Target group

Adults / Parents in the community 

Goals

 To provide foundational knowledge of basic healthcare

Challenge of the village

As a result of poverty, access to basic necessities like soap can be challenging. Access to healthy foods can also be a challenge.

Training contents

We hope to engage the community - not just imparting knowledge in didactic lecture format but also encouraging discussions and formation of local solutions to challenges in their context. 

Prospects for the future

We hope to continue to engage the community to empower healthier minds and bodies through education.

I sat in the mini van jammed between 18 other people as it traversed the bumpy road towards Akako village, a small village just outside of Addis Ababa, excited and wondering what the school would look like. 

We were greeted by fresh, cool weather, sights of green, rolling hills and warm greetings from the community. Bifu Bira Kindergarten and Primary School serves over 50 students in the community, and despite financial hardship, seek to provide quality education to the children.

Although having had to downsize due to demolishing of houses in the village forcing families to move out, they remain dedicated to delivering high value and high impact education, including providing a free after-school and summer school program for children who would otherwise be idle at home and may be influenced to engage in illicit activities such as stealing and gambling as a result of poverty.

I had the privilege of sharing with some mamas in the village on areas like sanitation, nutrition and family planning, and on raising children. The session was interactive and raised a number of discussion points. It was enthusiastically received and we left with requests to conduct further such sessions.

 All in all, I saw the visible hand of God here through the love evident within the community. The work of caring and loving people through education was just another opportunity to build relationships and to share and receive the love of God with our neighbours on this side of the world.