The British Invasion

- by Pete Jones

In September, 2007, the Tesfa program in Ethiopia received its first visit from a delegation of British travelers / fundraisers. They came to run the Great Ethiopian Run for the Ethiopian Millennium, but received a surprise on the flight south.

A glorious start to the first Tesfa Mountain Run

‘ Haven’t you heard? The Great Ethiopian Run has been cancelled’

32,000 feet in the air, flying over the Egyptian desert on our way to the Great Ethiopian Run in Addis Ababa, this news was less than welcome. Six intrepid souls from the UK had been preparing for this trip for the last year, raising sponsorship money and training for running at high altitude. Now, only hours away from Ethiopia, we were being told the race was not going ahead.

The news was confirmed by Dana, Tesfa Foundation director and founder, upon landing. ‘The government has cancelled the race, threats of terrorism. But don’t worry guys – we’ve thought up something much better’

I looked around our little group and observed the downcast faces shift into uncertain grins and smiles. Despite it being 2am and pouring rain at Addis Ababa’s Bole airport, there was something in Dana’s voice that gave us hope. I afforded myself a grim little chuckle: the translation of Tesfa in English is ‘hope’. The name was not chosen by accident. This was the Tesfa spirit.

Here was the plan. The Great Ethiopian Run was to be turned into the Tesfa Mountain Run. A fantastic course had been found up in the Entoto mountains, the glorious range of hills above Addis Ababa, and above the Tsegereda school in its little community of Shiro Meda. Everybody was to be involved in the race preparation, from the children to the parents to the runners.

Two days later, furious activity had broken out in the little Tsegereda school building. We had all been assigned tasks. Over in the corner, Justine was helping kids make colourful T-shirts for the runners to wear, juggling this activity with showing another group of kids how to make cardboard medals. In another small room, Tom was guiding some children in plaiting a rope for the finish-line. I was boxed in a corner, trying to encourage children to make squares and triangle shapes for a banner. Neil, his hands splattered with paint, was drawing an outline on the banner and patiently encouraging children to paint inside and not outside the letters on his START sign. In the main room, Kylo was helping kids with a millennium time capsule.

And here there and everywhere was Mark, the pied piper of the group, skipping among all the activities, supervising, encouraging, and urging children on. In between activities, the kids practiced singing the school’s millennium song to be performed at the post race party: ‘ This is our Millennium; it’s not our Bicentennial ...’ (Apologies to Mark, composer and lyricist, but no one remembers the words, ... they were nifty, though.)

kalkidan holds up one corner of the starting line banner

The preparations continued outside of the school. Every morning at 7am, the courageous few were awakened by Tesfa’s elite runner and all around hero, Ijigu. Every morning, the minibus took them up to a trail halfway up the mountain. Every morning, the courageous few gallantly confronted the hills, lungs groaning and complaining at the pressure of the altitude, minds dizzy and exhilarated by the crisp morning air and the beautiful views of the forest and of the city beneath them.

And then on the morning of 9th September, up high in the Entoto mountains, the voice of Wogayehu, school teacher and starter of the race, split the calm morning air

: Sost, Hulet, And – 3,2,1 GO!

Cheers rang out from excited children waving their race banners, and we were off. The inaugural Tesfa Mountain Run had begun. On that morning, up high in the mountains above Addis Ababa, a curious sight presented itself to the mountain villagers. Pale legs supporting panting, gasping bodies running through the beautiful green woods, running around little settlements of round mud houses, waving at befuddled youngsters playing on a dirt football pitches, past boys perched on donkeys, past amused-looking herds of sheep and goats. On they ran (and – erm – some walking at times) past little churches and women roasting and pounding the morning coffee beans, past glorious green fields and on – until the final home stretch, the weary pale legs welcomed home by children cheering and waving banners. In the background was Entoto Maryam, the oldest church in Addis Ababa, and the site of Emperor Menelik’s first palace. It was fitting to have finished this wonderful race here at the birthplace of the city of Addis Ababa.

Back at Tsegereda School, parents and children had gathered. A cow had been slaughtered in our honour, and the smell of roasting meat pervaded the air. Kids danced and sang, and presentations were made to the children and to the victorious runners.

A familiar song rang out, the children singing as only children can, brightly, confidently with energy and hope: ‘This is our Millennium ....’

Despite all the setbacks we had run a great Ethiopian race after all, although it was the Tesfa Mountain Run instead.

Dana was right. It was much better. Well, this is the Tesfa Foundation after all.

Announcements

Tesfa Blog

Tesfa supporters have a blog now, started and edited by UK board member Pey Colborne. The Tesfa Blog – at http://tesfafoundation.blogspot.com/ – is a way to post news and events from around the world. It draws together our community of volunteers, sponsors, runners and all other individuals who have been involved in Tesfa-US, Tesfa-UK, and/or the schools in Ethiopia. If you have news or stories about a Tesfa event, if you have visited a Tesfa school, run for Tesfa, written a letter to a child in Ethiopia, please send a photo and a paragraph to the blog editor at tesfa.uk@gmail.com, and she will post as soon as possible.

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!

Runners Needed

In honor of the great athletic history of Ethiopia, the Tesfa Foundation will continue its development of running programs as fund raisers. First up on the agenda is the second annual Tesfa 5K in Minneapolis on November 3. Please check for information and registration at tesfa.org or active.com. Next up will be the second annual Tesfa Mountain Run, tentatively scheduled for Easter Sunday, March 23, 2008 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Watch for further information on our web sites. And watch for information on our next project, the development of the Tsegereda Team for underprivileged young Ethiopian runners.

School Number Three

The Tesfa Foundation’s third school is open for business. Tsegereda #3 is located in the small town of Debre Zeit, just outside Ethiopia’s capital city of Addis Ababa.

Debre Zeit is a small and beautiful community, built among five crater lakes. The lakes, the golden hills encircling them, and the mild climate have made this town something of a vacation and resort stop for the neighboring big city folk. But it is a town with its own history. It is a center of Oromo history and culture, and is also widely known by its Oromo name, Bishoftu.

The Tsegereda School-Debre Zeit is a small school. It accommodates sixty children in two classrooms in a very lovely and peaceful part of town. These photos show it in a development phase, just a few weeks ago. Since then, the rooms have been painted and provided with ceilings. The walls are decorated with posters, pictures and alphabets. The slide and swings are in place. We opened doors for classes on October 8.

This Tsegereda school is unique. It’s the pilot in an experimental program, the goal of which is financial sustainability. Debre Zeit was especially chosen for our pilot because, with its variety of neighborhoods, it can sustain our idea.

The school in Debre Zeit is a two-part project and will consist of two campuses. This one is the first. Its students are middle-class children whose families are paying a competitive tuition. They are happy to do it because of the quality of our education, and because of the benefits to their community – which lie in the second phase.

The second school will open next autumn, either in a needy neighborhood in town or in a rural area nearby, and will serve children from disadvantaged households. That second school will be paid for completely from profits at the first school.

Parents and staff are excited about the prospect. As we anticipated, families are happy to know that their tuition is going toward helping their community and country, as opposed to making another businessman’s living. Local government officials are grateful. Everyone is looking forward to the months ahead, eager to see the project unfold. It should be fun!