Tesfa means 'hope' in Amharic
Where there is no early-years or primary education available in East Africa (and now South America), we fund schools, in rural settings and urban.
Team Tesfa is a track-and-field program for youth in Ethiopia. We provide safe housing, nutrition and education for young women who are homeless and vulnerable. We provide vocational skills for young adults.
Seven Years of Tesfa: 7 schools serving 1000 children since 2004; schools built for $5-25,000 each; 8 sister school connections over the years in both the US and UK; dozens of visitors and volunteers from the US and Europe.
Dana Roskey Interview
When you sponsor Gelila, you change her life. You give her an opportunity for the kind of education that opens doors to a better life. But your $21 per month goes a lot further than that.
Gelila comes from a family that has lived in poverty for generations. She comes from a community in which social and familial relations run deep. After Gelila goes to college, after she becomes the first in her family with a middle-class income, she will give back. Siblings will have funds to start small businesses. Parents and grandparents will get health care. Gelila's children will go to school. Nieces, nephews and cousins will go to school. A long-running cycle of poverty is broken.
Multiply that effect by 59. That's how many classmates she has. Then compound that every year. Add in the effect of micro-loans made available to the struggling mothers of these children through one partnership. Add in the healthcare made available through another partnership. You begin to see real impact upon the community.
This is what is meant by the Ripple Effect. All change originates in the lives of individuals. But no benefit is exclusive to one individual. That's not how any community functions. If you want to see real change in Africa, start with Gelila.
