Ato Mola, a 45-year-old resident of Geduta Village, has dedicated himself to improving education for the community. Despite limited resources, he and his wife Mulu built a small school with community support and eventually expanded it to serve grades 1-8, with help from Project Ethiopia. Their efforts have allowed their five children and many others to receive a solid education close to home.

Dagne and Emebet, residents of the Warkit kebele in Dangla, have no lack of words to describe how their new solar lantern provided by Project Ethiopia has made a significant difference in the quality of life for their family.

School is just around the corner for students in Ethiopia! As families prepare for the return to school (or may have already started) in the U.S., we would like to share the story of one family in Ethiopia who is doing the same and how a typical school day looks for the children.

For Abaynesh and thousands of students like her throughout Ethiopia, 12th grade was supposed to be a year filled with preparing for graduation and studying for the national university entrance exam. Instead, it was cut short when schools were abruptly closed in March 2020 due to COVID-19 and students were told to return to their villages without knowing how they would finish the school year.

Imagine you live in a remote rural area and the nearby school only serves students through grade 4. For your children to attend beyond grade 4, they must walk to a neighboring village, perhaps more than 3 miles away.

When students return to Dangla Meskerem Primary School in September, a beautiful, new building for science instruction and learning will greet them on campus. The new lab replaces a dilapidated building lacking electricity and proper storage for lab and teaching materials and will serve students in grades 3 – 8 (nearly 900 in total).

Sometimes all it takes is a strong, clear vision and a tarp.At least that was case for Zagray Primary School located in a hilly, rocky area approximately 8 km from Dangla town. In 2008, local parents started an alternative school (a school that teaches only reading and writing and does not have grade levels) under some trees at the current site of Zagray Primary. They started with a strong desire to give their children an education and a study tarp strung between the trees to provide cover from the sun and rain.

We all have dreams. They breathe life into what we do, inspire us to think big, and allow our heart to guide the way. For Zelalem Beyene, his dream was to attend university to study medicine and become a doctor.

Expanding access to a primary school education has been a core component of Project Ethiopia’s mission from the very beginning. Our work started with the kebeles and villages closest to Dangla town and has been expanding in ever-widening concentric circles over the years. In that time, we have built 23 new primary school buildings and improved 25 existing buildings for a total of 152 classrooms; creating access to primary education and a pathway to high school for thousands.