Deadline for sponsorship is fast approaching!!

Exams went very well last week, despite difficulties in trying to print them out since the flash must have had a bad virus of some kind since although we saved it when we plugged the flash in, the folder just disappeared !  To solve this we eventually managed to email it to ourselves , although opening up attachments is a very slow process in Nazret ! we really do need to invest in a printer of our own since it is so very hard to even get one page printed out with such a palaver !

Our technical problems have continued with a lack of a laptop to use for office work / plans ( and the blog of course ! ) – we are anticipating a donation of one from the US but this is not guaranteed, so worried about how we are going to manage – so many things these days need a computer to work on – from grant applications to letters etc !

On the positive side, graduation practise is going well and things are looking arranged for the summer school programme, although there is a strong possibility of a huge problem in the fact that one of the summer school volunteers is looking like pulling out at the last minute due to visa difficulties ( she has been volunteering elsewhere in the country and her visa for that runs out ! ) – should know for definite on Friday but very concerned that we won’t be able to find a replacement within a week or so ! 

The trouble is that we have three sections – the advanced course, intermediate course and the beginners course – with one volunteer running each of the courses – without one person that means three courses and only two teachers ! So if anyone knows anyone who may be at all interested, pass the word around !!

For the adventurous people in the UK, English Alive has organised parachute jumping ! The charge for the jump is covered with the sponsorships making it a win – win situation – people get the thrill of jumping out of a plane and English Alive receives a donation ! It is organised with www.skydivezone.co.uk – so take a look and have fun !

Don’t forget that the deadline for the sponsorships is fast approaching ! – sponsorships are trickling in slow but steadily which is excellent – all we need now is a little boost so that as many children as possible can receive the education that they deserve ! – all the information can be found at the top of this blog page and on the website – so take a look and spread the news !

Ethiopian Schools for the Poor - English Alive Academy
Registered Charity Number 1140681

www.englishaliveacademy.org

BUSY BUSY BUSY

BUSY is the only word to describe what life is like at English Alive Academy these days – and even that is not enough to accurately describe the number of things that are going on ! – the good thing is that they are all positive busy things – not a series of disasters – so we are fuelled along with enthusiasm !

Graduation practise is now in full throw – with the KG pupils this morning having a full costume practise. Amazingly, it all went rather smoothly – a few costumes forgotten and the old man’s beard constantly falling on whilst he was trying to sing – but on the whole, they are ready – which is excellent – since the show isn’t until the 7^th July – so there is plenty of time !

Tomorrow will be the turn of the grade classes to have their dress rehearsal, with it being anticipated that things will go well since Iris ( our Dutch volunteer ) has been working long and hard at it ! After quite a while in the country and at our school, Iris will be leaving on 24^th June , so will be sorely missed. However, the great thing is that she intends to keep up her good work whilst she is back home, working with fundraising activities.

The Belgium visit last week from the music organisers who would like to work in conjunction with the school went extremely well. They have an enormous wealth of ideas to expand funding and we are currently busy working on translating all our Amharic financial information for them so that they can know more about our needs and future plans .

 It does seem as if our ultimate goal of building a specially designed school from KG – grade 8 could one day become reality, rather than only a dream – firm concrete steps are now being taken to achieve this and although our steps are very much baby steps, at least they are steps, and as Paula ( ex – volunteer and fundraising expert ) always loved to quote, “ all of the little boring steps add up until one day there is a miracle “ and who knows – perhaps one day our miracle will come!

The music organisers were extremely kind to donate a digital camera to the school ( our previous one was dropped thus we had to borrow a camera to take photos for facebook etc. ) which means that we can now take as many photos as we want  – amazing !

On the technological front, we had a huge disaster in that our laptop died ( it was second hand when we bought it about 4 years ago so it should not have been that much of a shock – but it was nonetheless ) – without a computer this would mean that no lesson plans could be written etc! However, we were incredibly lucky that an ex volunteer has managed to locate a laptop for us and is currently in the process of organising sending it over  – amazing the kindness that people have in their heart – there aren’t really any words to describe it !

We have been amazingly lucky with donations this week, having an anonymous US $ 10 , US $ 100 from a friend of a friend as well as a Australian $ 100 dollar donation from a previous volunteers relative – which will go towards the mending of our chairs and tables, and the construction of new tables and chairs, since we anticipate needing even more due to the fact that our current grade 4 class will be replaced next year by our current grade 3 – a class of 29 !  It is a wonderful problem to have – too many students ! – may this problem continue for a great many years to come.

Ethiopian Schools for the Poor - English Alive Academy
Registered Charity Number 1140681

Graduation Day is fast approaching!!

June has crept upon us without us really realising the dates and we are now in the full throw of the end of the term with exams and the end of year graduation ceremony ! At the same time we are trying to get sorted for the summer school which starts mid July – so it is all go !

Iris is doing a great job at helping pupils prepare for the graduation ceremony , encouraging them to march in a straight ( ish ) line and keep facing the audience during the play etc.  The only trouble is that she leaves at the end of the week, thus really need to give the children a huge push so that everything will be ready !

Volunteers are now starting to apply for the next academic year starting mid September which is great, since our ideal is to have a steady stream of people so that the high level of English is maintained .

On the fundraising side, the airline person unfortunately didn’t come, although we are hopeful that she will make it one week in the near future. However, we currently have a visit from three organisers of a music festival who are interested in working with the school since the festival generates funds and they are looking for a worthy cause to donate it to. After an initial introductory meeting,  we are all off to Nazret tomorrow for a couple of days, to look at the not only the school but available land for sale – which sounds incredibly exciting and promising ! We are too apprehensive to get our hopes up too high, but it gives us tinkles down our spine to even think of the possibility of the school having its own land – this would make the world of difference, giving us the real possibility of having a fully self sufficient school – wow !

On a personal level, Dawit and I are currently weighing up our options – we would dearly love to move back to Nazret, run the school full time and really see it develop to its fullest potential. However, if we moved , we would need an income of some sort ( we currently have a small shop in Addis – a kind of mini supermarket ( although nowhere near that posh ) which is problematic – so currently calculating a way to make our dreams possible !

Really starting to feel that things may be shifting – after a period of stagnancy – this could be beginning of the realization of our dream !

Ethiopian Schools for the Poor - English Alive Academy
Registered Charity Number 1140681

Great things are starting to happen!!

Cannot believe that it is almost June ! – this school year seems to have whizzed by and although we had big plans of having the funds to rent another compound and open up a grade 5 – 8 section so that pupils could continue on at the school, unfortunately we didn’t realise our dream ! – so are putting this on the plan for next year instead !!

However, although things haven’t progressed on the new compound as anticipated, the school definitely seems to be striding forwards ! Although slow, the child and teacher sponsorships  are starting to trickle in, with the hope being that the trickle will form a stream which will lead to a river and eventually an ocean !!!!  In addition, odd donations are starting to come in – which is fantastic, giving us all a renewed sense of optimism !

In addition, we have interest from a big airline in supporting the school – so fingers crossed for their inspection visit next week !!  - who knows, this could be the start of buying our land and building our own school – it would be fantastic to have the freedom to do what we want with the school !!!

The other good news for the week is that our previous volunteer – Iris, is now our current volunteer ! She loved the school so much that she decided to extend her time there and is back off to Nazret tomorrow !!! This is particularly good at this time since the dreaded graduation practise  is now underway ! – trying to get 25 kids march in time to the music, themselves and manipulate sticks at the same time is no easy feat !!!

The end of the school year is near!

Once again, time seems to be flying past and the end of the school year is fast approaching !! Time to start thinking about the dreaded graduation once again where all of the pupils put on a show for parents. Although it sounds simple in theory, in practice, it is an enormous expense and requires at least a month of practise ! Not quite sure who started the trend or what the purpose is, but it is the main event in the school calendar so although we would love to skip it, this is not an option !!

However, the fantastic news is that Iris – the previous volunteer from Holland has decided that she loves the school so much that she will be coming back to volunteer for a few more weeks starting from next Monday ! This is fantastic news and the teachers and students will be ecstatic to see her once again !

English Alive had a visit last week from Chantelle – a Dutch visitor. She brought with her a huge bag of school supplies ranging from cuddly toys to pencils and beads  - all fantastic stuff !

We have been extremely lucky with donations recently, since also received materials from the USA through Josh. Perhaps the most exciting donation was that of a set of baseballs and bats ! The game of baseball was a totally new one for the children of English Alive and although I had a few ideas of my own from my school day rounders, wasn’t that sure of the rules and regulations. However, Chantelle and Iris were experts on the game, thus during their visit the whole of the grade school came to a standstill as the game of baseball was demonstrated and an enthusiastic game ensued !!!