids at Wanja.

LUBABA

Seventeen-year-old Lubaba is getting ready to enter the 7th grade. She, too, was forced to take several years off from school because of financial hardships. To reenter the sixth-grade Lubaba works alongside Dubane as a laborer at a construction site and was able to raise the money needed for school registration.

With her hard-earned money, Lubaba could also afford the required school materials and clothing. (In addition to covering her school expenses, Lubaba also puts part of her paycheck towards groceries for the family.) Last year this superstar ranked second in her class.

She also has dreams of going to medical school. Roots Ethiopia is moved by Lubaba’s commitment to her future and gave her a new backpack to help her carry her dreams into the seventh grade.

REDET

Redet, Lubaba’s younger sister, is 15 years old. Like Lubaba, Redet is preparing to enter the 7^th grade. She ranks third in her class. (Yes, the Aman girls are incredible.) Their family earns an income from subsistence farming. Her mother sells sugar cane at a street corner and occasionally does hair braiding services for 5 Birr.

Besides Lubaba, Redet has two other sisters and a brother. Because of her family’s long-term financial difficulties, she discontinued her education for three years. But now Redet is supporting herself by working after school as a laborer like her older sister.

She dreams of being a medical doctor. She also has a new backpack that she will put to good use this fall. Go Redet!

If you are inspired by Dubane, Lubaba, and Redet please share this article!

Click here to donate to Roots Ethiopia!

Betsega: A Boy’s Day in Ethiopia

It’s one thing to believe in the promise of a child; it’s a whole other kind of gift to see that promise lived. Earlier this year we introduced you to eight-year-old Betsega — one of the 250 kids beneﬁting from a Roots Ethiopia school sponsorship. Thanks to your support Betsega goes to school.

Who is Betsega? He is the oldest of three; the son of a father who works as a day laborer and a mother who sells coffee, injera and homegrown vegetables at the night market; a boy who loves soccer; a young entrepreneur who used one month’s of Roots Ethiopia support (275 birr) to purchase four chickens that he tends in a coop he engineered himself. His devoted efforts mean the coop is now home to two baby chicks as well!

When we asked Betsega “If we met you on the street for the ﬁrst time, what would you want us to know about you?,” this child who dreams of being a pilot one day deftly turned the question around on us: “I’d like to know about your plane ride to my country!”

Without the Roots Ethiopia sponsorship, Betsega would soon be forced into day labor himself. Instead, he can spend his childhood dreaming and studying and working with his chickens. Here, completely in his own words, is a day in the life of Betsega.

I wake up in the morning

I wash my face, eat breakfast, prepare my backpack

I walk to school down the road

Period 1 is environmental science; period 2 is sports; then math, English, Amharic, and spoken English classes

I come home for lunch at 12:30 and check on my chickens

I return to school at 2 for one more English class, math, and more science

I come home at the end of the school day at 3:30

I wash my uniform

I do my homework

I help my Mom while she works to get ready to leave for the market with her injera. I make coffee and anything else she needs me to do. I am good at making coffee!

At 6 I start reading and I study until 8 when my Mom returns.

I help make dinner and roast the coffee. For dinner we might eat potatoes (dinich), kocho (local food), vegetables (gomen), and corn bread.

Then we all wash our legs and go to bed. Sometimes I am too tired to wash my legs and I fall asleep, so I’ll wake up and feel my Mom washing my legs for me.

This is the type of productive and safe day we wish for every child.

Betsega’s chicken coop

An annual commitment of $300 will go far in the year ahead, not just in miles to rural schools where Betsega and other school sponsorship students live, but far into their everyday lives.

Are you ready to educate children in Ethiopia? If so, please SHARE this with others who might want to learn about the benefits of an Ethiopian education!

UPDATE: This blog post was written in 2017 and today Bestega is still working hard to help his family while excelling at school. He’s 13 and in 7th grade. His bright light continues to shine!

Dinkenesh: An Ethiopian Education Success Story

10-year old Dinkenesh is an Ethiopian education success story. In a worn notebook, she precisely prints today’s school lessons. This book is her greatest pride, and each page represents another day she is back in school.

Ethiopian Education is A Privilege

School is a privilege that many Ethiopian children cannot afford. Some children are needed to bring home income for families, others cannot afford the school uniforms and nominal fees necessary to step into a classroom. Fewer than half of the country’s children attend school regularly, and that number drops to 25% in higher grades.

For girls like Dinkenesh, there are even more obstacles to education. Fewer girls make it to secondary school than boys, and the literacy rate of young Ethiopian women is only 47%, far lower than men of the same age. For a time, Dinkenesh joined the 130 million girls around the globe are denied access to education.

I was so sad when I could not go to school. I needed to work and help my family.

You Can Provide An Ethiopian Education

A SCHOOL SPONSORSHIP from Roots Ethiopia gave Dinkenesh the opportunity to return to school this year.

For her, it’s the chance to hold a book, carefully pen English words and science terms into her notebook, while also helping out her family after school.

Now I am so happy I can go to school, and still I help my mother make injera when I can.

She has a lot of catching up to do. But her time in the classroom is about more than that day’s lesson.

For every year she is in school, the possibilities of being literate, earning a sustainable income, holding off marriage and raising healthy children increase. Her education will be a legacy—if Dinkenesh goes to school, her future daughters are twice as likely to attend.

Dinkenesh doesn’t know what she wants to be when she grows up. Her dream is right here, in this chair with a book or on a bench in her classroom, watching the teacher fill the chalkboard with new ideas. She is happy to learn and to be a part of a vibrant, packed-full class of kids who are the exception to the education crisis in Ethiopia.

Dinkenesh also doesn’t know how much her education impacts the rest of her life, her family and the community around her. She may not ever know how she is connected to girls around the world who desperately want to learn, too. What Dinkenesh clearly does understand is how much possibility is on each page in front of her. She shows it by giving it great care.

HOW YOU CAN HELP: Give an Ethiopian Education to Children

Join us in providing 175 school sponsorships to eager children in Ethiopia. During this month of celebrating women, we ask you to invest in girls like Dinkenesh who will change the world—one page, one lesson, one grade at a time, simply by loving the chance to learn.

Your investment of $21 a month will send a student like Dinkenesh to school with all the necessary supplies—a uniform, backpack, pens and, of course, that treasured notebook. It will also provide a small nutrition support stipend to the family to ensure that children have the freedom to attend school rather than work.

An annual commitment of $250 will go far in the year ahead, not just in miles to rural schools where Dinkenesh and other school sponsorship students sit at attention, but far into their big, bright futures and out into the community.

Are you ready to educate girls in Ethiopia? If so, please SHARE this with others who might want to learn about the benefits of an Ethiopian education!

7 Incredible Things YOU Did in 2016!

I could not blot out hope, for hope belongs to the future. –Lu Xun

See the dream. Be the impact. Feel the success.

The 2016 sun has set an incredible 366 times, shining a light on all the ways your gifts to Roots Ethiopia have turned dreams and challenges into success. As we begin what will surely be another year of work to create lasting change in Ethiopia, we thought we would bring you a year in review, by the numbers.

Here are 7 phenomenal ways YOU turned local ideas into lasting change:

15,000 students and their communities were enriched through Learning Resource Projects that focused on making the school learning environment the best it can be. Desks, chairs microscopes, books, shelves, concrete floors, chalkboards, libraries for public use, the list is long. The impact is broad. The local community is inspired.
More than 8,600 community members received temporary food support during the months following drought-related crop failures. In the darkest of days, these food staples allowed kids to keep going to school and families to stay strong.
113 librarians and 39 science teachers received intensive training in their field to become better leaders and to improve their innovative use of local materials as teaching tools.
11 rural schools were recipients of new books in the local language(s). 6,000 students can now expand their literacy skills and love of reading.
175 students attended school with all-inclusive School Sponsorships.
40 boys and girls participated in a new sports-based program designed to develop youth leadership skills. The program includes uniforms, sports equipment, and instruction.
Over 300 women and men built their own small businesses that sustain their families. 19 Self-Help Entrepreneurs were in place in 14 project sites for the small business owners to increase their capacity to earn income, increase their self-confidence, and work for social change.

These accomplishments all began as the dreams of small Ethiopian communities. You brought the resources, and you stood strong in the face of the serious challenges that threatened the livelihoods of so many. You gave monthly, or all at once or both. Your hope for better lives for Ethiopia’s poorest families was the thread that linked possibility to progress.

Thank you for an amazing 2016.

In 2017 we will see change, growth, and new opportunities. In partnership with your commitment, here’s to the hope for a better future for all of Ethiopia.

Warmly,

The Roots Ethiopia Board of Directors

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Roots Ethiopia is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization working in Africa, specifically helping Southern Ethiopia. Roots Ethiopia supports community identified solutions for job creation and education.

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Sisay’s Life is Under Construction in Ethiopia

Sisay, a young girl from rural Ethiopia, is building a beautiful and inspired life day by day. She has been in the Roots Ethiopia School Sponsorship Program for three years and recently sat down with Tilahun, our Program Director in Ethiopia to share the power education is having on her life.

My name is Sisay. I am 17 and a Grade 8 student. I am a double orphan. I lost my Father in 2004 and my Mother in 2010. I live in Doyogena town which is located 25 km south of Hosanna together with my three siblings.

After the death of my mom in 2010, I passed through many desperate times. Even though there was something to eat at home with the support collected from neighbors, continuing my education was a serious problem. I was using one book for two subjects. I was not able to buy a uniform. Many times teachers chased me out from class for not taking notes due to a lack of pen. All my clothes were torn and most of the time I was wearing my elder sister’s shoes.

At this point in time, Roots Ethiopia selected me for a School Sponsorship. This was in 2013. It was at this point that my schooling situation totally changed. A lack of school materials is now unthinkable. I am wearing clothes like children from well to do families! My school performance has improved. I am one of the most promising students in the best private school. I attend class seriously and I want to be an engineer.

After completing my schooling I would also like to help vulnerable children who are suffering from lack of care and support. I am a symbol that your support is not in vain. Like the construction happening behind me, the same is true for my life.

Join the #SendMeToSchool Campaign and support 175 students and th

eir families in Southern Ethiopia!

$21/month will send one child to school,

$42/month will send two children to school, and

$63/month will send three children to school in Southern Ethiopia.

#SendMeToSchool

Roots Ethiopia is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization working in Africa, specifically helping Southern Ethiopia. Roots Ethiopia supports community identified solutions for job creation and education.

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#SendMeToSchool Interviews Mekdes, an Ethiopian Dreamer

Our Program Director in Ethiopia recently traveled to Sodo, Ethiopia to interview Mekdes, who is twelve years old and in the third grade. Her father died three years ago. Mekdes lives with her mother and five brothers and sisters. When her Dad was alive, he supported the family with jobs in agriculture and animal husbandry.

What was your life like after your Father’s death?

After my father died we rented our land to survive, but it didn’t take long until we had to give up our portion of the land. I didn’t have a chance to learn and I couldn’t even think about school even though I am highly fond of learning. It was so hard to get back and forth to school. My family didn’t have anything to eat. Getting clothing and teaching materials was a very difficult issue. Our life was getting worse and worse. Two of my brothers went to the streets to beg, but the girls remained in the house doing nothing. To tell you the truth, it was so scary to even think about the life before being enrolled in Roots Ethiopia’s School Sponsorship program.

What has life been like since your School Sponsorship?

I am now able to go to school. I am looking forward in life and becoming happy. I can get educational materials timely and sufficiently. God blessed us in amazing ways after the aid of Roots Ethiopia. A nearby neighbor came to our home and said “I see what Roots Ethiopia did for you. My heart is so touched that I have decided to pay for your electricity to help you study.” Now reading is fun with light and I will get better and better!

How do you spend the money we give you for food?

We buy 25 KG of maize with Ethiopian Birr and the rest of the money will be use for cabbage. Thank God that the money for food is enough for the whole family, for a whole solid month, not for only me. In former times we often skipped meals, but currently we get our lunch and breakfast timely.

What do you want to be in the future?

I want to be a Medical Doctor. I love science courses and I spend most of my time reading about Science.

Any final words, Mekdes?

I want to thank my entire community for selecting my family and giving us this chance. I used to have nothing. Now I am a dreamer.

Join the #SendMeToSchool Campaign and support 175 students and their families in Southern Ethiopia!

$21/month will send one child to school, $42/month will send two children to school, and $63/month will send three children to school in Southern Ethiopia.

#SendMeToSchool

Roots Ethiopia is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization working in Africa, specifically helping Southern Ethiopia. Roots Ethiopia supports community identified solutions for job creation and education.

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School Sponsorship in Ethiopia, #SendMeToSchool!

Every year, Roots Ethiopia re-enrolls our existing students and adds more kids to our School Sponsorship roster. In 2016, 175 kids will head to school in Ethiopia because of your incredible support. You were there when we first sent 38 kids in 2013, 70 kids in 2014, 100 Kids in 2015, and now 175! The growth is tremendous, but education in Ethiopia remains a critical need with 3 million Ethiopian children out of school.

You have probably met Solomon already, the face of our 2016 #SendMeToSchool Campaign. For many of you, his deep brown eyes greeted you in your mailbox over the weekend, via our mailer! Some of you might have met him in your inbox this morning, via an email! Others are just meeting Solomon right this minute, via this blog post!

Solomon is a rock star. Since joining our School Sponsorship Program in 2014, his grades just got better and better. In fact, he recently tested into the prestigious Liqua Public School, one of the top schools in Ethiopia.

Our travel team went to Sodo, Ethiopia in October to meet Solomon. It was a short walk from our van to the traditional mud sided home Solomon shares with his family.

His colorful soccer jersey and warm smile eagerly greeted our team. He was so excited to have visitors and enjoyed talking to us about his educational experiences. Before Solomon was able to go to school, there was little food for his family and access to educational materials was nearly impossible. Now, his family has what they need to send Solomon to school without worry. Solomon is going to be an engineer. He told us,

“I love math and science. One day I will be a NOTABLE ENGINEER and I will remember the hard start of my life, and how you believed in my future.”

It’s hard not to really feel what these opportunities mean for families in Ethiopia, so Roots Ethiopia is setting BIG goals for our #SendMeToSchool Campaign. In addition to uniforms, school supplies, a medical care allowance, and clothing, we are dedicated to making sure kids stay in school while drought conditions persist in Southern Ethiopia. All of the children and their families in our program are receiving additional food support during this critical period in Ethiopia.

$21/month will send one child to school, $42/month will send two children to school, and $63/monthwill send three children to school in Southern Ethiopia.

Join the #SendMeToSchool Campaign and support 175 students and their families in Southern Ethiopia!

Roots Ethiopia is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization working in Africa, specifically helping Southern Ethiopia. Roots Ethiopia supports community identified solutions for job creation and education.

Did you find this post informative? Please share it by clicking one of the share buttons below!

A Peek Inside our Meeting in Angecha, Ethiopia

As soon as we walked into our meeting with Sentayu and Tamesgen, the Roots Ethiopia Community Facilitators in Angecha, Ethiopia, we could sense the leadership skills and dedication to our program. These two men manage the 10 School Sponsorships and 15 IGA’s that are currently being supported by Roots Ethiopia.

Both men recently traveled to Hosanna for Program Training. Sentayu said;

“I learned many skills. Mostly skills related to learning to create jobs and setting expectations for the IGA recipients. I also learned how to face challenges and manage these businesses properly.”

Sentayu leads the Roots Ethiopia Program in Angecha, Ethiopia

Sentayu spoke at length about the IGA recipients in Angecha. He feels that they are all moving in the right direction and showed us three different bank books that recipients are using to save money. All are making monthly deposits and excited to have learned the skills needed to save money.

One of the bank books being used by an IGA recipient

Tamesgen updated us about the recent IGA training that was given to all of our recipients:

“Most of the people in the Angecha IGA Program had no business knowledge or skills before coming to the training. Now they have learned how to generate income, manage a business, and save money.”

Tamesgen plays a major role in supporting our work

In Angecha, corn, potatoes, and kidney beans have failed. At this point, they are hopeful that barley and teff will be harvested successfully in the area.

Sentayu reported that nutritional support has already been distributed to the families of our school sponsored children. Grains and cooking oil have been given to each family according to family size. He thinks that this will be sufficient to sustain them during the current nutritional crisis.

As of today, all 126 of Roots Ethiopia sponsored students and their families have received grain and cooking oil to support stressed nutritional needs. Our next initiative will involve food relief in a remote, drought-stricken village in Hadiya, Ethiopia. We are dialed in deeply to the nutritional needs of each community. Your support helps Ethiopian families sustain themselves during this critical time.

Finally, we were able to inform Sentayu and Tamesgen about Roots Ethiopia’s plan to fund a Learning Resource Project in Angecha. They were honored to add this Program and are committed to its success. Our Program Director has worked with the local woreda leadership to identify a school in the region. Community and school leaders are working on the proposal and we are eager to share it with you!

As you plan your end of year donations, please support Roots Ethiopia with a monthly recurring donation. Your end of year giving continues to give life to community-led programs in Ethiopia.

Educating Girls in Ethiopia!

Eyerusalem lives with her Mom and big sister in a hot and dry Ethiopian village. Despite the blowing dust, their eyes twinkle with the same hopeful light. Eyerusalem exudes a quiet confidence and joy when she talks about school:

“I want to be a doctor. My sister wants to be a doctor too.”

Her big sister Birtukan wraps her arm around her in a show of support as they talk about helping each other study math and chemistry. Pausing, Eyerusalem say:

“My Mom works hard for us, but she couldn’t send us both to school. Because I have a sponsorship, my Mom didn’t have to choose for only one of us to go to school, and I can do this with my sister.”

We are midway through our annual School Sponsorship Drive and this year we are focused on educating girls in Ethiopia. With YOUR help, girls like Eyerusalem and her sister Birtukan will be able to proudly enter Ethiopian classrooms, a country where 3 million children don’t have access to education. We are dedicated to being part of the movement to Let Girls Learn! We have 34 days left to educate #100Kids in Ethiopia and we are more than halfway there!

Give Now

Roots Ethiopia is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization working in Africa, specifically helping Southern Ethiopia. Roots Ethiopia supports community identified solutions for job creation and education.

Meet Eyerusalem, a 5th Grader with Big Dreams!

Girls like Eyerusalem and her sister, Birtukan, are the future of Ethiopia. When you donate to Roots Ethiopia this year, you give many girls just like these two a chance to be forces for change — in their families, in their schools, and in their communities.

Girls in Ethiopia dream of being doctors, engineers, nurses, and businesswomen. Your support of Roots Ethiopia helps children connect their dreams with the reality of school!

Children like these two sisters long to attend school without concern that attendance will be interrupted by girl-centered work, lack of school supplies, illness, or food insecurity. Eyerusalem attends school in Bonosha, Hadiya with a schools sponsorship. She is in 5th grade and has big plans for her future. When we asked her about her goals, she smiled and responded:

“I want to be a doctor. My sister wants to be a doctor too. ”

We are confident this duo can do it, provided they have continued support and encouragement. Their mom is doing everything she can, and Roots Ethiopia has provided that extra layer of support for her youngest daughter.

Girls and boys come to Roots Ethiopia for assistance — for uniforms, book-bags, supplies, medical needs, and monthly food for family health and welfare. If private schools are available locally, their sponsorships provide monthly tuition. This is the support that YOU make possible. We are so very grateful for your compassionate care of school children.

Our team had the pleasure of meeting these sisters last week in Bonosha, and they are dreaming big and working hard. Your support keeps their keen eyes on their futures.

With our deepest thanks,
Roots Ethiopia Board of Directors
The 2014 Roots Ethiopia Travel Team

*If you’d like to make a gift of Roots Ethiopia to someone this holiday, use this holiday link and we’ll immediately send you a beautiful card for your gift giving! If you need more than one card, send us your request at info@rootsethiopia.org*