ONE HOPE GARDEN PRIMARY SCHOOL: WARMEST HEARTFELT THANKS

WFWP recently received a wonderful thank you letter and report from One Hope Garden School in Ethiopia. We are always thrilled to know that the support raised by WFWP USA local chapter fundraisers goes toward empowering so many children and their families. As part of WFWP’s Schools of Africa project, these yearly fundraisers continuously support One Hope Garden and eight other schools in eight countries in Africa.

Founded in 1997 for poor children who could not afford schooling in the capital of Ethiopia, One Hope Garden provides classes in Amharic (the official language), Math, English, Social Studies, Art, Music, and PE for children in grades one through three. In addition, since 2012, students are being supported by a school feeding program which provides school lunches twice a week. This makes a profound difference for the school’s 50 students; with food in their bellies, they are better able to concentrate on their studies. Often, the students do not receive enough food at home.

Ethiopia saturday library program

At Women’s Federation, we are also concerned with supporting and empowering the whole family. It is in stable families where learning to become peaceful global citizens begins. Thus, One Hope Garden expanded their programs to include literacy classes for mothers and they plan to offer business courses and micro-credit programs in the future as well.

From the following heartwarming testimonies of women who have participated in the literacy courses, one can easily see how truly empowering education is:

“Thanks to participating in literacy classes, now I am able to take the bus by myself. Reading the Bible is now available to me.”

Ethiopian foster children

“I am grateful to One Hope Garden that my children were supported to be educated free of charge. I am very glad to be able to participate in the literacy class because I wanted to learn as well. Now some changes come to be little by little and I want to do my best with more challenges.”

“All my children graduated from One Hope Garden. I appreciate it very much. Since I attended literacy classes, now I am able to read the characters by myself without asking other people. When I went to the hospital, at that time I could go straight to the place where I should be in the waiting room. Also, using a mobile phone is available now.”

Go to the website to read the thank you letter from One Hope Garden School Project Director, Bisrat Gebre, and to see more photos from the school.

Ethiopia literacy classes for women