Ethiopia

Did You Know?

As a comparison, Ethiopia's size of 1.3 million km2 is about 1.6 times that of Alberta (See overlay in Maps section). The total population is, however, more than 20 times that of Alberta at over 70 million. The country's capital city, Addis Ababa, contains up to 5 million people although it is very difficult to enumerate due to the high number of transients. The rest of the country's population is widely spread out in communities of 5,000 or less except for several larger regional centers that have up to 100,000 people each. These include Bahir Dar, Harar, Gondar, Jimma and Dessie. The government discourages migration to the main cities where job prospects and sanitation conditions are poor. Despite the hardships, chances of survival are better when living directly off the land, even if only at a subsistence level.
Ethiopia Project Updates 2007 Kasso Manso School
Kasso Manso School

Kasso Manso School

The Village of Kasso Manso lies in the Bale Mountains south of Addis Ababa (in the opposite direction from our recent spring project sites in Wollo). The Kasso Manso school has no floors, doors, windows, desks, a library or latrines.

 

The 1,065 students who attend the school are split between a morning and afternoon shift and taught by 21 teachers. None of the teachers have university degrees, although six of them have two-year teaching certificates. It is difficult to attract qualified teachers to a school with so few amenities. There are eight levels in the school and each level has children of all ages. Students complete their lessons sitting in groups on the mud floor or on logs or rocks. Each student typically has a single notebook and pencil to complete all of their lessons.

  

 

Kasso Manso School

The people from the Village of Kasso Manso are very dedicated to the need for their children’s education and would very much like to see the school upgraded. They are more than willing to contribute their share of labor in accordance with the Partners project requirements.

 

Whereas the other 2007 Ethiopia Projects will be funded directly by EBA, this school will be adopted and funded directly by EBA employees. The people from the Village and Partners have provided us with a list, priority, and cost estimate for each aspect of the school upgrade, as follows.

 

Note: 10 birr = $1.00 CAD

 

 

 

 

Area Priority Cost Estimate Notes
Latrines Separate latrines (2 blocks) for boys and girls (each serving four persons at a time) 25,000 Birr x 2 buildings =50,000Birr The school has 1,065 students but has a pit latrine that can serve only one person at a time. Girls do not use this facility at all as students can see them through the holes and the facility does not have a door. Most boys use the open field for the call of nature.
Desks Desks for all students 320 Birr x 235 desks =75,200Birr All students write using their knees and sit on a rough curved log. This year, the school enrolled 230 new students and in the next academic year, the total student population is expected to reach 1,407. As the school operates on a shift system, a total of 235 desks (1 for 3 sts.) will be required.
Tables and chairs Table and chair in each classroom for teachers 200 Birr x 12 small tables + 120 Birr x 12 chairs =3,840Birr There are 12 classrooms in use now. Teachers need to have a table to keep their lesson plans, textbooks and materials they take to class. They also need a chair to sit and correct class works.
Completion of classrooms and office space
  • Plastering the external wall with bamboo
  • Plastering the internal wall with cement
  • Concrete work (foundation and floor) using iron bar reinforcement
  • Masonry work
  • Excavation and earthwork including selected materials from outside

 

Subtotal
  • 19,200

    •  

  • 15,000

    •  

  • 98,960

    •  

  • 32,800

    •  

  • 7,837

 

 

 


173,797 Birr

 Classrooms have been built by communities because the government has given up providing funding for this purpose. For lack of financial capacity, the community could not finish them.
Library
  • New library construction (1 block) like the one in Ambentu School.
  • Books and other reference materials (500 Books)
  • Furniture:
    • Tables(25)

      •  

    • Chairs(100)

      •  

    • Shelves(3)

 

Subtotal
  • 120,000

    •  

     

  • 15,000

    •  

     

  • 5,000

    •  

  • 12,000

    •  

  • 2,400

 

 

154,400 Birr

 The school does not have a library. Students depend on textbooks in class only. The school does not have reference books and other materials. Library capacity - 100 students at a time
  Grand Total: $457,237 birr 15% (68,585 Birr) of the cost will be covered by the community (10% in cash and 5% in kind, i.e., labour and local materials)

 

Prioritization of needs:

 

Below are the needs from the most pressing compared to those relatively less urgent.

1st: Desks

2nd: Latrines

3rd: Completion of classrooms and office space

4th: Library (including books and furniture)

 

The plan is that each EBA office will take ownership of a specific aspect of the school upgrade.

We envision each office or group coordinating a fundraising event to meet the campaign goal for their aspect of the school. This will enable each of us to become personally involved. We have asked for a representative(s) to come forward from each office to lead the fundraising activities which will take place between January and March 2007.

 

A list is provided below of the Kasso Manso fundraising contact for each office or group so far:

 

EBA Office Contact Person(s)
Yellowknife Rob Girvan
Whitehorse Glenn Rudman
Kelowna Jeromy Schuetze
Nanaimo Shelley Bayne, Tara Schmidt
Vancouver Karen Warrendorf, Thayer Nugent, Jon Bokic, Matthew Barnette,
Barry Pierce
Edmonton Jessie Arthur, Scott Dimitroff, Dawn Helm, Tigisti Kiros, Corrie
Schofield, Kym Watson, Corrine Thain
Calgary
(Riverbend)		 Bonnie Derksen, Robyn McGregor
Calgary
(Foothills)		 Debbie Coffin
Lethbridge Mark Sabourin (interim)

 

Our thanks go out to all the people who have come forward to lead this task. They will act as the main point of contact for each office’s fundraising campaign. They will be working in conjunction with Brian Adeney, Katherine Johnston, and Lillian Zaremba to meet our fundraising goal for the Kasso Manso school upgrade.

 

You can expect your fundraising coordinators to be looking for some great ideas in January, and there will be many opportunities for us all to contribute to the success of this project. We will also want to create awareness of the situation in Ethiopia to others outside of EBA’s walls and we challenge all teams to deliver innovative ways of "improving our communities".
Last Updated on Sunday, 31 October 2010 22:26