So what’s Team Tesfa? Team Tesfa is a team for young track and cross country runners who want to compete among the pros in Addis Ababa. It’s also a vehicle for the foundation to reach out to teenage girls who need a helping hand. These are girls who are separated from their parents or orphaned, who have no support unless they work in bars or as house servants, who often have to give up their education, who are vulnerable to sexual violence. We provide them with housing, education, stipends, and community. In back are (left to right) Meseret, Worke, and Askwal. Up front are (left to right) the team captain, Ijigu, and the team coach, Mr. Berhanu. Coach Berhanu is an old Navy man who competed and coached in a dozen sports. He stands about six and a half feet, and his hand completely envelopes yours in a crushing grip. He’s a very kind man, and he offered his services as a volunteer for months, until we could find the funds to pay him.

I’m back in Minnesota, checking in with everyone who has supported the work in Ethiopia. One of my favorite visits is with the Women’s Track team at the University of Minnesota. Coach Wilson and the women are very enthusiastic about supporting the teenage girls on Team Tesfa. They are writing letters to Ethiopia and brainstorming ways to raise money. I’m hoping they will be able to make a trip to meet the girls. Meanwhile, they invite me to a practice at the Field House. This is me with team captain, Julie Schwengler, national level competitor in the 800 meters.

Dana

Sometimes it’s difficult to justify what we do to skeptics. Why don’t we do more? they ask. And I don’t know what to say. We do our best with limited resources. That makes for hard decisions.

It is hard to judge what the value of Teddy’s smile is when he received his dinosaur. Was the impact greater in the donor who felt warm and fuzzy for days afterwards rather than in Teddy’s life? What should our priorities be? How do we measure the difference education makes in these children’s lives, in their families?

We have enrolled three bright professors from Mankato State University into Tesfa’s educational advisory committee. Lilly, Linda and Steve are ready to solve multi-grade, trilingual education in rural settings for low-income students. We will have some answers in a couple of years after they visit Ethiopia and train our teachers.

We may be able to provide cost effectiveness calculations of early childhood education for low income Ethiopian children in the future. It’s a step. After all, limited resources should be used wisely. For now, providing education to those who don’t have it keeps us going.

Roxana, Minnesota

The Opening of Debra Zeit

It’s magic time again. We take a dead shell of a building, and within weeks we make it a school. And nothing breathes more life and vitality than a functioning school.

It’s an amazing transformation – especially in the short week or two it takes in Ethiopia, when all is going well.

This is the school in Debre Zeit, due to open in the first week of October. Malaku is our magician, the man who oversees the work on our facilities. He’s the one who made the Mojo school ready for business last year.

You’ll notice how beautiful our yard is. Sadly, this will have to be trimmed back from its wild beauty. We’ll try to keep the morning glories.

Back to Ethiopia

Kindergarteners getting some guidance from Haregwa, their teacher. Look at those big smiles!


Simenyesh in first grade practices her cursive writing.

8/14: I’m back in Ethiopia, and I visit the Tsegereda School in Shiro Meda right away. This is the best part of any trip, the best part of my work. It gives me hope. The kids are so bright-eyed and cheerful.

Visiting the school in summer is strange. It’s rainy season, so it’s cold and gloomy. Everyone is in layers. Kids and teachers gather together for warmth.

Summer school is half-day. The first-graders are preparing for second grade. Today they’re studying their multiplication tables and cursive writing in our alphabet. The kindergarteners are working on simple words that begin with various letters in their own alphabet. As usual, my entrance after an absence sparks chaos. ‘Kuch balu, kuch balu,’ I have to say. ‘Sit down!’ Everyone wants a hug. The teachers are so patient with the kids, and with me.

Dana

Visit to Siembra School, Minneapolis, USA

Dana’s visit provided an opportunity to learn more about Ethiopian culture and traditions as well as strengthened the partnership between Siembra and Tsegereda. Latinos and Ethiopians shared art, stories and of course coffee. Listening to Dana women’s eyes filled with tears. The challenges these children and their families face are daunting and familiar. Latino women know how hard it is to accommodate your family in a one-room house. How it feels to have a child sick and not being able to afford a doctor or medicine. How frustrating it is not sending your child to school because you cannot pay the registration fee, get a uniform or spare the time to deal with the system. Yet, watery eyes were mixed with smiles. Dana shared photos of the children and staff. Tsegereda children are smiling. Their spirit is strong and there is hope. We know these children will be the first in their families to graduate from high school and college. We know when these children start working their first salary will go towards helping their younger brothers and sisters make it through school. They will help aunts, uncles, cousins and nieces. Latino women have done it for and with their families. The empathy in the room was palpable; their desire to support these children tangible. - By Roxana Linares

US Tesfa Events

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