Empress Mentewab School

Empress Mentewab School Welcome to Empress Mentewab School’s page. I am Kate Fereday Eshete and I founded the school in 2007. Next year the school will have a Grade 4 class.

Empress Mentewab School serves the remote rural area and village of Dib Bahir at the foot of the Great Northern Escarpment of the Simien Mountains in the Ethiopian Highlands (the nearest town is Debark). It is a family-run, non-profit social enterprise, with five teachers (including myself) currently providing free full-day education to 48 pupils from Infants to Primary Grade 3 during the 2014-15

academic year. This unique little school relies completely on donations to cover costs in providing local poor children with high-quality tuition. Please support the pupils' education by making a donation or by fund-raising for the school. See my website for more information, including payment options.

These days Ethiopian schools generally aim for 40 pupils in a class, which is a great improvement on what it used to be....
11/05/2016

These days Ethiopian schools generally aim for 40 pupils in a class, which is a great improvement on what it used to be. However, at Empress Mentewab School the maximum class size is just 16 pupils. The schoolchildren work in groups of four, according to their ability. One teacher concentrates on working with each group in turn to improve literacy. Please make a donation to enable the school to continue providing this high-quality education for some of the poorest children on Earth.

Throughout the school year, the four houses - Bruce, Plowden, Windsor and Fereday - battle it out in quizzes, competitio...
26/04/2016

Throughout the school year, the four houses - Bruce, Plowden, Windsor and Fereday - battle it out in quizzes, competitions, races and football tournaments. The winning house is awarded the House Cup on Prize-giving Day in early July. For the last two years, Fereday has held the House Cup. So will Fereday manage to hang on to it for a third year? We'll see.

The four house names mark the long connection between Britain and Gonder, where the school was founded in 2007. James Bruce arrived in Gonder in 1770; Walter Plowden lived in Gonder and was killed nearby in 1860; HM Queen Elizabeth visited Gonder in 1965; and Kate Fereday Eshete lived in Gonder for eight years, 2002-10.

Empress Mentewab School's funds are low. Kate is currently fundraising in Britain, the connection to the Internet being...
07/04/2016

Empress Mentewab School's funds are low. Kate is currently fundraising in Britain, the connection to the Internet being impossibly slow in Ethiopia. Meanwhile, the schoolchildren are almost half-way through their second semester. When £10,000 have been raised, Kate will be able to return to Ethiopia. Having that money in the school's bank account will mean that the teachers' wages and other running costs will be secure for months to come. So, please, Empress Mentewab School needs YOU! (And Kate hopes for your help too, so that the fundraising target can be hit soon and she can go back to her children - her own two, and the other 46 schoolchildren!)

Each year the school celebrates Margaret Lister Day on 6 January, which is Margaret’s birthday and also Ethiopian Christ...
14/01/2016

Each year the school celebrates Margaret Lister Day on 6 January, which is Margaret’s birthday and also Ethiopian Christmas Eve. Before she died in 2013, Margaret, who was a retired teacher, used to raise funds for the school. Her efforts in England saved the school from closure. She raised thousands of pounds every year. Margaret Lister Day 2016 was a day of games and treats for the children. They watched films, danced, played musical chairs, chased balloons, and enjoyed a traditional Ethiopian lunch.

The school re-opened on 1 October for the 2015-16 academic year (2008 according to the Ethiopian calendar). Every year ...
06/10/2015

The school re-opened on 1 October for the 2015-16 academic year (2008 according to the Ethiopian calendar). Every year each child in Grades 1 to 4 chooses four jotters – for Amharic, English, Mathematics and Environmental Science. In addition, jotters are provided to those schoolchildren who learn French. Ethiopian jotters come in a range of cover designs to suit every taste.

At this time of year donations are particularly helpful because of the expense of providing jotters and pens for the primary schoolchildren and of stocking the classrooms with whiteboard markers. We also give each child a pair of sandals. All these items are bought in the city of Gonder, about 120 km (70 miles) to the south-west, and have to be transported to the school.

Four of our Grade 3s talk to the audience about themselves in English. They attended a county event in Debark where man...
04/07/2015

Four of our Grade 3s talk to the audience about themselves in English. They attended a county event in Debark where many schools sent representatives. The fluency in English of our top pupils greatly impressed those present. Other of our Grade 3s performed a humorous and educational play in Amharic about the importance of hygiene, which the audience found entertaining and instructive. By the end of the day, Empress Mentewab School was being called upon to open satellite schools in other remote areas in the county. This is something we have long thought about doing when funding is available.

Yesterday the whole school went over to visit the state-run Dib Bahir Elementary School, where the Head of the Debark Ed...
01/07/2015

Yesterday the whole school went over to visit the state-run Dib Bahir Elementary School, where the Head of the Debark Education Office and various other officials watched schoolchildren from both schools demonstrate what they have learned during the academic year that is now drawing to a close. Our schoolchildren performed a play in Amharic on the subject of hygiene, and four of our Grade 3 children impressed everyone present by reading English fluently from a book. At the end of the event, ten children from Empress Mentewab School were invited to represent our village at a similar county event to be held in Debark. Kate's nine-year-old son, who was one of those chosen to go to Debark, was so excited about this, he said, "Mummy, I could cry - I'm so full of enjoyment!"

There are only two weeks of the semester left. The Prize-giving Day is on Wednesday, 8 July. School reports have to be...
25/06/2015

There are only two weeks of the semester left. The Prize-giving Day is on Wednesday, 8 July. School reports have to be written up, and drama productions rehearsed. The plays will be performed in front of parents on the Prize-giving Day. And the winner of the house cup has to be established, so the last of the inter-house football matches are being played. Meanwhile, the rainy season has started and it now rains most afternoons.

ALERT! Funds are at zero, and we've had to borrow money to keep the school going. What we are doing in this remote Eth...
25/06/2015

ALERT! Funds are at zero, and we've had to borrow money to keep the school going. What we are doing in this remote Ethiopian highland village is unique and special. So, please, do what you can to help us continue to give our schoolchildren - some of the poorest children on Earth - a first-class education. Please look at this June newsletter, then 'like' it and share it. We need more supporters!

The Primary schoolchildren brush their teeth after their morning snack. Betty in England has sent a good supply of chil...
24/05/2015

The Primary schoolchildren brush their teeth after their morning snack. Betty in England has sent a good supply of children's toothbrushes and toothpaste. Each child has his or her own toothbrush and tube of toothpaste.

Address

Debark'

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Empress Mentewab School posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category