After a long administrative process, the Ethiopian branch of the Children in the Cloud Foundation has been registered and approved by the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the CSA (Charities and Societies Agency) on 30 January 2018! This is an important event in the life of the Foundation, as it marks the beginning of the active phase in the construction of the Sona school! So it's an opportunity to take stock of the project.
To date, the Foundation's work has focused on administrative aspects of the project, with :
- the creation of the Foundation in Switzerland and tax approval for the main European countries via the TGE.
- the defining the school project and the implementation at the local level of the program governance (Building Council, partnership agreements with local authorities, etc.).
- the technical and financial definition of the project, including the choice of construction company.
- the setting up the local teamdirected by Dagim Mesay, and the creation of thelocal branch.
- the fundraisingThe project has been sufficiently successful that work can begin immediately.
All of these preparatory tasks having been successfully completed, we can now enter the operational phase that we have all been waiting for so impatiently! It is indeed time for things to become concrete because this is the real reward for all those who support us!
So, although we're behind schedule due to the local branch's approval process, we hope to build the first building with 4 classrooms before the rainy season, i.e. before mid-May. Other worksites should also progress rapidly, such as the water and electricity management.
The local team with Dagim Mesay, and the Foundation's trustees are putting a lot of energy and creativity into the project to keep it moving forward at a steady pace. We are, on the whole, very pleased with the way things are going, although of course we would sometimes like to go faster! All this is only possible thanks to your support and once again, on behalf of the children of Sona and their parents, we thank you very warmly!