Our thanks go to Klaus Blessing and Marcus Scherer who recently worked with Link Ethiopia to construct robust sports equipment for schools in the Gondar region of Ethiopia.
Our work with Klaus began in 2009 when he visited Ethiopia and saw the lack of sporting equipment for himself. We agreed to work together to try and improve this situation so that sporting opportunities for local young people can be maximised.
We worked with Klaus and Marcus to organise a two-week pilot project in Gondar which was a great success.
Klaus supported the workers in two local workshops who constructed two football / handball goals, two basketball devices, and volleyball posts for the Azezo Secondary School in Azezo, near Gondar. As well as netball posts for Fasiledes Secondary School in Gondar.
Marcus worked with the school communities to measure and prepare the playing fields within the school grounds, and to ensure the new devices were installed securely, with the help of the sports teachers and pupils. Making sure the playing fields met international standards was something that the school communities were very keen to ensure.
At the Fasiledes Secondary School a half-day ‘olympic games’ event for pupils was also organised.
Marcus later said that “the interest and cooperation of the school administration, sports teachers and especially pupils was impressive and exemplary”.
Here are a couple of photos from the project. The basketball back-boards were built using local materials, and the basketball ring was sourced from Europe:
Robust football goal posts were constructed in a Gondar workshop using water pipes:
