ANGEREB ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

KEBELE 01, ABDERAFI

CLASSROOMS PROJECT - 2016

Education is the pillar of development.  In order to compete with other countries or even with other more developed part of the country in the age of globalization, education must be at the top of our priority.  I believe most underdeveloped countries acknowledge this truth; however, implementing ideas and the lack of participation by community members have been difficult to overcome.

When we demand excellence from our children in school or even in life general, we as a community must provide the basic tools first.  We can not realistically expect students to excel and compete when they are sitting on a piece of rock, using their lap as a desk for an entire school day in a make belief classroom.  This is exactly the condition Angereb Elemntary school is in.

Angereb Elementary is a public school located in the rural part of Gonder called Abderafi.  Specifically, it is West Armachiho near the Sudan border.  Like the majority of Ethiopia, Abderafi is a community of farmers who make ends meet by farming local land and herding cattle and other livestocks.  It has a few signs of modernization, such as one bank, a single school, and a few roads leading to other nearby cities or towns. This town has about 2,500 residents who call it home.  It is a neglected area by the minister of education due to lack of funding or poor allocation of funds.

We selected to help Angereb because as shown in the pictures found in the gallery, before our aid, this particular school lacks many of the basic things that would qualify it to be called an educational institution. It is currently home to 500 students (grades 1-5), over 100 kindergartners, and about 200 adult students who are learning how to read and write their native tongue.  With the help of its administratior, Fasil Malede, we received a budget estimate of 141,660 birr ($6,434 U.S. dollars) to build the necessary facilities the school desperately needs.

The following facilities and equipment will be provided within the estimated budget:

•        Four classrooms with adequate windows and paved floors
•        One hundred classroom chairs and desks
•        Four Teacher desks, one per new classroom built

Our next goal is to add a library and an adequate restroom for the students, gender specified.