Ve’ahavta, Kulam and JDC Open New School in Ethiopia

Dear Kulam Friends,

Together with our partners Ve’ahavta (veahavta.org) and JDC (jdc.org) we’re thrilled to share the exciting news that our new school in Shumargie, Ethiopia is complete and students have started classes inside! Daniel our contractor delivered the project on time and on budget – something we rarely see in North America! On opening day each student received a “Kinderkit” (backpack filled with school supplies) donated by Ve’ahavta.

The teachers’ appreciation for the building, together with the enthusiasm of the students and the community is overwhelming. The school is allowing 60 students to study in a facility where they are no longer exposed to wind, dust, rain, nor distracted by animals roaming about. We are confident academic results will significantly improve and we are very proud that our Shumargie school is changing the reality, for the better, of the entire Shumargie community.

We’ve heard only good news about the 11 young Ethiopian patients of Dr. Rick who had major heart surgery in India. The vital medicines that we sponsored were instrumental in their recoveries. Dr. Rick continues to show us how with very little we can make a difference.

Now that the school project is complete we want to push Kulam forward with our next projects. We have recently applied to the Newman’s Own Foundation (Paul Newman’s philanthropic organization) for a grant for solar panels for the school. Our hope is to illuminate the building with sustainable green energy so that the facility can be used by the community for many activities. Imagine, maybe even one day there will be satellite internet!

While in Ethiopia in January we visited other villages looking for potential future projects from schools, to wells and much-needed medical care. One water well which costs approximately $3,500 eliminates the long walk that women have to make to collect water several times each day. This allows them to put energy into other activities including returning to school, and the community is able to drink clean water rather than water full of parasites and disease. With one well the health of an entire community can be improved.

We’d like to move forward on building several wells and need your help and support. And certainly we plan to continue to support Dr. Rick and his amazing work!

In our last email we mentioned that we’d also like to start contributing towards the Agahoza Youth Village for orphans of the genocide in Rwanda. We have secured funding for certain programs for the Village so that together with the children we can help build a future full of hope. There is much more that we can do for the village with your help!

Through your generosity over the past six months our fundraising efforts have been a huge success. We are grateful to you and have demonstrated that we haven’t wasted a second or a penny, delivering on results in a timely and efficient manner. We are now ready to move forward on our next round of projects over the coming months so that we can continue trying to make a positive difference in the lives of Ethiopians and Rwandans.

We would urge you to contact us should you be interested in supporting the Kulam cause. As you are aware we operate lean so that funds raised go to the projects.

Thank you for your continued support and interest. We look forward to sharing our progress with you as we move forward with Kulam and these wonderful projects.

Benjamin, Julie & the entire Kulam Team

Posted by: Benjamin Sternthal, KULAM

Posted by Robyn |