After a trip to Ethiopia in January 2011, Fontana Foundation decided to help the schools of the Adwa District in the very north of Ethiopia to reach a predefined minimal standard and thus improve their learning environment. This standard covers 7 areas: basic school furniture, availability of water and drinking water, separated latrines for girls and boys, sufficient teaching material and even a garden with vegetables and fruit trees for practical training.

There were 52 schools in the district of Adwa with a total of 27’500 students. In a first pilot project in 2011, 3 schools were being upgraded to the standard, impacting the quality of the learning environment of 3’800 students.  

The parents of these children contributed to the project by planting 60’000 tree seedlings just before the rainy season, as part of a reforestation project. This project was launched in collaboration with the Green Ethiopia Foundation, whose main purpose is to plant trees and thus stop the threatening erosion.

In a review in 2012 together with Green Ethiopia we decided to not extend the initiative to other schools, because of mismanagement of the project which we regret. We would be willing to restart the project if the circumstances were improved.

For more information, please go to www.greenethiopia.org