Northern Shewa Rebuilding:

 

Phase 1 and Phase 2 School/Clinic Material Delivery

 

Update June 14, 2023

In December 2022, Dir Biyabir sent funds raised in a GoFundMe Campaign to rehabilitate 4 schools and 1 clinic in the town of Shewarobit, that were looted by invading TPLF terrorists in 2021.  Funding was sent to our project implementation partner ADHENO who purchased replacement items that were identified in their extensive assessment of damage to these schools.The items were delivered to each school and health station by ADHENO itself in 2 phases : Computers, Printers, Generator, Chemistry Machine were delivered in Phase 1 on March 23 2023 and school furniture (desks, chairs, lab stools), and science models were delivered in Phase 2 on May 23 2023.  Phase 3 delivery will include reference books and stationary material for delivery at a a future date yet to be determined based on the availability of reference books for the new curriculum, as well as the security situation in the region.

The below table summarizes the quantity and cost of items delivered to 4 schools and 1 health station. Unfortunately, due to ongoing conflict, no deliveries could be made to Wurba Primary school at this time.  All items listed below were funded exclusively by Dir Biyabir.

1.     Robi Zuti Primary school
2.     Hedase Primary School
3.     Chare Primary School and
4.     Shewarobit General Secondary school
5.     Shewarobit Health Station

Videos taken during the handover of these items to the schools and clinic demonstrate just how much this equipment was needed by the community, and how thankful they are to get this support.  Shewarobit has suffered repeatedly during the last few years due to horiffic violence inflicted on the community. Sadly they have received no support to help them recover so the teachers, students, and administrators showed huge appreciation for the little help we could provide. Videos are available on our YouTube channel. In particular the video below of children from Hedase Primary excitedly carrying tables delivered by ADHENO for pre-school kids in their school is very touching and shows how much the kids appreciate the support.

Many thanks to all who donated to this initiative!  Dir Biyabir will fund additional deliveries of items requested by these schools. The  GoFundMe Campaign remains open so please do join us by contributing to this very worthy cause. Details of this fundraiser including a profile of each school and budget to replace looted items is availble below, as well as on the GoFundMe Campaign 

 

  

 

Summary of Items Delivered in Phase 1 and Phase 2

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FUNDRAISER: OCTOBER 2, 2022 - CURRENT

 

GoFundMe Page

In November of 2021 TPLF (Tigray People’s Liberation Front ) terrorists marching south from Tigray into the Amhara and Afar region had inflicted incalculable death, destruction, and trauma on the civilian population.  With the TPLF pushed back into Tigray and now rapidly facing defeat despite their launch of a 3rd wave of attacks, it is now finally time to start looking around at the horrific devastation and start picking up the pieces to rebuild. The landscape is grim. A new study from the Amhara region estimates that due to the TPLF attacks, in the Amhara region alone 240,236 people were killed or injured and $5.6 billion worth of damage was incurred within just a 6 month period from June to December 2021.  With the 3rd round of attacks from TPLF already launched on August 31, the deaths and damage only get worse.

Dir Biyabir is focusing rebuilding efforts on N. Shewa, given our long history in this area  Our local project partner Adheno has been working with the education office of the town of Shewa Robit to identify the most devastated schools and clinics.   The TPLF caused huge damage to the town of Shewa Robit during their invasion in November 2021. Adheno received a list of 14 primary (elementary) schools and 1 high school that had been looted and damaged but TPLF.  Dir Biyabir has chosen the most impacted 4 elementary schools, as well as 1 secondary school (high school), and 1 clinic to focus our rehabilitation efforts on.

The following 5 schools and 1 health station were selected based on the extent of their damage as well as the number of students they serve. With the exception of Wurba Primary School where 2 classrooms and 2 offices were destroyed, the other schools faced less structural damages such as broken windows and doors.  The biggest loss in these schools was in looting and damage to learning materials and school property which has significantly impacted students.  As you can see in the budget section, with our target of raising $70,000 we will not be able to replace all the looted and damaged material.  Our goal is to meet the most basic needs so theses 5 schools and 1 Health Station are able to serve the students and community as much as possible.

1.     Wurba Primary School
2.     Robi Zuti Primary school
3.     Hedase Primary School
4.     Chare Primary School and
5.     Shewarobit General Secondary school
6.     Shewarobit Health Station
    

he needs of each school were assessed by a team that consisted of Ato Isayias Fikre (ADHENO’s Project Coordinator), Ato Zelalem Mekonen (head for the Office of Education of Shewarobit town), Ato Tadesse Lemma (expert at the Shewa Robin Office of Education) and principals of each selected school. 

Details on each school as well as a summary of the looted items and the cost to replace them are summarized below and we encourage you to read the details.  Please note that with our target of raising $70,000 we will not be able to replace the total quantity of all the looted/damaged items.  We have identified in the budget section below the quantities for each item that we can replace if we raise $70,000.  


Key points on the fundraiser

 

Summary of Damage to Schools and Health Center, and Cost to Rehabilitate:

1. Wurba Primary School
According the school principal, Ato Asasahegn Mamo, the school was established in 2004 G.C. and in the 2021/2022 academic year, there were 129 students in grades 1-6.  In addition there are 32 pre-school kids including one with special needs. TPLF fighters destroyed two classrooms and two administrative offices. As a result, 30 combined student desks, office supplies, student text books, and science aids were destroyed. Out of all the schools in Shewarobit town, this school was the most damaged one.

 

2. Robi Zuti Primary School 
Robi Zuti Primary School was established in 1976 G.C. In 2021/22 academic year, the school and has 1,167 students in grades 1-6.  In addition there are 150 pre-school kids including 8 with special needs.   According to Principal Kelele Abate, this number will increase in 2022/23.  The school has 11 classrooms and 212 students’ seats. All but 17 seats were damaged during the conflict. The library was severely damaged and reference books were stolen. Media equipment, office computer and printer, farm tools, sewing machine, and a microscope were plundered.

Above all, the shops built in front of the school and rented to the local community for various businesses were destroyed. The education of more than 300 children was funded through income from these destroyed shops. The school has been downgraded from level one to level two due to the looting and destruction.


3. Hidase Primary School
Established in 2012 G.C, during the 2021/22 academic year, there were 669 students and an additional; 162 pre-school students including 3 with special needs the total number of students was 699 (328M & 371F).  During the conflict, the library, laboratory equipments, office chairs and tables, computers and other electrical equipments were looted and destroyed. The principal of the school, Ato Kasahun Eshetu told the team that Hidase primary school students were psychologically traumatized by the brutal invasion and up to 30 students have fainted in a day.

 

4. Chare Primary School
Established in 1997 G.C., during the 2021/22 academic year there were  681 students and an additional 138 pre-school students. During the conflict, the school was looted and destroyed severely. Reference books were stolen; chairs and tables in the library were destroyed; windows and doors of 12 classrooms were broken; computer, printer and a projector were looted.

 

5. Shewarobit General Secondary School 
This school is the oldest and largest school in Shewarobit. Established in 1961 G.C. during the 2021/22 school year, there were 3,744 students in grade 9 to 12.  Principal Ato Tadiwos Worku stated that during the conflict more than 12 different microscopes, projectors, generators, printers, 30 new plasma screens and 30 desktop computers were looted. Moreover, 30 computers, 18 plasma, and two printers were damaged. Additionally, accounting files of the school were damaged; there was theft of cash; and doors and windows were broken.


6. Shewarobit Health Station
According to Ato Asmare, the head for Shewarobit Health Station, a health station is supposed to serve about 40,000 people. However, the Shewarobit Health Station serves about 80,000 people.  During the invasion, the TPLF looted medical equipment, medicine, computers, printers and chairs. Windows and doors were broken. Among the looted machines, Ato Asmare prioritized the replacement of the stolen  CD4 checking machine (for HIV/AIDS patients) as well as the chemistry machine (which calculates the concentration of certain substances within samples of serum, plasma, urine, and other body fluids). However, the CD4 checking machine is not available on the market. The automated chemistry machines costs more than a million birr so there is agreement to buy the semi-automated one which costs about 500,000 birr.