A Surprise Teaching volunteer arrives at our door!

Things are all go here and it is unbelievable how time flies ! – I suppose that that this is a good thing really, since they always say that time flies when you are having fun !!

The past two weeks have seen a good mixture of positive and negative events. On the negative side, the biggest problem was that the water supply to the entire town of Nazareth was turned off for four days last week ! This appears to be a seasonal thing and typically, no advance warning is given – you simply wake up one day and there is no water ! Although it is normal for water to be off for a few hours at a time, it is unusual for it to be off for a prolonged time.

Everyone has water tanks which holds water which can serve as an emergency measure, however, this only lasts a couple of days after which you are in trouble ! For the schools this meant that we didn’t waste water on flushing the toilets but as you can imagine, by day 3 it was a smelly place to try to learn in ! As a result, along with all of the other schools in the town, the school was closed on the fourth day with the children simply being told that school would resume once the water came back !!( I suppose you could call it the Ethiopian equivalent of a snow day ?!

The other problem was that there was no sugar in the country ! This seemed very strange as it is currently the sugar cane season so there are wheelbarrows of long sugar cane everywhere you turn, with the seller simply chopping the amount that you want to buy with the machete that they are walking around with . As a result, everyone seemed a little bad tempered since this meant that the daily cup of coffee was not available ( everyone has copious amounts of sugar in all drinks ) and it is a relief to see it trickling back into the marketplace, although at a higher price than previously !

The great news to counteract these difficulties was the fact that a volunteer turned up on the doorstep ! Although I had communicated with Paul previously via email in which he expressed his interest , there was nothing definite, thus it was a surprise to all at the school to have him arrive at the gate ! He had been working on a missionary programme in the country and had 10 days to spare so decided that the best use of his time was to work at the school !

In addition to his excellent job of teaching the grade pupils, he is also carrying out an intense English language training session after school with the teachers, resulting in everyone winning from his sudden arrival !

 Paula – the previous American volunteer left this week after about two months in the country. She really did a marvellous job of not only teaching the children and carrying out teacher training sessions but also given invaluable advice on fundraising – an area in which we would be generous to classify ourselves as “ weak “ ! Thanks to her we now have a solid foundation fundraising strategy which very soon be launched – so get ready !!!

Sponsorships are beginning!!

Here it is all action with trying to get the web site sorted out and organise fundraising campaigns! Unfortunately, power has not been very cooperative this week and this made progress very slow and frustrating, however, we believe that if we keep plodding on then we will get it all done !

At school, our grade 4 teacher – Lemma – has left since he was offered a much better salary at another school. Although teachers work for a lower salary due to the interesting work with educational materials and on going teacher training , with ever-increasing prices of basic commodities such as food and transport, this has meant that the salary given is fast becoming not enough to survive on ! This is a huge problem, since we do not have the funds to pay teachers any more , with even the current expenses being a great difficulty now that we do not have a stable income from my work. The income from the writing is bitty to say the least and it is impossible to get a living wage from what I am doing ! However, believe that God will provide and although you can’t live on fresh air for ever, the knowledge that I am doing the right thing in helping so many children have a decent education is enough for now !

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 We are fortunate in having yet another child sponsored this week  – his name is Mikias and he is currently in grade 2 aged 8.

The latest child to be sponsered at the school - Mikias aged 8.  We first made contact with Mikias when his very old grandmother came to the school in a desperate state. Both his mother and father had died of aids, as well as many other members of his family, leaving his grandmother as the only living relative. Too old to work, Mikias’ grandmother was faced with a desperate situation of either putting Mikias in an orphanage to receive an education or gaining a full scholarship. Of course, English Alive Academy were unable to turn Mikias away and he has been educated at the school for the past year, receiving free textbooks, uniform, tuition fees and transportation.
Mikias’ future is uncertain. With the old grandmother rapidly aging with the additional pressures of attempting to feed and clothe the two of them, we can only hope that she does not pass away before Mikias is old enough to look after himself , with there being a desperate need for Mikias to work hard and gain an excellent education at English Alive Academy , so that in the future he is able to get a decent job and support himself.

There are many children like Mikias in the school who totally rely on the kindness of others to support them. For children like this, there are no alternatives and thus it is essential that in September 2011 we have enough funds to extend the school up to school leaving age so that all children have a fighting chance.

We have been accepted as a charity!!!!!!

Fantastic amazing news ! – after about three years ( if not more ) at long last we have been accepted as a charity ! we have now been approved and all we need to do is wait for our charity commission number and then we will start applying for grants as well as setting up collection boxes. The school itself is not a charity, since it is abroad, instead we have Ethiopian schools for the poor – English Alive Academy as the charity, whose purpose it is to coordinate grants, volunteers and fundraising for us ! We really are hoping that being legalised will give us much more credibility and therefore be more inclined to donate.

As a result, the website is under total renovation and is expected to be fully formed by the end of next week – so keep your eye on it !There will be sections on “ kids doing for kids “, the dream room, volunteer information and simple and easy ways that you can help the school without spending a penny !!

We are now about to launch our sponsorship campaign to get all teachers and 50 children sponsored by 1^st August 2011 ! – which will enable even more poor children the opportunity to get the education that they deserve ! – so keep your ears open as to how you can be involved !

We are now coming to the very hot season in Nazareth ! – this is a time when the breeze which normally takes the edge off the heat dies down a little, making it stifling at times ! Many of the schools in Nazareth change their opening and closing times – starting at 7 am and finishing at 2 pm so that they have a few hours of coolness in the morning. However, with so many children coming from outlying villages, it would almost be impossible to get everyone to school on time so we plan on taking the fan from the house and borrowing another so that we can put them in the hottest classrooms and rotate them around when necessary !!

It is now the fasting season in Ethiopia for the Ethiopian Orthodox religion. Traditionally there are 250 days of fasting in the Orthodox calendar. Wednesdays and Fridays are fasting days. The most serious fasting time is this eight-week period prior to Easter.

Fasting requires that no meat, meat products, eggs or dairy products are consumed – essentially a vegan diet – though it is permissible to consume alcohol. In addition, during the period of Lent, no food is taken until after church services in the afternoon. This means that all of the meat shops are closed, meaning that whatever religion you are , you are fasting from meat whether you like it or not !!

Fasting biscuits are sold at this time – I am not sure what they are made of and taste pretty awful, but I suppose when you are having a vegan diet, then a bit of sweetness is required !!