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.
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 labour 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 |
|
Separate latrines (2 blocks) for boys and girls (each serving four persons at a time) |
25,000 Birr @ 2 buildings = 50,000 birr |
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 for all students |
320 Birr @ = 235 desks = 75,200 Birr |
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. |
|
Table and chair in each classroom for teachers |
(200 Birr @ 12 tables (small) + (12 chairs @ 120) = 3,840 Birr |
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. |
|
- 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) |
120,000
15,000
200 Birr @ 25 pics = 5,000
120 Birr @ 100 pics = 12,000
800 Birr @ 3 pics = 2,400 |
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”.
