Gembeltu School Project

Sector Education

Country Ethiopia

 

Project Partner: Engage Now Africa

In a nutshell:

My name is Alex French. After graduating from college, I lived in Ethiopia as an intern for a humanitarian organization for six months. While there, I met a friend who took me to his village. With him on the back of my dirt bike, we navigated dirt roads for several miles to the dusty village of Gembeltu.

They must have known I’d be visiting because much of the village was waiting to greet me and the children sang to me. Then, to my surprise, the elders of the village formally asked if I could help build their children a school. The elementary school classes there are taught by unpaid teachers under the shade of a tree, without books, a chalkboard, or a roof to protect their students.

They promised to contribute their labor if I could return with the funds to build the school. I later met with the district head of education who assured me that if a school were built, the government would provide a small yearly budget and a modest salary for the teachers. 
 

So, building a school in Gembeltu is precisely what I intend to do. I have the help of my fiancé Kayla, a friend from college, Daniel Smith, and the supervision of a local non-profit, Engage Now Africa.  We are working together to raise the requisite funds. The building will be very simple and our budget includes plans for school construction, a latrine, books and uniforms.

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