At Imagine1day, community is the heart of our work, for we believe every community has the power, wisdom, and resources to address its own challenges. They are leaders of change in every program and project we implement in partnership with them, not beneficiaries waiting for help. Our role is to walk alongside them as partners, helping unlock their potential and turn their vision into reality.

The recent ETB 59.5 million contribution from the six schools surrounding communities, toward a total project cost of ETB 196.45 million, represents 30.3% of the total investment.

The contributions reflect different levels of community commitment across the six schools:

  • Wabe Primary School: ETB 10 million — 36%
  • Ayalito Dokatu Primary School: ETB 3 million — 12%
  • Firesuwat Primary School: ETB 6.5 million — 63%
  • Mai Mesham Primary School: ETB 15 million — 60%
  • Quaragoye Primary School: ETB 15 million — 50%
  • Lemlem Secondary School: ETB 10 million — 13%

 

Wabe Primary School

These figures reflect ownership, sacrifice, commitment, and hope beyond financial contributions. This is proof that Imagine1day has been creating communities choosing to invest in education and take responsibility for the future they want for their children, rather than giving aid. Behind these contributions are mothers contributing from limited household incomes, fathers volunteering their labor after long days of farming, and elders mobilizing neighbors and inspiring collective action.

Community ownership also helps create more sustainable change. When communities contribute resources and lead the process, they are better positioned to protect infrastructure, mobilize local resources, ensure project quality, and hold leaders accountable. The school is not just built for the community; it belongs to the community.

This is the Imagine1day approach: we do not build schools for communities; we build schools with communities. We believe the people closest to the challenges are also closest to the solutions.

When communities lead, change is owned. When change is owned, it is sustained. And when it is sustained, transformation becomes possible.

The Leaders in Teaching Ethiopia (LiTE) Finalizes and Validates Three Foundational Guidelines

LiTE Program (2025–2030) has completed the development, refinement, and national validation of three foundational operational guidelines: the Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Mentorship Implementation Guideline, the Stakeholder Engagement and Partnership Guideline, and the National Guideline for the Establishment and Operation of Student Organizations.

The guidelines are designed to establish standardized, inclusive, and sustainable frameworks for implementation across the 700 secondary schools targeted by the program. The P2P Mentorship Guideline provides procedures for mentor selection, academic remediation, and career guidance for Grades 9–12 students. The Stakeholder Engagement and Partnership Guideline provides a framework for coordination, shared accountability, transparent communication, and collaborative decision-making. The Student Organizations Guideline establishes a unified structure for student participation, including School General Assemblies, Houses of Student Representatives and Student Ministers, Standing Committees, Children’s Parliaments, Student Councils, and Student Mock Courts, which enhances students’ leadership skills and confidence to take the lead role in their own affairs.

The validation process involved representatives from the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Labor and Skills, Regional, Zonal and Woreda Education Offices, LiTE consortium partners, Imagine1day, Geneva Global Ethiopia, and Education Development Trust, as well as school principals, guidance counselors, teachers, LiTE champions, PTSA members, and student council representatives. The participation of diverse stakeholders helped ensure that the guidelines reflected contextual needs, including those of girls, students with disabilities, and displaced learners.

Stakeholders’ feedback led to refinements in several areas, including alignment of peer study sessions with the new curriculum and active learning methodologies, integration of Gender Equality, Disability and Social Inclusion (GEDSI) principles, clarification of the Student Mock Court as a restorative and educational mediation mechanism, and clearer boundaries for peer mentors as trusted companions rather than professional counselors. Participants also emphasized the need to translate materials into regional working languages.

The workshops concluded with consensus and endorsement of the three guidelines by national and regional stakeholders. Key decisions included institutionalizing 45–60-minute P2P mentorship sessions twice weekly within school timetables and implementing a cascade training model from the Ministry of Education to school steering committees. Next steps include printing and distributing implementation manuals, providing offline-first resources across all 12 regions and one City Administration, and establishing school–TVET partnerships and tracking systems for graduates.

 

Creating Safer, Inclusive and Dignified Learning Environments in Afar

The Afar WASH intervention under the WFP the School Meal for Improved Learning and Empowerment (SMILE) Project reached over 48,000 students in 160 targeted schools across 29 woredas and 5 zones.

Through the intervention, schools received access to safe water, sanitation, hygiene, and inclusive learning environments for students. Key achievements included the installation of 5,000-liter Roto water tanks, the construction and rehabilitation of Roto stand, pipeline expansion, and school water connections. These improvements have strengthened access to water within schools and supported better hygiene, school cleanliness, and healthier learning environments for students.

The intervention also emphasized improving accessibility for students with mobility challenges. Ramps were constructed at 34 schools, providing improved access to safe and independent classroom entrances and latrine facilities.

The intervention directly benefited approximately 48,153 students, including 26,754 boys and 21,399 girls. The improved water and sanitation facilities have contributed to better hygiene practices and healthier learning environments for girls and boys across the targeted schools.

The intervention is particularly important for girls as these facilities support menstrual hygiene management, dignity, safety, and regular school attendance and participation.

Together, the water, sanitation, hygiene, and accessibility improvements will enable students to learn in safer, more inclusive, accessible, and dignified environments.

Building the Future: Imagine1day Hands Over Dodola High School

Imagine1day, in collaboration with the Oromia Education Bureau, has completed and handed over its first-ever project implemented as a social enterprise, the Dodola High School Project in the Oromia region. Imagine1day implemented construction of the school using funds provided by Oromia regional state. This historic project marks a significant milestone in the organization’s commitment to expanding access to quality and inclusive education in Ethiopia.

The project was designed to respond to the growing demand for secondary education in Dodola and address the shortage of appropriate high school facilities for the increasing number of high school-age students.

The newly completed school infrastructure provides a comprehensive learning environment, with facilities designed to support students, teachers, and the wider school community. The project includes:

  • 10-room, administrative block
  • Three classroom blocks, each with four classrooms
  • Two classroom blocks, each with three classrooms
  • Laboratory block
  • Library
  • Two gender-segregated, eight-pit dry latrine blocks
  • Four-pit dry latrine block for teachers
  • Guard house
  • 5,000-litre suspended water tanker
  • Main entrance gate

The project signifies an investment in the future of young people in the region beyond constructing buildings. Access to adequate classrooms, laboratories, libraries, water and sanitation facilities, and a safe school environment can help create the conditions students, particularly female students, need to learn, grow, and pursue their aspirations.

The handover of the project marks the beginning of a new chapter for the Dodola school community. The project will help accommodate the growing number of secondary-school-age students and contribute to a more conducive and dignified learning environment.

More than an infrastructure achievement, the project shows the organization’s continued commitment to working with government and communities to address critical education needs and create sustainable opportunities for children and young people.

From classrooms to laboratories, from libraries to safe water and sanitation facilities, Dodola High School is designed to give students the space and resources they need to learn today and shape the future of their communities tomorrow.

LiTE Program Conducts Its First-Year Biannual Meeting

The Leaders in Teaching Ethiopia (LiTE) Program conducted its first-year biannual meeting in Bishoftu, in the presence of high-level representatives from the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Labor and Skills, the Mastercard Foundation, regional education bureaus, and LiTE Program staff from its three implementing partners: Imagine1day (Lead), Education Development Trust (EDT), and Geneva Global Ethiopia.

The meeting reviewed the program’s implementation progress during its first six months and reflected on priorities for year 2. Tigist Teferra, Country Representative of EDT, outlined the objectives and expected outcomes of the meeting, followed by welcoming remarks from Mrs. Aseged Meresa, CEO, Teachers and School Leaders Development, Ministry of Education, and Chair of the LiTE Program National Technical Committee.

Mrs. Aseged emphasized the Ministry of Education’s ownership of the LiTE Program and its engagement in the program’s co-design process with the Mastercard Foundation and implementing partners. She emphasized the importance of career and technical education, pre-service training, and school leader capacity-building initiatives in supporting students’ transition to higher education, TVET colleges, and the workforce.

Ali Ebrahim, School to Work Transition Lead at the Mastercard Foundation, reflected on the metaphorical Dinknesh, placed at the center of the LiTE Program’s design, representing Ethiopian youth who face socio-economic and cultural challenges that can hinder their educational and career pathways. Dr. Halefom Gaezi, Chief Program Officer at Imagine1day, reflected on the collaboration among partners and stakeholders, as well as the strong government support that has enabled the Program to achieve notable results during its first six months.

Presentations on implementation progress highlighted achievements through school-level interventions, including tutorial and psychosocial support for target secondary students; distribution of reference materials; provision of computers and digital learning materials; development of training modules for career and technical education and pre-service training; and community resource mobilization campaigns. Participants also provided reflections and insights on the Program’s biannual performance and year 2 plan. A brief presentation on the safeguarding framework developed for the Program was also made.

Azmeraw Kebede, Advisor to the State Minister of Labor and Skills, highlighted the potential role of the Program in placing TVET at the center of its interventions, in line with the growing shift toward vocationalizing secondary education.

The meeting concluded with closing remarks from Mr. Eshetu Gelaye, CEO, Strategic Affairs, Ministry of Education, who expressed the Ministry’s continued commitment to supporting, guiding, and overseeing the LiTE Program. He emphasized the importance of collaborative work among stakeholders to achieve the Program’s goals around teacher and school leader capacity building, student skills development, equity and inclusion, and governance.

Dr. Seid Aman, CEO of Imagine1day, appreciated the progress made during the first six months and emphasized the need to step up implementation, noting that the LiTE Program provides an opportunity for partners to make a difference in the lives of young girls and boys and disadvantaged members of communities through system-level impact.