The first completed section of our Lemlem School project was inaugurated last week in Mehoni. It was a proud day for the school, and the event was attended by members of the local government and even a representative of the cantonal government. EE board members Lesley Stephenson and André Cardinaux represented Ethiopian Enterprises, and two further Swiss guests joined them as helpers for the student transfer. One was a high-school student who is writing her Matura paper on the school, and she did very well. 

It took two full days to transfer 800 students from grades 1-4 into the new classrooms. It was the first time that the students had been given definite seats, and this was very new for them. However, with the help of André Cardinaux’s desk plans, and support for the teachers provided by the Swiss group, the transfer went fairly smoothly.

The school’s garden committee proudly displayed their first perma garden, produce from which they are already selling to provide school maintenance funding. And the local government also announced the good news that electric power will be provided for the area in the near future. Electrical installations have already been prepared in the new buildings.

Mehoni had very little rain during the recent wet season, and this was a source of deep concern for the community and the visitors from EE alike. Imagine their joy when they were contacted during the journey back to Switzerland by project manager Melkamu Abate and told that Mehoni had just received it’s best rain day of the season.