The spirit of goodwill

28/11/09


The spirit of goodwill in Abugida has reached the Birhan school.


To our great joy, we can inform you that the tremendous spirit of goodwill experienced in Abugida has now touched the Birhan school.
The older teachers retired at the beginning of this academic year and have given way to the new, highly motivated young generation of teachers who are excited, active and "raring to go", singing, dancing and playing with the children.

The generation gap has been closed, replacing old-school teaching through bullying and punishment ( not only the children but also the younger staff, a situation we witnessed during our visits, creating an oppressive atmosphere) and has been replaced by the same spirit of happiness felt in Abugida. The older staff now work in the evenings on our adult reading and writing initiatives.
Both parts are benefitting from this change and the older generation of staff are much more content being in charge of the adult education.


We had a wonderful reception, singing, dancing from children and staff. The teachers were beautifully turned out in traditional dress and looked a treat.
This year the children wear the same uniform as the pupils in Albugida.
After the ceremony we had a meeting with the headmistress.
This lady had replaced the former headteacher and at that moment we still did not know why.
We spoke on an individual basis with all of the teachers who informed us that it was a clear case of nepotism. The new headteacher is a member of the Edir's family. They told us that she is a lovely lady but unqualified for the job and lacking the experience recquired.
We decided to call all of the teachers to vote for who they considered to be the best qualified for the position but that it would be a secret ballot.
They were all keen to vote but became frightened of how the Edir would react when the result vote supported Genet, a membr of the teaching staff.
We told them not to worry and that we would deal with everything. We would have a meeting with the Edir.

We organised the meeting with the Edir and at first there was a lot of tension in the air but through clear, honest talking we managed to bring the Edir around to our way of thinking. At the end of the day , our aims are the same and both sides are genuinely concerned about the welfare of the boys and girls who attend the centre and of course the future of the Birhan school.


The Edir is struggling to obtain official accreditation for the school. Bureaucrocy is slow and complicated in this country.


Despite all of these difficulties the school is flourishing and looking beautifully decorated thanks to the teachers and pupils.
Most importantly, the children are very happy.
Personal files are being drawn up about every individual child including their family background and health.
Thanks to these files we are beginning to identify certain health problems which are being addressed.
The same as in Abugida,the teachers in Birhan will be attending a 3 month computer course.

The reading and writing course in Birhan is a great success.


We are financing one of these groups and the Kebele is using our instalations for two other reading and writing groups.


Barry has completed a construction project for when the school finally receives accreditation. The estimate for this buliding works out to 30,000 euros.


Unfortunately, our attempts to have a meeting with the parents of our schoolchildren was frustrated by the intervention of some mafia-type characters who are trying to upset all of our plans and the future of the families and children in our care.


We hope that the authorities will help us with this matter and that the culprits will be dealt with.


Photos:The Romeos and Juliets of the school, some of the staff,children, Genet, the new headteacher, some dancing, our welcome party.

Kidnappings.

8/12/09


We would like to express our support and distress about the kidnapping by Al Queda of the Spanish volunteers while working for the organisation Accio.
We wish to transmit our support and solidarity to the three kidnapped volunteers, their loved ones  and friends.
We are extremely concerned to hear that they are in the hands of the hardline faction of Al Queda in the Magreb.
We hope and we pray that this situation will be solved pacifically and that they will soon be back home.
They only went there to help those who have so little and need so much help.

Our two year old children

11/12/09


For the first time ever we have two year old children in our school. There are 20 two year olds in our Abugida centre.
Both their psychomotor activity and their physical development are well below their age.


All of the children who are offered a place in the Abugida school have been given a certificate by the Kebele which confirms their poverty status. All of these children started in September at the beginning of the academic year and as yet it is too early to give much information as to their progress.

In Ethiopia thre are practically no nursery schools except for the very few fee-paying centres in Addis.
Since there are next to no schools this also means that there are extremely few trained teachers for this age group.
Therefore the teachers we have already, do their best to work effectively with the two year olds.


Our priorities for the 2 year olds are the following.


Food: We provide them with extra milk and protein.
Health:Vaccinations and healthcare for all.
Communication skills: After food and health, these children will need help to enable them to survive in society.


At the moment the two year olds are sharing space ( separated by a partition) with the three year olds until their classroom (currently being built) is completed.
The new classrooms for the two and three year olds will be spacious, have plenty of natural light and bathrooms.

Photos: Ato Tamirat, president to the Edir and the Abugida's school's administrator. The class of two year olds.

Mata de Jonc School

The Mata de Jonc school in Palma this week organised a campaign to collect food for Mediterranea to distribute amongst those in need in Mallorca. We calculate that they accumulated just over 200kg which will be distributed this coming week.


We hope other schools will join in the program. If we could get 5 schools encouraging students to bring one food unit (any of the following: 1kg of rice, 1L.milk, 1L oil, 1kg of pasta, sugar, flour, couscous, tinned food, biscuits etc) one day a month we could probably double the number of people we feed at no great cost to all those involved. One kg of rice costs as little as 0.75€.

If you have children at school, please feel free to ask your school to collaborate.



At present we are providing food for approximately 750 meals a day. In the last month we have delivered neat to 4 tones of food in Mallorca.

With your help we can do a lot more.

Up until now, Mediterranea have not been involved in any.........

Up until now, Mediterranea have not been involved in any individual fostering initiatives but the precarious situation of some of the families with children attending our schools and the invaluable help being offered by Ana, one of our members, has made our involvement a necessity,(bearing in mind that we are an organisation totally dependent on volunteers).


Our battlefront is one of poverty. A battle, to prevent situations of such extreme poverty, that sons, daughters, nieces, nephews and grandchildren are wrenched from the arms of families and friends, and condemned them to a life of  abandonment and - for the over fives, a life fighting for survival on the streets.


We want these children to continue living with their biological or adoptive  families wherever possible. Where their entire families have died, we want them to be fostered, to continue to live in the same neighbourhood, to attend the same school, to enjoy the company of their own friends, and to grow up in their own culture. We want them to have a chance in life.


In Addis alone, there are 90,000 children living on the streets. There are only two possibilities for these unfortunate children, and we do not want them to end up in an orphanage or on the streets. Our fostering program has taken off now with the first 8 applications received by Mediterranea. We thank directly from this page our first 8 pioneers in this new humanitarian venture. We need 13 more sponsors for pupils who attend our school in Abugida and more willing sponsors

to help pupils in the Birhan school. Every case has been chosen by the Edir and by the school itself. In both schools it is the Edir ( the neighbourhood association which controls the schools and with whom we have a signed contract, in this case with Akaki and in Yeka) who choose the children and families because, evidently, they see and work with them daily, know them personally and are completely up-to-date with their plight.


All of the children selected in Abugida as part of this program attend or were attending our schools last year. Those pupils who are no longer able to attend our centres now go to public school but come daily to have breakfast and lunch in Abugida. Not all of the children who come to eat take part in the fostering project since we have only been able to accommodate the most desperate cases. All of the children to be chosen are currently attending the Birhan centre. They are all orphans or almost orphans being looked after by single mothers, biological or adoptive grandparents, adoptive mothers, sisters, aunts, or in one of the cases in Abugida, by a foster family - because all of the child's family is dead. All of these families have little or no income. Some of the children are HIV positive. Almost all of them have a terrible story to tell, of tremendous difficulties and misery but they all help each other. We watch them, under these extreme circumstances, attending school, trying to  live a normal, routine life and we hope that they can continue to do so for a long time to come.


During our last trip too we met the families selected by the Edir and the school in Abugida. We witnessed their lives first hand.


The Mediterranea charity would like to make it very clear that we are not involved in the selection of the children. We feel that by "sitting on the fence" in the selection process that we are seen to be totally neutral and cannot be accused, at any time of favouritism or manipulation. We endeavour to  be transparent in all of our work, to be guides and not judges.

We only become directly involved in cases of extreme health problems and in the arrangement, if necessary, of paying for treatment in Ethiopia or organising trips to Spain in cases of dire medical need.


Our prime concerns are food, health care and education. We have over 400 children in our 2 schools and we have 46 employees working in these centres paid by Mediterranea. The children who attend our schools all have access to health care provided and paid for by our charity.


All of those members who come forward to sponsor a child will be put in contact with the children, can visit them if they so wish, and will be able to receive photos and communications from the children. The foster families have given permission for all sponsors to have access to the entire history and information about the background and experiences of the children they are sponsoring.


To sponsor a child, please contact apadrinamediterranea@gmail.com, and/or linda.a.spratt@gmail.com