Ekodaga
May 9: Construction comes to an end this week on Tesfa's seventh school in the village of Ekodaga. This will be the small farming village's first school. The Selam School, a successful partnership with the Resurrection Catholic Parish in Green Bay, Wisconsin, will be opening in the summer of 2010. It will serve 50 village children with a kindergarten education, and 150 children from the region with nonformal primary education. 'Nonformal' education is formatted to adapt to the needs of farming families and of children who arrive with varying degrees of literacy. In the long term, this project will also endeavor to provide adult education for parents, and to bring light and water to the school and community. Cien Keilty-Lucas, Minnesota contractor and Master's student in public health, spent four months supervising the construction project. He writes about his experience:
Building a School
by Cien Keilty-Lucas
A whip cracks and an afternoon wind whistles up the hill side. Twelve chiqa- (or mud-) toting donkeys lumber toward the school. The wind exhales an ominous misty breath, predicting afternoon showers. With a clattering of hooves atop a newly cement-paved classroom floor, the donkey train squeezes into one of the seven school rooms. Fellow workers usher the animals to where the mud is mixed with hay, and water. Leme and Mesfin distract one of the animals with a steady "whoooooosh" and a handful of grass. As the animal impatiently sways, the two massage nearly 80 pounds of chiqa off the donkey's mud-caked back and drop it onto a light bed of hay with a plop.
The chiqa process has been ongoing for the last month. In total, the people of Ekodaga – and of course those donkeys – have schlepped tens of thousands of pounds of mud from nearly a kilometer away to form the smooth and straight walls of the school. The entire build has taken three months of continuous labor by upwards of 35 people a day. The building of Ekodaga's first school has been a testimony to the incredible worth ethic, commitment, and determination of the people of Ekodaga. The community works, sings, and even drinks together (usually just on Sundays) from 8am to 5pm seven days a week. Together, the community reformed a rocky hillside, built a waist-high rock wall that wraps around the entire perimeter, and perched 5,000 square meters of finished school atop the carefully sculpted hilltop. The school will assist men, women and children alike achieve educational betterment for years to come, and I believe the building process itself will resonate within the Ekodaga community just as far into the future.
During my time working with the Ekodaga villagers, I have witnessed a tightening of the community, as well as a growth of dedication to the school. Before the build, the villagers relied on one another as neighbors and co-workers. Even the school project seemed just business at first. But as the build progressed, I saw an immense shift in solidarity and care among the community. When we asked for volunteers, toddlers and village elders alike volunteered and diligently worked. When one member of the community is ill, others pitch in to help purchase medical care and transportation. There is a pronounced cooperation with one another in sharing work. Everybody gets to work on the school. There is a constant dialogue about the school's importance for not only the children but all of Ekodaga. The school has not only become emblematic of the community's hard work and dedication, but the community's interest in personal growth.
