Hello from Stephanie and Co.

We have had parents morning this week and everyone was all very positive – parents have come up with the suggestion that they form a parents committee in order to support the school.

Thursday is a public holiday for the Downfall of the Derge ( the regime that used to be in power here )

We are a little worried about Tsion ( the girl with Downs Syndrome ) as she is getting more and more behind and is starting to show disturbing behavior such as rocking – something that she has never done before – we are not sure what this indicates ( expect that it isn’t good ) and wondered whether anyone could offer any concrete suggestion as to what we should do to help her – we have had the idea of talking her out of schooling since I think that she has got as far as she formally can and putting her in the Kg as a helper where she will learn a bit and feel good ? – although not sure whether this will work or not ? – all suggestions most welcome

We now have a volunteer for September – a girl from New Zealand – but are still looking for volunteers for the summer school i.e. mid July onwards – anyone interested please apply !

Many many thanks for all your help – Stephanie and co 

Paypal Account for Donations

Send Money - PayPal

To:  stephanddawit@yahoo.co.uk

From:  Your E-mail address

Amount: $ ?.??

For: Services/Others

Update from Stephanie

Regarding this weeks update ! – we are currently struggling with power since due to eh absence of the short rains which should have come in about February then we have severe power shortages – it is currently one day on and one day off ( with lots of unscheduled times in between ) – although we don’t use much power at the school ( since we don’t have computers ) but we are now starting practising for the end of term graduation ceremony ( which is rather like a show ) and since it is all singing and dancing then we need the tape machines to work ( we cant afford batteries )

     We have now formally applied to be a registered charity in the UK and are awaiting the results – it would be fabulous to be a charity since then we would have much more credibility when applying for a grant.

    We are still looking for volunteers for the summer school as well as for September – people don’t have to have qualifications or experience ( although that would be preferred ) – the only ting is that to qualify for the free accommodation they need to be female in order that they share the accommodation with the manager of the school ( Dawit's mother ) – males can come but they need to pay for their own accommodation ( about 3 dollars a night )

      I am planning on going to the Uk in the summer and bringing stuff back – books / educational toys etc – if anyone lives in the Brighton area of the Uk can they please start trying to get donations ( local schools often throw a lot of stuff away at the end of the year which is nice and many people with children have old books and toys etc that are unused ) – then I will come and collect it when I come to the UK and I can take it back with me as luggage

       

Read More about English Alive...

The following story about Dawit and Stephanie was published this week on the Story of My Life website.

Story of My Life | User Story

If you are having difficulty with the gift monkey site do not despair.  Other's are having trouble too.  If you are compelled to make a donation of books, cash, or school supplies please send an e-mail directly to Stephanie and Dawit for proper arrangements.  

Right now the internet service in Ethiopia is somewhat sketchy at best.  Apparently  they have entered the mandatory black out season.  Stephanie will return you e-mails when she has a chance and the power cooperates.  In Stephanie's own words,

" the power situation here isn’t good at the moment since because the short rains were light the country is running out of water to keep the electricity going thus we now have scheduled power one day on and one day off – in the meanwhile we have unscheduled power cuts which can last quite a while !!! – the good news is that this wont last forward and we should have continual power again by September !!!"

Wish List and Dreams...

HI – hope that all is going well – our current needs are :

100 pounds ($151 US) for the teachers to attend language classes for a year

250 pounds ($380 US) for a new T.V. / video player

5,000 pounds ($7565 US)  for a van so that we can transport pupils from the outlying villages

15,000 pounds ($22,700 US) for land so we can build our own purpose built school