2007.03.08: March 8, 2007: Headlines: COS - Ethiopia: Secondary Education: Return to our Country of Service - Ethiopia: Battle Creek Enquirer: RPCV John Grap writes: When I returned a week ago to Ethiopia, I visited a few schools and was curious to see what the current conditions were like to see what had changed and what had not
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2007.02.22: February 22, 2007: Headlines: COS - Ethiopia: Return to our Country of Service - Ethiopia: Battle Creek Enquirer: Ethiopia RPCV John Grap writes: Thirty-four years ago, in 1973, the Watergate hearings were big news, the Vietnam war was raging, Paul Simon was singing about "Kodachrome" and I joined the Peace Corps :
2007.03.08: March 8, 2007: Headlines: COS - Ethiopia: Secondary Education: Return to our Country of Service - Ethiopia: Battle Creek Enquirer: RPCV John Grap writes: When I returned a week ago to Ethiopia, I visited a few schools and was curious to see what the current conditions were like to see what had changed and what had not
RPCV John Grap writes: When I returned a week ago to Ethiopia, I visited a few schools and was curious to see what the current conditions were like to see what had changed and what had not
When I returned a week ago to Ethiopia, I visited a few schools and was curious to see what the current conditions were like to see what had changed and what had not. Located on a gentle slope in this village's northwest side is Kokata Kere Elementary School. It's a pretty campus surrounded by a fence made from wood and hedges. Upon entering the school's administration office, the first thing I noticed was the computer system sitting on the secretary's desk. Principal Temesgen Melsabo quickly informed me only the printer worked. He told me the school has 32 teachers and 2,000 students in grades 1-8. The first four grades attend in the morning; the other half attends in the afternoon. As we walked around the campus, I noticed the buildings were eerily familiar to those I remembered. Reinforced mud walls were topped by corrugated metal roofs. Several piles of split rocks sat between two buildings; because of a shortage of cement they won't become classroom floors. Most rooms have dirt floors and a chalkboard on the front wall. The rooms were dark and desks were crammed with three or four students. Melsabo said the biggest problem is students needing textbooks and supplies such as notebooks and pencils. Many families have difficulty providing these basic items for their children.
RPCV John Grap writes: When I returned a week ago to Ethiopia, I visited a few schools and was curious to see what the current conditions were like to see what had changed and what had not
Return to Ethiopian classrooms finds similarities
John Grap
The Enquirer
Caption: Baruk Tilahun, 10, and other fifth-grade students study in a classroom at the Kokata Kere School in Angacha, Ethiopia. Photo: John Grap
ANGACHA, Ethiopia Are you a student or do you remember when you were?
Can you imagine classrooms with dirt or rough floors, no electricity or running water, no school library or Internet and restrooms your pets probably wouldn't even want to use?
Thirty-four years ago as a Peace Corps volunteer, I taught math, science, history, geography and English in middle schools with conditions like these in two rural Ethiopian villages.
When I returned a week ago to Ethiopia, I visited a few schools and was curious to see what the current conditions were like to see what had changed and what had not.
Located on a gentle slope in this village's northwest side is Kokata Kere Elementary School. It's a pretty campus surrounded by a fence made from wood and hedges.
Upon entering the school's administration office, the first thing I noticed was the computer system sitting on the secretary's desk. Principal Temesgen Melsabo quickly informed me only the printer worked.
He told me the school has 32 teachers and 2,000 students in grades 1-8. The first four grades attend in the morning; the other half attends in the afternoon.
As we walked around the campus, I noticed the buildings were eerily familiar to those I remembered. Reinforced mud walls were topped by corrugated metal roofs. Several piles of split rocks sat between two buildings; because of a shortage of cement they won't become classroom floors.
Most rooms have dirt floors and a chalkboard on the front wall. The rooms were dark and desks were crammed with three or four students.
Melsabo said the biggest problem is students needing textbooks and supplies such as notebooks and pencils. Many families have difficulty providing these basic items for their children.
The school had no library. Its two outdoor bathrooms were not fit for human use. There was no running water on school grounds.
To survive school and proceed to the high school only a few miles away would seem to require a miracle.
Conditions were a little better at the high school, home to 4,000 students in grades 9-12. Concrete block walls replaced mud ones and many classrooms were equipped with flat-screen TVs connected to a satellite dish that brings instructional programming from the capital city, Addis Ababa.
A 12th-grade civics classroom was packed with 36 students. That's in contrast to the 70 students I had in one of my classes four decades ago.
In the school library, about a half-dozen students sat quietly doing their work. There were eight shelves of books, including an old encyclopedia set, lining two walls of the room. But only a handful would help students learn English and other advanced subjects.
It reminded me of a second-hand store not a library.
The school's science lab had three working microscopes and the computer lab had four computers. No iMacs or Windows Vista appeared to be on the horizon.
The faces of students in these schools told me they were eager to learn despite lacking tools we Americans take for granted.
John Grap is the Enquirer's photo editor. He can be reached at 966-0598 or jgrap@battlecr.gannett.com.
Links to Related Topics (Tags):
Headlines: March, 2007; Peace Corps Ethiopia; Directory of Ethiopia RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Ethiopia RPCVs; Secondary Education; Return to our Country of Service - Ethiopia
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Story Source: Battle Creek Enquirer
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Ethiopia; Secondary Education; Return to our Country of Service - Ethiopia
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