የሴቶችማዓከል - በዴሳ

WomenCenter - Badessa

Holy Cross Catholic Church

Holy Spirit Sisters - Badessa, P.O. Box 132, Wolaita, Soddo - ETHIOPIA

Tel. # 00251 (0) 464 700 346

Activities from January- June 2014 Non-Formal Education Activities: There are five George Mc Anthony Schools offering Non-Formal Education (NFE) for children ages 5-7 years old in Ankashashara, Degagalenda, Bilbo Badessa, Koyo and Galcha Sake.

Location Registered Pupil Promoted to Grade 1 To continue

Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Total

Bilbo Badessa 61 38 99 36 24 60 20 19 39

Ankashashara 51 41 92 23 27 50 28 14 42

Koyo Sake 40 32 72 31 25 56 8 6 14

Degagalenda 26 24 50 16 17 33 10 7 17

Galcha Sake 34 26 60 21 19 40 12 10 22

Total 212 161 373 127 112 239 78 56 134

Activities participated by the children

Ethiopian Christmas Program The children celebrated Ethiopian Christmas Program in all the schools; children performed the Christmas story and the message of it to all people. Singing, dancing and reciting poems were performed by the children that gave joy and happiness on that day. They ate together and each one received Christmas present.

Sports Festival Different games like football, sack race, running, jumping rope and others were played by children during that day. It was a competition between two schools; one school became the host of the game and the other school travelled by car to reach the other. It was a good experience for them even to go by car. Many of the children never went out from their village so when they went, they were so happy and excited. Prizes were given to them after the competition. Getting to know each other and meeting new friends happened too on that occasion.

Earth Day/ Easter Celebrations:

The Non-Formal Education (NFE) Program celebrated Earth Day and

Easter in five George Mc Anthony Schools last April 22-28, 2014. It was

participated by 248 female and 359 male composed of pupils, teachers,

adult literacy students, parents, and Grade 1 pupils belonging to the group

called "Hope for Ethiopia". They planted 3,000 seedlings of trees and fruit

trees around the school compound and planted 1,514 of new seeds in

polythene bags. Our Agriculture Animator, Tesfaye Gidebo, facilitated an

interactive workshop with the children - using the

Creation Story that highlights the importance of nature.

When asked what they can contribute to take care of

nature, the children shared that they will tell their

fathers to plant more trees and not to cut it down. It

was amazing to hear how these children are able to

relate with the realities around them. The tree planting

was followed by a short program wherein the children

performed dramas, dances and poems.

Closing Program

The learning and experiences gained by children in 10 months in the George Mc Anthony Schools through the help of their teachers were shown through their presentation. Many parents came to see the program prepared by the children and it made them happy. They had drama wherein a boy or girl acting like a teacher with his/her pupils, lessons in Wolaytina, English, Amharic, Math and Sports were well presented and actively and confidently performed by them.

Other Activities in George Mc Anthony Schools:

Formation of Parents’ Committee (composed of parents, kebele officials, teacher and school director)

Parents Committee in different villages was started. They help the teachers visiting families especially those who were absent and who were not paying the minimal school fee. The Parents’ committee had meeting twice and workshop facilitated by the Education Animators. They were educating and giving advice to parents to send their children to school and closely follow them up.

Parents training on Harmful Traditional Practices (HTP) and Children’s Right

Adult Literacy is being conducted in 5 schools. Adults are coming three times a week to learn Wolaytina, Amharic and Mathematics. Different issues and life skills are also being taught to them.

Training of beneficiaries on different Agriculture activities.

Demonstration site is being kept in the compound of George Mc Anthony School.

“Hope for Ethiopia” group who was established by the past volunteers with the support of their Parish youth were regularly coming to the Center to study. An animator was assigned to follow them up. They were actively joining every activity in the school.

Earth Day Celebration participated by the Adult Literacy students.

Happy Earth Day! Gathered in the Social Hall for

Sports Festival

Regular weekly meetings of uncircumcised girls, they were being taught on different Harmful Traditional Practices (HTP), they were also encouraged to save money to be used for income generating project. Art lesson and other activities were also provided for them.

Human Trafficking Campaign:

Human Trafficking Campaign was organized in 5 kebeles participated by 287 male and 236 females composed of farmers, women, youth and Grade 7-8 students in Primary Schools. The campaign aimed to create awareness on the situations of women and men going to foreign countries and to motivate

people not to send their wives and daughters abroad. The staff shared the different sufferings they encounter as they go to other countries like; overload of work, passports being held so as not to go back to their countries, not being allowed to relate with other people especially of the same place of origin, being kidnapped and entered into sex prostitution and not being paid on time. Most of them leave families and friends in exchange of hoping to earn more and help their families be out of poverty. But in the end, many came back sick, crazy and empty handed. The people realized the importance of this training for them. They were enlightened from the new information they heard and promised to support this campaign and encourage others to stop sending their daughters.

Rehabilitation of Galcha School

A beautiful rehabilitation of Galcha School was done, it was turned from soil and dusty classroom to a

well- cemented floor and walls and became more conducive place for learning. Volunteers painted and

drew a lot of things to help children to learn.

New classroom built in Koyo Sake Additional classroom in George Mc Anthony School in Koyo was built through the support of our generous donors and contribution of woods from parents and village people. There were always good number of children attending the class and there was only one classroom, so to accommodate more, one classroom and one small office were built and will be ready for next school year.

Now

Before

Front side Rear Side

Health Program Mother & Child Care

Feeding of Malnourished Children There are 35 malnourished children who are under 5 years old from four villages who are being supported by the Center with well-balanced food. They are coming from Monday to Friday with their mothers, brothers or sisters. Their parents are being given health education like health awareness, nutrition care, sanitation and immunization. Their growth monitoring is being supervised by Sr. Beatrice,SSpS and Nigist Markos. Their health conditions improve very much. Pregnant mothers There are 80 pregnant women who are receiving free folic acid and iron tablets supplement every month and regular health education. Through this program a high rate of safe pregnancy is assured. Mothers are also encouraged to go to the clinic and government health center for delivery and many of them followed. PLWHAS There are 11 People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHAS) who are coming regularly to our Center for meeting and experience –sharing. They are given spiritual inputs, health education, income generating projects and they have time for recreation and eating together. They are receiving support for their savings, school, monthly food and medical support. Most of the PLWHAS expressed the joy of coming to the Center because they found a community who accepted and who made them feel hopeful despite their sickness. VCT in different villages was conducted through the initiative of the Center and was facilitated by the nurses from the Health Center. There was nobody found positive to HIV/AIDS from 313 men and women who underwent the testing. OVC There are 27orphans and 8 vulnerable children (7 handicapped children and 1deaf and mute girl). Most of them are studying. They are getting monthly food support, school materials, and uniforms. The seven handicapped

children are regularly being sent every six months to Alemachen, an institution in Addis Ababa who is helping handicapped children for medical check-up and for their shelter. They are staying there for 2 weeks and to

those who need operation stay

longer.

Cash for work for women

There are 40 poor women beneficiaries of this program,

10 women per demonstration site. They are working

daily and paid wages for:

- preparing forest and fruit tree seedlings

- composting

- planting different vegetables and root crops around the

demonstration sites.

The wages they are receiving from the Center had

multiple outcomes including:

- Providing them with income which helps support

economic problem of the family.

- They are managing to send their children to school.

- They are saving money

every week for future needs.

Thirty-eight of them are attending the Adult Literacy Program and

most of them are now able to read and write in Amharic. They are

now capable of writing their own names when they sign, no more

stamping of finger unlike before.

During the

celebration of Earth

Day in George Mc

Anthony School in

Non-Formal

Education Program,

they joined the children in planting new seedlings.

They also performed drama regarding the

importance of their work in the nursery sites and the

learning they are gaining from there. They

motivated people to learn how to make compost so

as not to be dependent of the expensive fertilizers

being sold to the farmers.

These women are actively helping in all the activities of the Agriculture and other sectors.

A Ray of Hope Acquired: Life Story of Ato Ayele Gugala

Ato Ayele, a farmer, a beneficiary of Agriculture project from Degagalenda Kebele (one of the project

sites), head of the family of eight. He has three boys and three

girls. His housewife is helping him in the farm.

Ato Ayele was selected beneficiary of the project because of his

poor life condition and his family. He could not provide enough

food for his children. He has a small piece of land, but not

fertile, thus, his yield was very little. To augment the food

shortage of the family Ato Ayele tried to work as daily worker,

but still didn’t help him and his family much.

He was selected beneficiary in January, at the beginning of the

project. He attended orientation, different skills training such

as compost preparation which would help him to increase the

fertility of his land. He was given drought resistance crop such

as cassava and taro and he planted them. A sheep was also given to him. In the last visit made by the

Agriculture expert he testified that the piece of land of Ato Ayele bore so much. His land was full of

different crops which he was happy to show and to share to others. He told happily that this year his

children will have enough to eat. He uttered, thanks to God for his providence, for Women Center

Badessa staff and benefactors, for my wife and children for helping me to cultivate our land.

Ato Ayele is one of the beneficiaries of Women Center

Badessa who through his trust in God, determination and

hard work will see the future with a ray of hope, a life

moving out from poverty to abundance. May we

accompany Ato Ayele through our prayers that all his desires

in life will be fulfilled.

Agriculture Team Experience Sharing:

The Agriculture team with Ato Worana, Assistant Coordinator of Women Center Badessa, and the volunteers Sofia Senoner and Teresa Klung conducted one-day field visits to different project sites. The aims of the visit were: - to exchange work experiences -monitor project implementation and output in each sites - capacity-building program for the staff As planned, the team went around the different soil and water conservation and area closure sites to observe the growth of different physical and biological treatment being made. They also randomly visited the houses of beneficiaries who received drought resistance crops and livestock such as goat and sheep to observe its effect on their families.

To cap their site visit, they exchanged feedback on the weak and strong points of each sites and of the assigned staff. They commended those who performed very well and encouraged everyone to continue their work. The staffs were inspired to turn the weak points into strong one.

The volunteers were happy to be part of this

activity; they had the chance to see closely

the different project sites and the

development of the programs. They enjoyed the day together with the agriculture team. The staff

expressed their gratitude to God for blessing all their endeavors and to all benefactors who are

supporting them to realize their plans.

Sharing of my experiences as Library student:

My name is Senait Adila. I am 18 years old, I’m Grade 11 student.

Since Grade 9 up to the present, I and other girls are studying in

the library of Catholic Mission –Women Center Badessa (WCB)

after our classes in our school so as to become successful in the

future and to be a good citizen. The WCB aims to help young

girls be free from traditional practices such as early marriage,

abduction and rape and to build up their capacities and be

treated equal like men. It is not only to study in the library the

Center is helping us but at the same time they give us food

support, fee for house rent, uniform, exercise books and pens.

Volunteers who are coming from foreign countries help us to

learn English and computer. They taught us how to open and

close the program, how to write the text and other things. We

always prepare coffee ceremony and program every time the volunteers will come and go back to their

countries. I actively participate in the drama program in English language. This year, two volunteers

namely Sofia and Teresa from Italy and Germany respectively taught us English. They are good English

teachers and they taught us very well. They shared their knowledge to us. We were happy when they

were teaching us, they as well. One time they both went to Addis Ababa and they encouraged me to

teach my companions. I willingly took the responsibility and taught my companions very well for a week.

I was so happy for that chance, it did well to me and to the other girls.

I thank the Women Center Badessa for helping young girls like me to study and thank you too for those

who are helping them financially. God bless you!

Library Girls with their parents

Teachers’ Training:

On May 5, 2014 Mrs. Edith Gremlich, friend of the sisters from Switzerland facilitated an Art Lesson with

twelve NFE and Adult Literacy teachers. Before the workshop

began she invited the teachers to give attention to their

breathing and to stay calm. She expressed the importance of

helping oneself to be composed in front of the children and

parents especially on stressful moment. After which, she moved

into art lessons wherein teachers became like kids playing with

colors and paper cuttings. The teachers were happy to

experience the joy of doing art and being able to express their

creativity.

Mrs. Gremlich also

visited three NFE schools which she didn’t manage to visit

last year. She with Sr. Marian assisted the children in their

art lesson. Children were very happy to color the papers

and were surprised to open the folded papers. Many

children were eager

to do it a second

time but because of

limited time they

were not given the

chance.

Teachers of Non-Formal Education and Adut Literacy attended a

workshop facilitated by the volunteers from Caritas Bozen Brixen;

Teresa Klung and Sofia Senoner. The workshop was focused on

learning ABC-letter writing, its pronunciation and sound

identification.

Teachers were very

happy for the new knowledge they gained from the

workshop. It made them realized the importance of teaching

the right stroke of writing, right pronunciation and the

sounds of the letters to the children. They feel sorry that in

their younger years they did not learn about it in the school.

Their teachers did not teach them those basic things that

pupils should know. At the end of the workshop, the

volunteers told the teachers to teach the things they know

very well and don’t teach lessons which you do not know

yourselves. The teachers made a commitment to teach their children very well and the right thing.

Small ruminants for rearing:

The project aims to support poor household to improve

their economic situation by providing small animal for

rearing. It is a fast way to address the food gap of the

family because it is easy for them to manage and to feed

as it is within their backyard. Based on past

experiences, many families improved their economic

situation through this activity. In the past 6 months, 100

households - most of them female-headed, they were

supported to purchase sheep and goats. Four animals

have given birth thus the numbers have even multiplied

and expected to better support each household.