Welcome to the second issue of the Tesfa Birhan, electronic newsletter for the Tesfa Foundation. The mission of the Tesfa Birhan (which means Light of Hope) is to keep you -- the donor, supporter, volunteer, or merely curious -- up to date with the rapid developments among Tesfa programs. We plan on releasing three issues per year, in spring, autumn, and winter. Remember, further information on Tesfa is always available to you at www.tesfa.org, or www.tesfa-uk.org. If you would like to join or be taken off our mailing list, please follow this link:
http://tesfafoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/newsletter_tesfafoundation.org.

Great Strides

Since last spring, the Tesfa Foundation has taken a number of big steps forward – thanks to our supporters in Ethiopia, the US, and the UK.

The Mojo school is our first new school to be funded by a grant from the Annenberg Foundation. The purpose of the grant is twofold: to expand opportunities for early childhood education in Ethiopia, while also creating a sustainable sister school program, linking our schools with schools in the US and UK.

Currently Tsegereda-Mojo, because of its large size, is paired with two schools in the London area, Meadlands and Lovelace Primary Schools. Exchanges of cultural items have begun. Pen-pal letters among the children will follow. UK partner schools will collaborate on new curriculum that brings this exchange to life and challenges UK children to think globally, to imagine life in a very different culture, and to consider issues of poverty. Via video and photos, UK children will be led through the creation of the Mojo program, hopefully gaining an insight into the real value of education.

Sustainability among our programs is a primary goal of the foundation. We’ve advanced toward that goal this academic year. Every one of our students at the Tsegereda-Addis school is sponsored by donors in the US or UK. For $16 per month, each sponsor pays for one child’s ‘tuition’, which is no more than the child’s portion of the school’s operating budget. Soon, an option to sponsor at the Mojo school will be available. Anyone interested in sponsorship should check one of our websites.

Most exciting is the opening of our second school in Mojo, a small town about 100km southeast of Addis Ababa. This school serves 120 children – four times the size of our first school’s student body – in a two-year kindergarten program for ages 5-7. In a poignant demonstration of the need for early childhood education in Ethiopia, almost 500 families applied for these 120 seats, and local officials are already urging us to expand.

Our original and flagship school in Addis Ababa is livelier than ever. This autumn, we enrolled a new class of thirty 4 and 5 year-olds – only our second class to enroll at Tsegereda-Addis. The first class graduated last summer and are now in first grade. But they have not disappeared. They now attend a local government school half-time, and return to Tsegereda for half a day for additional tutoring in English and math.

We are launching a new program this year at the Addis Ababa school, the beginning of a broader approach toward helping the community served by our kindergarten. In partnership with a British charity, the Create Trust, we will be providing parents of our children with an educational program designed to improve parenting skills, addressing topics like discipline, nutrition, and healthy home environments. The Create Trust integrates the arts and creative self-expression into their trainings. Our parents’ workshops will use drama as a learning tool.

Running shoes

This year, Tesfa staff and supporters on three continents put on their running shoes for the cause – a fact sure to delight Ethiopians, whose athletic heroes are distance runners. In July, ‘Team Tesfa’ made its first appearance in the British 10K in London, putting in a distinguished – or at least memorable – performance under a hot summer sun. On November 4, the First Annual Tesfa 5K took place in Minneapolis in the US. The race attracted 50 eager runners and walkers, and the weather was perfect. All local US Tesfa board members showed up and either ran in the race or ran around the race, making sure things ran smoothly. And on November 26, another ‘Team Tesfa’ participated in the Great Ethiopian Run in Addis Ababa. A team of 13 school staff and friends ran the 10K among 25,000 race entrants. Anyone interested in next year’s running events for Tesfa, watch our websites.

What’s next? We lay the groundwork for school #3 – probably further afield. We’re currently studying sites in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia, center of the ancient Axumite Empire. Wish us luck!

More news next spring! Thank you for your support.

Announcements

Sponsorships

For $16 (or £10) per month, you can ensure the success of one pre-schooler in Ethiopia, paying his or her way through one of Tesfa's early childhood education centers for the poor. It's a way to make a profound difference in the life of one child, while becoming acquainted and charting his/her progress through the first years of education. For more information, please check online at www.tesfa.org.

Raffle in Britain

Danielle Sellwood, whose child attends Widcombe Infant School in Bath, England – sister school to the Tsegereda School in Addis Ababa – raised over £200 for Tesfa UK in a local raffle called "Objects of Desire". She collected donations of prizes from artists and the fashion industry where she works. The first prize was a beautiful ceramic bowl by a well known and very collectable potter, Josephine Cox. Congratulations and thank you to Danielle!

Volunteers Needed

Volunteers are always needed to help us in our work to provide early childhood education in Ethiopia. If you have even a few hours per week or month, please consider helping us to organize and implement our programs. All types of work and skills are needed. Look up contact information on our web sites and email or call. Thank you!

Profile: the Gobuz Girls

Many of our children are examples already of the resilience of the human spirit – at ages 4 and 5 finding happiness and success despite heavy odds against them. Two of our girls at Tsegereda-Addis Ababa are exceptional, even among all these strong children: Gelila Almaz and Hawi Yadisa. Gelila was one of our first class at Tsegereda. Hawi is one of the new kids in our second class.

“Are you gobuz?” I asked them in my interviews. “Yes,” they both replied with confident nods. Gobuz means clever. They are that, and they work hard, in the face of heavy hardships at home. Gelila spent much of her first five years on the street, begging with her mother, eating leftovers from the university cafeteria. When she was first enrolled at Tsegereda, her mother had found them housing in one room with an abusive boyfriend. Gelila transcended all distractions to score consistently first in her class. Thanks to her US sponsor, Gelila and her mother now live securely and happily in a two-room house of their own. Gelila’s mother is working as a laundress.

Hawi has spent all her life around HIV. Her father died of AIDS, and her mother lives with the virus, though she still manages to work as a seamstress. Hawi has established herself as a leader among her classmates and a contender for Gelila’s seat of honor as valedictorian.

What’s the secret of their success? Interviews with this correspondent reveal similar refined tastes. Their favorite toy is the swing. Their favorite teacher is Miss Wogayehu, and their favorite white guy is Mister Dana. Gelila’s favorite food is potatoes, while Hawi’s is macaroni. They both love language. Gelila’s favorite subject is English and Hawi’s is Amharic. When asked what her class is studying in English, Gelila said, “plural and singular.” Ethiopian society will be hearing from the gobuz girls in the not-too-distant future. They have big plans. Gelila wants to be a doctor, and Hawi wants to be a teacher.

Hawi didn’t have much to say to English or American readers. But Gelila has these words of wisdom. Listen and learn. First, don’t touch sharp objects on the ground. Your hand might get infected and have to be cut off. Secondly, she wants to tell Western children to listen to their teachers. Thirdly, adults, help your children cross the road safely. There you have it – from two of the most successful kids in the Horn of Africa. Stay tuned for more stories.