Worknesh, left, and her friend Sintu. Both are supported by EAVO

The Story of Worknesh

Worknesh’s story is unique in many ways. She was born with back deformity. She lost her mother when she was about 14 years old. Her life changed for the worst immediately after her father remarried. Worknesh and her step mother could not get along. Fearing that he could be without a wife once again, her father told her to find a place and live with relatives. She began wandering around Acheber town in 2007. That was where she met Hailu Ibssa, coordinator of EAVO’s efforts to send off high school students to Harba Chulule town where there is a high school. (Remember, there isn’t a single high school in Acheber town to this day, though an effort is ongoing). Hailu told us about Worknesh, and soon, we found a family that was willing to support her with food and other essentials at about $300 a year while she attends high school (EAVO only pays for rent, mattresses and school supplies). Her supporters continued to write her encouragements and send her a few hundred dollars to spend as she wishes on “girl stuff” through Seifu when he travelled to Ethiopia. Worknesh sat for the national exam in 2009, but failed to pass. She was very sad, as you can tell from her letter to her supporters below, which we translated from Amharic to English.

Worknesh is a fighter. She didn’t give up. Neither did the couple who sponsored her. They covered all expenses while Worknesh attended a one-year teacher training school. Hailu reported about six months ago that she successfully completed her training and began working as a full time Kindergarten teacher, earning 500 Birr per month (about $30/month). This is what we mean by “It’s all about people!” (Oh, by the way, the young girl pictured above to the right of Wornknesh, Sintu Girma, was also supported by EAVO while in high school, and she’s now enrolled in a nursing school, after passing the 12th grade national exam).

What’s happening now?

Adama University

College Students: By now, 14 college students have completed their first year in college and back in Acheber with their family. College text books are rare in Ethiopia. Students must copy important pages of text books to study. EAVO tries to pay for those costs as much as possible.

Senior High Students

Senior High Students: 15 of the 124 Acheber high school students we are helping would have taken the national 12th grade exam by the time you get this Newsletter. We hope and pray that all of them pass and join some of the 22 colleges throughout the country.

Plans to Increase Ratio of Girls:

The ratio of Acheber girls compared to boys, who pass the 8th grade national exam, is extremely low. Of the 37 Junior and Senior high students from Acheber, only 8 are girls (22%). That’s because girls are often required to collect water, perform other chores and take good care of the family while parents are in the field farming.In light of this, we are working on a plan to hire teachers part time to tutor 8th grade girls in an EAVO guest house getting built on a donated land, built at a cost of a little over $2,000 which was donated by one of EAVO founders. The guest house will also be used to accommodate volunteers that travel to Acheber to help with tutoring and several other projects.

A young girl pounding roasted coffee

Nov 2010, Seifu Ibssa with some of our high school students in Harba Chulule town, Ethiopia. (PS: Try counting the girls in this picture)

Together, we can change the picture (left), to this one.

Spring Protection:

Many thanks to Rotary Club of Sacramento for its donation, we are currently working on a spring protection project in Acheber that would, when completed, deliver clean water to our Kindergarteners, the community and the guest house.

School Upgrade:

We thank one of the founding couples of EAVO who donated funds for upgrading a school in Roben Jirecha that is in the process of building additional block of classrooms to upgrade the school from its current 7th grade level to 8th grade, complete with library and teacher lounge. The local government’s Education Division has agreed, in writing, to supply teachers and school materials when the rooms are complete. More pictures and complete report to come in our Winter 2011 Newsletter, right after a planned trip is complete.

Local School Improvement:

Upon request from the community, we are also improving another school that’s in poor condition in Balchi, a village near Roben Jirecha. We thank yet another donor, one of the founders of EAVO, who gave more than half of the cost of the repairs. More pictures and complete report to come in our Winter 2011 Newsletter, right after a planned trip in the Fall 2011.

Church School Improvement:

We are grateful to Ethiopian Christian Fellowship in Sacramento who paid for improvements to a church school in Kowada village, Endegagn, Ethiopia. A new, 5-room block of classrooms has been added to replace an old and crumbling building that was used to teach school-aged children, most of whom are from Muslim background. More pictures and complete report to come in our Winter 2011 Newsletter, right after a planned trip in the Fall 2011.

Travel Plans:

A group of volunteers from Lakeside Church in Folsom, California, and a couple from San Diego, Ca. plan to travel to Ethiopia with Seifu Ibssa in early November 2011. They plan to build playgrounds at our Kindergarten and Roben Jirecha School. Time permitting, they also plan to build a bridge near the KG for kids to cross a local river safely, and attend school.

Special Thanks! Special thanks to Mr. Tadesse Asefa of Guennet Church, a well run church organization, with whom we partner in most of our development projects, while reaching out to people with the message of hope through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. We thank Tadesse for his dedication and unrelenting effort to be our eyes, ears and feet. Thank you!