Week Two

Photo: Sister Medhin, Fiesha and his Mom at his graduation

For the first week at the project, I had been teaching the advanced students. In general, grammar, plurals, past and present tenses as well as constructing paragraphs. I brought in the weekly English language paper, The Reporter and asked the students to choose sections of interest to them to read aloud for the rest of the class. I introduced the dictionary and taught them how to use it. As they have been responding well it was agreed with Anna that I will continue with this group.

This week I have been working with them to write and present a news item. Current Affairs, a Special Report, Fashion News, Sports feature, Entertainment news and the weather report, all written and presented by the children. I appointed a cameraman and director or dictator as he liked to call himself, a news editor and a continuity announcer who introduced each reporter with their item. The fashion item was presented by the only two girls in my class Berhan and Selemawit and with a lot of encouragement from the boys, they even managed to do a bit of modelling with a twirl or two thrown in for good measure.

The sports item was choc full of course. The passion that all of the boys have for soccer, particularly the English premiership is palpable. Last week one little guy of 10, Haftamu, realising I was Irish, wore his Roy Keane shirt. It was a Cork County GAA shirt, with R.Keane 16, carefully written on the back with a black marker; his prize possession.

The success of this project was in evidence on Sunday 6th August when Anna and I were invited to the Graduation ceremonies of three of the boys. They graduated from a local college with diplomas in Computer Science, an awesome achievement by any standard. We were invited to each boy’s home where we were welcomed and what very little they had was offered and shared. Their achievement even more remarkable when it became clear that two of the dwellings had no electricity and these boys studied at night usually by candlelight. We witnessed firsthand the poorest of the poor in Mekelle that day. Looking around me, it was hard to believe that we are actually in the 21st century. It was a shocking, appalling and emotional sight. What is very clear here, is that the Ethiopian people value education. There are five more of the former street children currently at Universities here, with one boy awaiting the results of his grade12 exam and the opportunity of heading to university himself. Three are studying medicine in Addis and the two others studying in Mekelle University.

Without the funding and cooperation of Trócaire/Cafod and the vision, dedication and determination of the Sisters and their staff, these children would most probably have stayed homeless, hopeless and uneducated.