Empower Education in Rural Ethiopia

Dear GlobalGiving Donors,

Thank you for your continued support for children and families at Makod Primary School in Gambella, Ethiopia.

We would like to share an honest update on the project and the situation at the school.

The School Has Reopened

Makod Primary School has now reopened, and children have returned to school and resumed their education.

This is an important milestone for the students, families and teachers. However, the planned classroom rehabilitation and improvement works were not completed as originally intended.

We want to be transparent with our supporters about this.

What Happened

During the project period, community members contributed their time and labor to support the school. They helped with activities such as cleaning the school compound, repairing parts of the existing facilities and supporting classroom improvement efforts.

However, we were unable to mobilize sufficient funding to purchase the construction materials and complete the required classroom works.

As a result, the community's contribution could not be translated into the full classroom improvements originally planned.

The school is therefore open, but the learning environment still requires significant improvement.

Why This Matters

For the children of Makod Primary School, returning to school is only the beginning. They need safe, functional and suitable classrooms in which to learn.

The current situation reminds us that community participation is essential, but it must be matched with the financial resources needed for construction materials, skilled work and other essential inputs.

What We Learned

This project has given us important lessons.

We learned the importance of:

• Establishing realistic construction costs before implementation;
• Securing sufficient resources for essential materials;
• Phasing infrastructure work according to available funding;
• Maintaining strong community participation throughout implementation; and
• Reporting honestly on both progress and challenges.

We are grateful to the community members who continued to contribute despite the project's resource constraints.

What Comes Next

Although we were not able to complete the planned classroom improvements during this project period, the need has not disappeared.

We will continue to engage with the school and community to identify the most urgent classroom needs and explore opportunities to mobilize additional resources.

Our next priority is to develop a realistic, costed plan that focuses first on the most urgent improvements and can be implemented in manageable phases.

A Message to Our Donors

We sincerely appreciate everyone who supported this project.

We know that donors place their trust in organizations to use their contributions responsibly and to communicate openly about results. For this reason, we do not want to describe partial progress as a completed success.

The school is open. The children are back in class. The classrooms still need improvement. And the work is not finished.

We remain committed to the students, teachers and community of Makod and hope to build on the foundation created through this project.

Thank you for standing with rural communities and for believing in the importance of education.

With sincere appreciation,