Final blog

Thank you for reading the blog and for all the encouraging, positive comments that have been made.

Last day of summer school.

Since the last posting we have continued to have a challenging adventurous time, the day after completing summer school we headed off to the Simian Mountains, the views were breathtaking; we met a few Gelada Baboons, saw lots of different species of birds, walked in the pouring rain, sang guide songs round a camp-fire inside the huts, the evening came to a close singing ‘Taps’, slept in cold lodges and enjoyed eating pancakes for breakfast watching the sun rise. 

camp team & us

On Friday 21^st we got up before sunrise, camp was being packed up around us while we enjoyed breakfast, walked to the coach and set off back to Yekit Hotel to pick up our main luggage.  The staff at Yekit greeted us like long lost friends, asking how the trip was, did we enjoy it etc.  The staff looked after us they went the extra mile to make sure our stay was as comfortable as they could make it.

Luggage loaded onto the coach we set off on the 3 hour drive to Bahr Dar, we arrived in the dark and pouring rain, not a good combination, we waited until the rain had stopped to unload the luggage, a light supper and an early night, we were all quite exhausted.

Tisisat Falls were gushing, the rains had increased the volume of brown water flowing over the gorge.

A boat trip to the monasteries, the source of the Blue Nile and Hippo spotting was on the programme for Sunday, we managed to see one lone Hippo as he came up for air, someone managed to get a good photo. We spotted a few papyrus reed boats, made using traditional methods.  The paintings on the church walls were very beautiful and well preserved.

Monday we said goodbye to Elsa, she has been looking after us while on the project, we would have been utterly lost without her advice & guidance.

Tuesday we flew to Addis, checked into the Ras Hotel.  We visited BGIFC (British Guides in Foreign Countries) at the Sandford School, we had a very enjoyable time with them, we taught them new songs and games.

Wednesday we visited the National Museum to see Lucy and had a relaxing time at the Hilton eating cake, ice cream and enjoying the hot spring pools.

The trip has made an impact on all our lives, we have gone through a whole gamut of emotions, we have laughed & cried together, we all have different special memories, one of the very special memories that will stay with me is the joy on the faces of the children every morning when they saw us, as our buses approached the road leading to the school, all the children would be waiting for us and as the buses came to a stop a great big cheer could be heard.

Four year old girls carrying water

 

At the bus stop.

We were doing so well with our luggage, nothing had been lost and the damage to suitcases has been minimal, that was until we got to Manchester on Thursday, my suitcase, was given an extended stay in Istanbul, the lady at the Baggage office said “it is not unusual for Turkish Air” great !!!  I was assured my case would be with me the following day, I was not to be concerned as it had been located.  Friday afternoon I needed to go out and telephoned to enquire as to what time it may arrive, I was given the couriers number, when I called they told me it would not be delivered until Monday, “MONDAY!” I exclaimed, “that is not good enough I want it delivering today”  they can’t do that as the luggage arrived too late yesterday for the overnight collection, and Turkish air will only pay for overnight delivery, I demanded the name & number of someone who can authorise delivery today, my Malarone tablets were in the case.  Eventually I spoke to the right person and my case was delivered at midnight on Friday, took the Malarone and went to bed.

Until our next trip

Monday 19th August- Laura and Chloe

Today was the last day of Summer School. Most classes spent the first session finishing crafts and recapping work that we had done during the week. Clemy also did a dancing session with all of the children. Most of the children loved it (excluding older boys!) and had a great time doing the cha cha slide and Macarena! We then returned to our classrooms and the children went and made their handprints on the sheet before we gave them each a gift. The delight and excitement on each child’s face as they received a gift was wonderful for us to see. Most of them couldn’t believe that they keep the gifts and kept asking us if they were taking them home. In the afternoon we finished the trefoil garden and nearly completed the mural. Everyone worked really hard to make sure that everything was as close to finished as it could be. Then the afternoon downpour hit and we sat inside the classroom until the buses picked us up!

The laptops are going to the school tomorrow for good so we may not be able to blog for a while,

Bye for now!

xXx

Sunday 18th August- Alyx and Sophie

IT’S THE WEEKEND!

Yes, weekends are as exciting here as they are at home, so that means a lot of sleep and doing nothing. Most people had a much needed lie-in followed by a late breakfast, more lazing around and possibly some more sleep. We all had a late lunch in preparation for tonight’s outing to a traditional restaurant/nightclub. We were picked up at 6.30 for our journey into Gondar. On our arrival we were all a bit sceptical but soon found that the food was good and the dancing even better, particularly when they got some of us to join in, including the leaders. After a fun night we all went to bed tired but glad of the sleep the next morning.

Not as much lazing around on Sunday as we were going out for lunch to the Goha hotel. It was rather fancy and we all had a three course meal, including cake! We were all very excited when we heard there was cake. Came back to the hotel to discuss our final day on the project and how the closing ceremony would be conducted, we had to sort a lot of the stuff that is going to be donated to the school and the children. Many of us also had to sort out suitcases ready for our departure to the Simian Mountains on Wednesday.

Bye for now!

Alyx and Sophie

Friday 16th August- Amy and Megan

Half way through the trip today so we hope you are not missing us too much! It all began with the same carbohydrate ridden breakfast of toast and marmalade to our delight! My journey to the school was definitely interesting (Amy). Due to there not being enough seats, I sat in the front of the bus next to the driver on a fold out chair and spent the whole rather uncomfortable journey almost sat on our translator or having the gear stick rammed into my leg, to my disapproval!

We then began the penultimate day of Summer School with a fun filled day of education and craft. The children in our class (Megan, Amy, Clemy and Rachel) are beginning to become more talkative, this is both a blessing and a curse. It’s a great thing that the children feel comfortable around us to talk and laugh with their friends but on the flip side this also makes them harder to control! As a class we recapped all we had learned throughout the week, which included topics like animals, clothes, body parts, colours & shapes, places of the world and the alphabet. Being able to teach the children English is a really rewarding if slightly tiring task, as we know this is knowledge which will benefit them in years to come and it’s an amazing opportunity to be able to shape and hopefully improve these children’s lives through the Summer School and all the work we are doing on the project. 

This afternoon myself, Sophie, Chloe, Alex and Laura took it upon ourselves to tackle the gardening. In the previous days we created the trefoil outline and then created another flowerbed of the same shape but today was planting day. We were given two palm trees in which the roots had fused themselves to the bags they were in to my annoyance (Amy)! I therefore began to rip the bag off and after 20 minutes I had taken both of the bags off but was covered in mud even more so than usual!

Also on this afternoon’s agenda was painting the mural on the school building which had been chalked on the walls in the morning, it was good to complete a task and see it through from start to finish. The building now looks great with brightly coloured flowers, letters and educational pictures. However after an hour of intense work we were rained off by a torrential downpour that really reminded us we were here in the rainy season! The weather has been timed unfortunately for our work on the project but we have managed to persevere and are on course to finish the work that the school wants us to complete! (Megan)

When it rains it really does rain. We all took shelter in one of the classrooms but ended up with rain coming through the gaps for windows and had to put waterproofs on. After we finished we headed to a local house in the community to where we watched her make a traditional Ethiopian dish of endura and Alyx, Harriet, Emily and Rosemarie all had a go making it which was rather amusing but tasted good all the same!

It’s been another exhausting day here full of different challenges but we are persevering knowing that the opportunity we have is once in a life time (and we are home in 2 weeks back to carb free food!)  

14th + 15th August- Meg and Harriet, Clemy and Ione

CARBBBBBBBBBBBS, Hello everyone (when we all arrive home please refrain from the amount of carbs you feed us all! (With the exception of Warburton’s)) Day 2 on the project and we began to make our paper machie fishes having the youngest children (Harriet Meg Libby Millie) was a bit of a challenge! There was tissue paper and glue from wall to wall in the classroom but we had lots of fun alongside the children and their beaming faces. Our objective for the summer school is to teach the children the phonetic alphabet to help extended their English skills.  A a a a a a a a ANT B b b b b b BELLY C c c c c CAT (with actions I hope you can picture us all having a W w w w WHALE of a time) The children are all very happy and appreciate all of our work as much as we appreciate all their glee!  Furthermore work on the project is moving in a forward direction with cement, mud and paint galore! Well its goodbye for now from me (Harriet) I’m off to eat more tomato soup! It’s nearly as good as Heinz!

Well this is day 3 on the project and everything is still going good!!! We have had a great time again with the kids doing numbers and colours which was a challenge but it was great, we then made kites and let the children round up and down on the grass they seemed to have a great time. While we were having lunch the rain started but then it died down and we got working. Me (Meg) Millie and Harriet did the lower part of the school wall panting as we are the short ones in the group, IT WAS FUN GETTING COVERED IN PAINT!!!  When we were finished with the paint we then started to do some gardening which was very exhausting!! We then finished and got back to the hotel, where me, Harriet, Libby, Millie and Lucy are all dreaming about chocolate that we can’t have and thinking about the carbs we have been eating! Anyway time to get back to eating carbs and soup! By the way everyone is all good! :D From Meg 

Clemy and Ione!!!!

Hiiii Englanddddddddd! Today was a very emotional day for those getting results like myself (Clemy) but we were all staying strong!! Breakfast was a very nervous one!!!! Today we arrived at the school with the very smiley children once again!!  We had a very colourful day! Our t-shirts that the children had put elastic bands on for tie dying were ready to be dyed! Each group had a different colour, very bright! The morning went down very well, and break time included Catherine and Clemy singing a very energetic song to the children! They were very happy and were laughing!

The weather was fantastic to us! We got lots of things done for example we decided to paint the basecoat of the classroom and plan exactly what was going where. We were ready now to chalk out our design. We decided that Harriet and Ione were going to have tomorrow morning off to chalk out our design ready for us all to paint!! The day turned out very well, Chloe was in charge of the tie dying, dipping then and mixing the mixture, and Catherine, Hannah and some more helped by hanging the t-shirts out on the line to dry!!

When we got back to the hotel, it was very sunny!! We were all very hungry and ready for dinner! Dinner was lovely as usual! We then reflected about the day and how well it went, we talked about how strong we are all being and the fact some of us got results but we are all being strong about it all!!

Monday 12th August- Rachael and Lucy

Last night, there was an awful power cut which was really scary; there was loads of thunder and lightning but on the plus side, we saw an Ethiopian woman win the 10000 m in Athletics which was an exciting experience, literally everyone on the street ran into the hotel. When we worked up in the morning, the thunder had luckily subsided so it was safe for us to travel to the school. Unfortunately, on the way to the school we ran into difficulties as the supermarket didn’t stock Nutella which was a complete disaster. Luckily, we pulled through and managed to get to school with our oranges and bananas but later Emily had to get on public transport to retrieve the missing sandwich fillings (because we’re running a bit low on carbs at the moment). Summer school was a great experience but also fairly challenging due to the language barrier, especially the children’s habit of replying ‘yes’ to everything including ‘What is your name?’. The children are adorable though and took well to the programme, I was very pleased with how the day had went.  The bracelets were a bit tricky however, we had a few ‘interesting’ designs, it’s difficult to tell whether the children actually understand. It’s surprising how much English some of the children know, when you think about how rubbish we are at foreign languages (even us A level language students). I find the whole situation at school so interesting,  it really makes us appreciate what we have at home. (Rachael)

The teaching in the morning had been really good, especially once we had figured out how to talk to the children properly, being a floater it was really nice to be able to see all of the children. All of them were so excited and worked so hard at everything that they did. They also really enjoyed all of the English work, it’s such a change from schools in the UK where most kids don’t want to be at the school, every single one wanted to be there and everything that they learnt was interesting to them. We had a lunch, of yet more carbs and fruit, though the peanut butter was an extra surprise. And we’re supposed to start on the project work, only to have an absolute downpour of rain so we couldn’t hear a thing that was being said inside due to the tin roof. Once it subsided we got into different groups to start moving rocks, thinking of ideas for the mural and cementing the newest classroom. We set up a chain for the rocks and it ended with all of us covered in mud. The cementing was much harder than the women who were doing it made it look and barely any of us could do it. But the whole day had been productive and though all of us were tired and covered in mud we were so happy that the children had seemed to enjoy the day. (Lucy)

Sunday 11th August

Early mornings are becoming easier now we are getting more sleep, well some of us, some people will never find early mornings easy!

This morning, after another carby breakfast, we went to a castle which turned out to be made of three sections, each a bus drive away. There was a church, a castle and a huge swimming pool/bath type thing. At the church, harriet, who had been feeling slightly car sick, decided she was to be blessed by a holy man (with an unknown title) and so that happened. She is absolutely fine now. Our tour guide is amazing, he speaks impressive, self taught, English and knows an awful lot about everything. He told us about the history of the castle, and we helped him with some English and a little bit of knowledge about London and Great Britain.

The castle was the most interesting part; there were loads of historic rooms and a lion cage, which obviously we all had to climb in to take a group photo!( thanks Emily ). We also took one on the steps and the photographer from a large student group was so interested in what was going on that he had to take a photo as well. This did make us all laugh (as per).

At the pool, which was literally just a huge stone pit with a building in the middle, we learnt about the religious traditions surrounding the bathing routine of the Ethiopian people. So many people gathered to swim at a special time in the year that they had to build seating made out of, what Harriet likes to call, ‘bamboo scaffolding’, so that they didn’t get crushed or pushed in by the massive crowd. The seats feel safe...they don’t look it. Lunch was more carbs in the form of pizza and chips and various other small dishes.

Over all its been a good day but we are all ready and excited to start work at the school tomorrow.

Millie and Libby

xxx 

Saturday 10th August

Today began with a slightly more relaxing start: a wakeup call of 8am. After eating our breakfast, toast with marmalade, bananas and oranges. It was time for our next delightful road trip on some of the straightest and flattest roads on this Earth. On a few areas some girls did suffer from mild head injuries. We then arrived at the market. We witnessed goats/sheep (we’re unsure what they actually are) running wild and leaving faeces everywhere. We then began to shop. The majority of us bought scarves and a few bought traditional dresses. Rosemarie and our guide bartered for us very successfully. For those of us who tried on dresses on top of our clothes, the street became a changing room, leading to large crowds. We then toured round after Catherine, who had no clue where she was going- through the food and spices section of the market which made our noses a tingling and our tummies a rumbling.

Our next stop was a souvenir shop where many of us bought gifts.It took awhile for the purchases to be made due to a slow queue. Meanwhile, Chloe, Sophie and Alyx were stood outside next to the creepiest male and female, eyelash wearing mannequins in the whole world. This often made them jump believing that there was a person stood behind them.

We then proceeded to the Four Sisters restaurant for lunch. Once again the majority of us embraced the national cuisine (salad, pasta and chips). At the Four Sisters, they roasted coffee beans and wafted it near our faces. It smells beautiful, whether you like coffee or not. Before eating our meal we washed our hands. This meant a lady came round with a bowl and a jug of hot water and poured it over our hands. Everyone had tomato soup which shared a similar taste to Heinz.

We then made our way back to the hotel. Owing to the large number of bites on my arms Rosemarie and Catherine decided to try the bite sucker on my arm. They had been joking about performing surgery on my arms all day so I was slightly dubious as to the level of pain I should be expecting. In her excitement, Catherine practically ran all the way to Rosemarie’s room to find said sucker. When discovered she threw the instructions on the floor and told me take a pew before grabbing my arm and placing this tool of torture on my largest bite. Nothing happened. Disappointment initially followed before Catherine decided to read the instructions of how to use said device. Funnily enough she had been using it wrong. Using it supposedly correctly it was discovered that the pain threshold imagined was completely incorrect and I found myself in complete agony...Joke. I felt absolutely nothing. We then went downstairs to where Hannah and Rosemarie were sat and Catherine proceeded to use the bite sucker on their bites. Hannah also decided to read the instructions and found out that Catherine had still been using it wrong. The bite sucker should have been held on your arm for a minute instead of three seconds meaning my bites had to be sucked all over again!

Hope you’re not missing us too much,

Laterz

Loz and Clo xoxo

By the way the rainy season is now finishing so there is a little chance of sun (typical English weather plus potential sunburn)

Friday August 9th Alyx and Sophie

Friday August 9^{th - Alyx and Sophie}

It is currently 15 days of fasting in Ethiopia, so our breakfast was vegetarian- bread with scrambled egg (carbs as usual). After we ate we loaded onto two buses and drove to Andinet Elementary School where we will carry out our project. On our bus we had the director of Link Ethiopia with us, which was odd as he just got on and we didn’t know who he was at first until he mentioned it. Arriving at the school it was very muddy, the driver was very cautious about the bus getting stuck! All the children chased us down the drive, waving and shouting and when we got off they crowded round us.

Once both buses had arrived we were taken into one of the classrooms for a welcome ceremony. Speeches were made by our guide Elsa, and the director of the school. We then were given coffee (very strong and sweet), popcorn (had no taste) and bread the size of bricks to eat. After the formalities were completed we went outside to play with the children and taught them some songs such as Old Macdonald and If you’re happy and you know it etc. At about 12pm it was lunchtime and we had bread (again) with chocy spread, bananas and weird orange things.

After lunch we started planning the summer school, and rearranged some of the classrooms for it. Moving the tables was hardwork due to the sun heating the metal tables so they were boiling to touch. At 2:30pm we were supposed to get picked up by the buses, but they were late, just like buses in England!

Sophie’s Traumas of the night - a.k.a what Chloe has to put up with

Step by step guide of how to prevent a sleep walking ordeal

Step 1 – Lock the door

Step 2 – Hide the key in a suitcase

Step 3 – Padlock the suitcase with a combination lock unknown to the sleepwalker

Step 4 – Barricade the door with suitcases, (more than one is advised)

Step 5 – Make the sleepwalker sleep on the far side of the room

Step 6 – Put them in a sleeping bag, head up

Step 7 – Go to sleep #prayforchloe

WARNING: LOCKING THEM IN THE BATHROOM IS ILLADVISED

Best wishes to England,

Alyx and Sophie XOXO

Thursday 8th August- Amy and Meghan

Thursday 8^th August- Amy and Meghan

Amy:

Today was the day we traveled to Gonder to begin the project which was bound to be an interesting and eventful day! It all began at 3:30am when Rosemarie woke us all up in preparation for a long day of travelling. Tired and exhausted we attempted to finish packing our belongings, with difficulty as all of our project stuff consumed so much space. It was a total nightmare!

This is when the interesting task came about of getting 30kg suitcases down two flights of marble stairs quietly at four in the morning. Several girls had theirs carried on a porters back which was incredibly lucky however most of us had to endure the stress of getting our cases out of the hotel. This was then followed with my padlock dilemma in which I had changed the code without realising so Catherine and I had to attempt to open my case over our breakfast of croissants and biscuits!   

The fun all began however when we got on the coach. A slightly bigger one than usual however this made no difference when attempting to fit 18 suitcases in as well as 18 people. Darwit (our guide) and the driver as well as some of the hotel staff began to lift the cases on top of the bus and placed them on the roof. Bearing in mind they were not attached to anything this still became a slight problem and a cause for concern for all of us at this early hour. It was very amusing though!

It then became my job to sit at the back of the bus and ensure that the cases did not fall into the road at this early hour and on the bumpy roads of Addis Ababa this was a precarious job. After 15 minutes we arrived at the airport ready for another part of our adventure to begin, but Megan experienced some obstacles along the way!!

Amy

......

Meghan:

Megan’s Mystery Item:

The day started off like any other experience I’ve had at an airport, the security was a bit tight (understandable) and we were all anxious that our luggage would arrive with us (even more understandable). As a group we checked in fine, everything seemed hunky dory as we moved past the first set of airport scanners; some of us even had a spot of tea! But it was at the second set of scanners that I ran into some difficulty!

I placed my jumper, handbag, shoes and backpack all on the scanner ready to simply walk through, collect my things and be on my way. However one of the airport staff asked me about my rucksack mentioning “cutting things”. Apart from a stray sharpener I’d forgotten about I wasn’t aware that my rucksack contained any, so I let the men empty out my bag and get on with their job. After the rucksack was placed through the scanners again the man proceeded to take even more things out of my backpack. At this point I was on the floor retying my shoelaces and I saw the man take out a case and I finally recognised my mystery object as my Dad’s multi-tool! The rucksack I’d taken on the trip was his as well and it must have laid hidden in amongst the colour of my project work like a ninja ready to jump.

What surprised me the most about this experience was the fact that this mystery item, again like a ninja, managed to pass through British security! So hats off to Ethiopia airport security, you’re doing your job well!

And if you’re wondering Dad, no your multi-tool is not in the house, or the loft, or the garage it’s sat in an Ethiopian airport!

After that experience the rest of the day was quite uneventful as we rested in our new hotel to acclimatise to the high altitude ready for a busy day tomorrow meeting the children of the school we are going to help and I can’t wait!

Megan

Wednesday 7th August- Clemy and Ione

Wednesday 7^th August- Clemy and Ione

So, second day in Addis and we are starting to feel a little more relaxed about the difference in culture. Although everywhere is poverty stricken we have noticed that most people are good natured and always have something to smile about. Driving around Addis we see the poorest of the poor but the children giggle and wave at us as we drive passed them and amongst the stares we get the odd smile from passers by.

We started this morning with a traditional Ethiopian breakfast again and then we traveled by bus to a wildlife park. When we got there we discovered that most of the park was closed due to construction. So Dawit our tour guide had a chat with the men running the park and they eventually let us in. Some of us went to use the toilet which was basically a pit with a toilet seat stuck on it – not that much fun but still usable. It was in the cubicles that we notice that there were quite a few ants in there. Now we’re not talking about the tiny, harmless ants you get in the UK. These beasts were three times as big with huge stingers on the end and a very bad attitude! It was after I’d walked several paces away from the toilet that I realised they were all over my trousers and I could feel a strange stinging sensation in my legs.

As we walked around the park- after I’d hysterically pulled several ants out of my legs to find that they’ left several red marks – we all got covered from the knees down in mud. It’s the rainy season here so we get sudden downpours but collectively they make any kind of track really REALLY muddy, so for those with sandals or cropped trousers on it was a rather squelchy experience. Nevertheless it didn’t stop us from having fun taking pictures and looking at the animals. It was amazing to get so close to cheaters and lions and a 200 year old tortoise. We were told that you can tell the age of a tortoise by how many rings they have on their shells – a bit like wrinkle lines and a person!

On the way back Dowit bought us some bananas, it was nice to know that we were eating local produce that hadn’t been flown in from somewhere. We got back and had lunch at the hotel – mostly bread, pasta and chips but it was good after a morning a being bitten and covered in mud!

We’re all having so much fun and can’t wait to get to Gondar tomorrow and meet all the children we’re going to be working with - we will report tomorrow!

Ione and Clemy J xxxxxx 

Tuesday 6th August 2013- Meg and Harriet

Tuesday 6^th August 2013- Meg and Harriet

After flying for several hours, tired and exhausted, we reached RAS hotel in the capital city of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa. Despite the interesting time difference we got up with smiles on our faces ready for the day ahead! To begin, we had a huge buffet, which included traditional Ethiopian foods. Afterwards, we walked in the   crazy monsoon rain to reach the National bank of Ethiopia where we were guided round and exchanged our money into Birr. The date here is the 30^th November 2005, so we are all now time travelers!

Driving up the winding roads of Addis, the realisation of the trip hit us, some of the conditions people live in are extremely shocking and the way of life made us culturally aware of our positions and how lucky we really all are. When we reached the highest point, we visited a museum where we viewed traditional dress and historic artifacts we learned more about the history of Ethiopia and its people.  Missing everyone at home! (Harriet) (Thank God for airport Chocolate) 

Meg's amusing tale of a trip to the toilet:

         When we were finished at the museum I really needed the toilet (Meg) but I never said anything until it was too late and I thought I was going to wee myself! I had to ask the bus drive to stop at a local bar so i was able to go to the toilet. When the bus driver was driving to the bar there was so many bumps it was unbelievable, we then got to the toilet it wasn’t what I thought it was going to be we entered the bar ask the man if we could ask to use the toilet he said yes. We went round the corner to a door I opened the door to see a hole a in the floor with this little white thing around the hole, then all of a sudden this little boy out of nowhere started no she can’t, no, no she can’t go there! I was a little scared on what was happening, to then Dawit (our tour guide) to see go in this toilet, a little boy and a man came out the toilet, the man was holding his nose, I was that desperate I just went the toilet was the same as the first one a hole in the floor it smelt really really bad. The little boy did a massive poo in the toilet it smelt really bad, I held my nose as I squatted it was awful i peed really fast so it was over and done with. I ran out the toilet ran out the bar and back to the bus where everyone was laughing at me because of my facial expression from the toilet, so everyone know now’s that if you need the toilet go but only go if it’s a proper toilet. 

Link Ethiopia

I had been thinking about a community programme for Girlguides for some time.

I wanted to develop an International Community based project which involved education, with a focus on girls’ education. Where & how needed careful thought & consideration. By nature Girlguides are adventurous, enjoy a challenge and are willing to venture out of their comfort zone.

Where to?

In May 2011 I emailed Chris Grant founder & Director of Link Ethiopia, I have supported the charity for many years, they are a small organization supporting schools & promoting education in the poorer areas of Gonder, the money goes directly to where it is needed. I outlined my idea as I wanted to know if the idea was feasible with the support of Link Ethiopia.

The past 2 years have been a busy time, an initial plan was put together to present to the NEE International Advisor, Rosemarie, she approved the plan, it then went to our Chief Commissioner, Hilary, she gave us the go ahead.  The leaders were selected, then the girls. 

In November 2012, 14 girls and 4 leaders had their 1^st meeting at Hazel House in Ripon Divisions HQ.  The weekend was spent getting to know each other and discussing the proposed trip.

Fund raising started in earnest.   The past 9 months have flown by and we will be in Gonder working on the project in less than 9 days, can’t wait!!!