By Alastair Stewart, imagine1day staffThe convoy of cars, packed with imagine1day supporters, takes a turn off the paved highway and begins its 38 kilometre climb up through windy mountainous roads towards the community of Dum.This is remoteness at its core, the furthest off the beaten path you could ever be. Occasional sporadic houses dot the
Meet Taeme Hiluf, a student at Gereb Abdela Primary School. He estimates he is 16 years old, though without a birth certificate, he doesn’t know for sure.He is in first year at school.Taeme’s younger sister and brother were already enrolled, attending grades three and four. As the oldest, Taeme faced a different life: “I was
Bidil Abdulahi has experienced joy and heartbreak in his attempt to send his children to school. Now he’s on a mission to ensure all the children in his village get a chance to learn.Every day, Bidil would farewell his oldest son, sent off on a one hour walk to the nearest school. “It was a
2016 has been a huge year for imagine1day, the communities we work with, and the children we impact. In Ethiopia, we will spend more on our program activities in 2016 than in any previous year. The impact is obvious in the numbers; with 11 schools inaugurated, massive investments in teacher training and leadership development, and
“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
