Happy New Year and Melkam Genna!
For all of our supporters following the Gregorian calendar, we wish you a happy new year, and for all those following the Ethiopian calendar we wish you a wonderful Genna!
As we begin a new year, and as the many of communities we serve celebrate their Christmas (Genna – 7th January), we wanted to take a moment to thank everyone for their support.
2024 was an eventful year for Together We Learn. Conflict in the Amhara region continued, negatively affecting the security, peace of mind and daily lives of many. Communities and our staff have shown extraordinary resilience in the circumstances and our sponsorship, literacy, teacher training and girls’ education programmes adapted and continued to have a positive impact. We hope that there will be an improvement to the situation and peace in this year.
2024 also saw a lot of positive progressions for the organisation. Our phonics teacher training project went from strength to strength, with increased support from two regional bureaus helping us to reach over 3,000 education professionals in autumn. We are looking forward to progressing the project even further this year!
Our construction projects were finally able to resume after a long break due to issues caused, first by the pandemic, and then by regional conflicts. A beautiful new library was built at Meseret school, benefitting 1,800 students. Our organisation was then surprised and delighted to receive an award from Gondar City Administration for our construction projects, recognising the quality and cost efficiency of the builds, and the ability to deliver even in these difficult circumstances.
Following a hiatus that started with the pandemic, we have now re-established our office in Addis Ababa and our tireless Country Director, Elsa, is now based in the city, overseeing our projects in both regions. Having a base in the capital means that we are able to make the most of Ethiopian networks, accessing opportunities and support to increase the impact of our work
We are poised to reach 174,000 students in Ethiopia in 2025 through our range of programmes, so that they can strive for a brighter future through access to quality education.
We thank you for making our work possible and wish you a wonderful 2025!
From,
Together We Learn in Amhara, Oromia and London!