Hiwot’s daily routine is something few people ever experience, let alone 12-year-olds like herself.
At 6am, the sun rises and she starts the long two-hour walk to school. For four hours, she sits on a rock in her open-air classroom. At midday, school ends and she begins her return hike home.
In the afternoon she completes her homework and spends two hours walking back and forth between her home and the nearest well to collect water for her family.
By 6pm, the sun sets, darkness envelopes her unlit home and, exhausted, she crawls into bed.
Despite the hardship, Hiwot is desperate to stay in school. That will be a challenge: Hiwot is in Grade 4, and her current school does not cater to Grades 5 and above.
Hiwot in her current classroom, made of sticks.
“There is no 5th grade in my school. If the school does not extend to 5th grade, I will have to walk to the next nearby school – then I will walk for an additional one hour,” she says. “That will be even more difficult.”
More likely, it will be impossible. As one of only two children – the other too young to help out – her assistance is desperately needed at home. There are simply not enough hours in the day for Hiwot to attend a school further away.
This year, imagine1day is asking our supporters to change the life of Hiwot and her 706 other classmates. With your help, we will build a new school in Hiwot’s community of Adisenay, complete with modern classrooms, a library, latrine and supplies.
We won’t just ensure Hiwot can stay in school – we will give her and her classmates a safe, comfortable and nurturing environment, so their education can thrive.
This is not just an opportunity to transform Hiwot’s life – it’s a chance to transform yours.
Raise $10,000 towards the construction of the school, and we will take you on a life-changing journey to Ethiopia. You will experience this extraordinary place, celebrate the opening of the school and meet Hiwot and the hundreds of other children whose lives you will have turned around.