Congratulations

To the hard-working little ones at our schools, to the faithful teachers, to our donors and volunteers, to the program administrators in Ethiopia, the UK, and the US: congratulations on another school year completed - sometimes feeling like it's against all odds. The Shiro Meda completes its third year of operation. The new Mojo school completes its first. In this quarter's edition of the Tesfa Birhan, we take a look at some of the people who make these schools what they are.

The Gobuz Boys

In our last newsletter, we took a look at two of the gobuz (clever) girls leading the way in our Tsegereda Shiro Meda school. How about two more profiles in courage?

In both our first grade and our first level of kindergarten, girls have a lock on the number one positions. But boys are batting second and making a good show of it.

At Number Two in first grade, eight years old and measuring one meter and twenty-six in height, meet Ermias Yoseph, holding strong as top boy in the first class at Tsegereda since 2004 - making the grades despite living in a three-room house with nine family members.

Ermias well deserves the title 'gobuz'. He proudly resists his teacher's offer to translate this interviewer's questions into Amharic. He listens attentively to the English and ponders every query. His favorite subject is science. And why? He says he gets to learn about weather and animals and insects. Does he have any samples of knowledge to share with readers? Well, lions eat meat, he tells me. So do hyenas and tigers.

Ermias says that school is not his only talent. He's pretty good at football (soccer, for you Americans.) His idol is Steven Gerrard of Liverpool. But he has bigger plans than making it into the Premiership. He's working to become a doctor.

In kindergarten, our star is Yared Kebede. Now, Yared is far from biggest in his class, but this interviewer has seen him take charge on the playground. Some might say he's a bully. But in interviews, he's shy. Or maybe he's just a philosopher in the budding. My every question provokes long and silent soul-searching, eye-rolling and the licking of lips.

Thinker he may be, but he's a man's man, as well. He says his goal in life is to be a bus driver. And his favorite sport? Karate. He's happy to share a few moves with me ... and with any unfortunate boy on the playground. Patriot that he is, when asked to name his favorite athlete, he names Haile Gebreselassie, the world-famous Ethiopian long-distance runner.

In his scholarly life, Amharic is his favorite subject. And what are we learning this week? We're learning about the P and H family of characters in the Amharic alphabet. You don't say? And in English, he adds, we're learning about the sounds Y and Z.

Yared lives with his parents and older sister in a humble two-room house. Dogs are his favorite animals, though they have no pets. And given a choice of cuisine, he'll take spaghetti every time.

These are the boys paving the way toward Ethiopia's future in mid-century. Stay tuned!

Announcements

Music and Food

If you happen to be in Minneapolis on the night of June 16, please stop by the Dashen Restaurant at 9pm for an evening of festivities: Amaric music and international music with DJ Sol and delicious Ethiopian food served by the Dashen Retaurant. The address: 2713 E. Lake Street. For more information, call 612- 331-2624, or visit www.tesfa.org.

Child Sponsor of the Year

Every child sponsor is a tremendous help to child and school alike, but some deserve special notice. This year, the exceptional child sponsor has been Kathy Clarkson from Minnesota. She has sent three packages already, with gifts for her sponsored student and his classmates: markers, coloring books, story books, and notebooks. She has sent postcards, cards, and very nice letters. Her sponsored child, Bilcha Ishetu is a happy and lucky boy. Sponsoring makes a difference! Please keep up the good work, sponsors. If you would like to sign up to sponsor a child, please check either of our Tesfa websites, US or UK. Thanks!!

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 websites and email or call. Thank you! !

Staff Profiles

Benefits in an enterprise like the Tesfa Foundation are never simple to chart. They are manifold. Our mission is to help children, but benefits ripple out to parents and community, to staff and volunteers, and to donors themselves.

It's a joy working beside our local staff. By creating opportunities among young teachers in Ethiopia, we find treasures. Not a few of our volunteers - local and foreign alike - have commented on the quality of our staff and the cheerful atmosphere of our schools. Teachers from the West have said they learned a lot observing our teachers, and Ethiopian teachers say learning from visitors is one reason they like their jobs.

Let's celebrate two new hires for Tesfa who have worked out wonderfully. These are the people who make the Tsegereda Schools successful.

When Wogayehu moved up to teach first grade at our Shiro Meda school mid-year, we had to cast about quickly for a replacement in the kindergarten classroom. Our good luck with teachers held and we found Haregwa Desalegn. She dove right in and proved herself a capable and enthusiastic teacher. The children love her.

Haregwa has a certificate in kindergarten instruction, and comes to Tsegereda with three years experience. She says she always wanted to be a teacher because she loves children. She is happy to be at Tsegereda, saying she's learning a lot from Wogayehu and our volunteer teachers, and she loves the friendly atmosphere of the school. She has a family of her own, including a daughter who is kindergarten age.

I asked her, who is her problem child? There was no hesitation: Daniel. But she names him with a laugh. He turns his back when she's at the board, and he torments his classmates. He's a distraction when visitors come to class, throwing himself at them and demanding attention. She says punishment has never worked, so she has started counselling him when she can and praising him when he's good. Does it work? For a minute, she says with a chuckle.

At the new Mojo school, English language is handled by Tesfa's first and only male teacher, the young Asnaka Birbirsa. It's his first teaching job after his certificate course at Royal College in nearby Nazarit, and he's performing like a star. Growing up, he attended local government schools and knew since the third grade that he was going to be a teacher.

Visit Asnaka's class and students will cheerfully show off their knowledge, singing the alphabet, singing their song about the seven days of the week, answering promptly with 'We're fine, thank you," or "My name is ...."

Both teachers favor methods to build the lungs. Bring earplugs when you visit,. The drills will remind you of boot camp. One small sergeant leads with a stick pointed up to the blackboard. "Twen-ty-four!!" The whole class echoes for the benefit of several city blocks: "Twen-ty-four!!" "Twen-ty-five!!" and so on, until all the birds within miles are frightened off. It's great fun.