“You have given our community a special gift. We are now one family sharing the same bond. You will always have a special place in our community and hearts.” The newly-built classroom blocks. That is the heartfelt words from Genene Abera, the local district administrator in Chicho, where we recently unveiled the brand new Giving
The Ganzilla community and children recently celebrated the opening of a new, clean water source. Built by imagine1day, funded by Australian water specialists, and made possible thanks to the kind and generous spirit of our driver: Amaha.The man who moves mountains begins by carrying small stones. The man who moves rivers? He begins by taking
Two years ago, in honor of the late Sharyn Mandel – a lifelong, passionate educator – we opened the doors to the Gobele Sharyn Mandel School in Southern Ethiopia, funded with love by Sharyn’s estate, and donations from family and friends.Since 2014, enrollment has doubled to 586 students – phenomenal growth thanks to the comfortable
Meet Semere Iqubay, the self-described “lucky” kid on track to be the first child in his entire family history to complete primary school. Semere, 16, is already more educated than anyone in his family. His parents have never been to school and at the time his older siblings enrolled, the village’s Maykuho Shool only catered
From donkeys outside the classroom to students with cellphones, teacher across the world deal with classroom distraction every day. This World Teachers Day, we took at look at what Ethiopian educators face.In open air Ethiopian classrooms – built without windows, doors or even four walls – the weather presents many challenges.When the wind blows, the dust flies
Play schools were built, speeches made, lively conversations had – and enough money raised to give over 7000 children an education they would never have had.imagine1day’s gala – returning for the second year – has again proved a tremendous success.Held last Friday at the home of our founders, Chip and Shannon Wilson, the evening brought together 103 people
Roll call. Check. School announcements. Check. Water sprayed across the dusty classroom floor. Check. It’s all in the daily routine for 15-year-old Hayelom Hadgu, one of hundreds of thousands of Ethiopian students heading back to an imagine1day partner school this month. It’s a routine he has been doing for seven years. “We fetch water from
Semere Iqubay has never flown in an airplane. Indeed, the last time he saw a plane, he was four years old. His remote village sits near the border of Ethiopia and Eritrea where a no-fly zone has been in place due to simmering tensions between the neighboring countries.Yet Semere, now 16, dreams of being a
Kendahaw has the type of smile that is truly genuine. He poses for photos, but he never forces a smiles. It just comes naturally. Perhaps for a good reason, because life has changed dramatically for the 12-year-old in the past year.Nine months ago, Kendahaw spent his days tending to the family cattle. He had never
imagine1day has been elected to join a core team of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) tasked with coordinating the government and NGO education activities over the next five years. It comes on the heels of Ethiopia’s latest five-year education framework, Education Sector Development Program V – an ambitious 136-page document that lays out everything the Ethiopian Government
