The trip took place from October 27 to November 5, 100% in the Simien area.
Shortly before our arrival, the security situation changed abruptly, with TPLF troops retreating to Mekele (capital of the Tigray Region) and the government troops and their regional allies (Amhara Special Forces & Fano) apparently gaining the upper hand. The military pressure on the North-Gondar Zone and Simien has thus decreased, resulting in a much more peaceful atmosphere during this visit than last March.
Our team and our partners also benefited from this calming down to find a full efficiency in their work.
Two weeks before our arrival, the school was able to resume a normal activity and welcomed back its 525 students. Each day sees the arrival of new students, attracted by the promise of a quality education. A record number of children enrolled in grade 1 with 160 students! A great promise for the future!
Here are the main achievements of this trip.
Ratify the reopening of the Sona school
The conflict is receding from the region and with it the occupation of the school by the Amhara Special Forces. So the new school year got under way and the school returned to normal activity. What a pleasure to see the school once again invaded by children and their teachers! To get things off to a good start, a major clean-up operation was carried out on the premises and school grounds. Although the occupation by the army did not cause much damage, the amount of rubbish left on the site was particularly high... No problem! Children, teachers and parents rolled up their sleeves to clean up in and around the school.
Under the direction of the Kebele (the equivalent of a commune in Ethiopia), the adults were particularly involved in cleaning up around the school.
Finally, to mark the reopening of the school, we distributed the uniforms that had been waiting for over a year. Remember that uniforms are compulsory in Ethiopia at all levels of education!
Finalising the water supply and earthworks at the school
We remember the epic story of the laying of 1.5 km of pipe between the spring and the school. The only thing missing was the last 50 metres, which could only be completed once the earthworks had been done. Luckily, thanks to the Simien Park (SMNP), we were able to use a bulldozer for 2 days at a low price, which saved us months of digging by hand! In fact, a runway is being built just two kilometres from the school and a branch has been laid out to temporarily serve Sona. This was a fantastic opportunity that enabled us to complete the earthworks and bury the last few metres of pipe to the water storage and treatment room in record time.
The trench was dug by a team of around twenty volunteers from the local community. We would like to thank them for their invaluable contribution.
Running the Chirolaba school
We now have 20 young boarders at the Chirolaba secondary school, 10 a year. The operation of this school, which is further away from the front, was not disrupted. So it was mainly a question of making organisational and operational adjustments, and installing the new intake of 10 deserving students from Sona who have joined the accommodation structure set up by the Foundation.
The academic results of our children are satisfactory overall and even very satisfactory for 10 of the 20 students who are at the top of the rankings of their respective levels. They represent brilliantly their village of origin, Sona can be proud of its children!
The video of the trip
Conclusion and outlook
Other achievements of the trip include the electricity commissioningThis is a real revolution that makes Sona's school and teachers' lodgings particularly well-equipped, offering optimal working conditions, unique in the region.
A complete inventory of the furniture at the Sona school was also carried out to assess the equipment broken by the military occupiers. A reasonable amount was broken, and all of it will be replaced.
At the Chirolaba school, a light solar lighting system was installed in the kitchen of the 2 "nannis" who look after the children.
In the short term, it remains to carry out the connecting the water supply system and the commissioning of the filtration system. This will be done before the next rainy season.
Also in the short term, we need to define and engage the agri-environmental component of the Sona school project. This is where our partnership with the Simien Park really comes into its own!
For more information
Download the trip report (9 pages - PDF) in French or in English.