World Vision boost education infrastructure in Jorge Village
How long did you walk each day to get to high school, or how far do your son and daughter walk to attend a high school- every day? This may sound ridiculous to most people at this point in time, given the current infrastructural setups in developed and developing countries. However, for Jorge Village students, in the rural area of Ethiopia, this was a sad reality. There was no high school around, and transportation was somehow available but unaffordable for most of the students. They had to walk hours every day back and forth from home to school. Imagine the impact of the long, tiresome walk on their school performance and their entire school life.
An 18-year-old young girl, Nazirawit, was one of the students who experienced the same challenge. With a dream to be an accountant, she started commuting four hours a day to and from her school. She says, "During the first two months, I did not feel the debilitating effect of the routine. I started to feel it gradually. It caused me fatigue and sleepiness in the classroom. I couldn’t catch up on the lessons and my performance declined so I ranked 20th.”
In the middle of the academic year, a long walk left a schoolgirl exhausted. A 15-year-old Kibro was a case in point. He says, "Like any teenager, I have a dream and my dream is to become a pilot. I used all my energy to walk two hours every day to attend a high school education. It was a tiresome experience. I lost my appetite for education which resulted in poor grades. Sadly, in the middle of the academic year, I decided to quit and sat at home. "My hope faded away and I was downhearted."
In a bid to solve the long-standing challenge that high school students faced, World Vision, in collaboration with the community and the local government, built a high school and furnished classrooms, all of which eased the suffering. Nazirawit says, "Now, thanks to World Vision, I have a huge relief. I have enough time for relaxing, learning and catch-up classes to pursue my dreams with vigour." The good news is that her school performance has improved. "I ranked 10th this academic year and feel encouraged. I have kept doing well to further improve it" she added,
Kibro is back in school and says, " I was excited about the school buildings, which will have the potential to enhance the learning process. My dream is revived, thanks to World Vision for the provision."
Vice Director of Jorge High School, Tagess Yohanis, says, “Before World Vision built the school for our community children, more than 40 per cent of students used to quit school in one academic year alone. That was due to the lack of a high school close by. It was a huge burden for the children, their parents and the community. Currently, all the students who dropped out have returned to school and we are grateful to World Vision for solving our long-standing challenge.”
By Aklilu Kassaye, Field Communication Manager, World Vision Ethiopia