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| Ambassador's Speech>2011 >110525 | |||||
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| at the Inauguration Ceremony for the Project to Expand the Elementary School in Seka Woreda, Jimma Zone, Oromia on 25 May, 2011 |
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| Your Excellency Ato Ahmed Abagissa, State Minister of Justice, Pastor Daniel, President of Justice for All and Prison Fellowship Ethiopia, Distinguished Guests, Community Representatives, Teachers and Students of the School, Ladies and Gentlemen, Good morning. Akkam Bultan. I am most grateful to all of you for your very warm welcome this morning. This is my second trip to the Jimma Zone, one of the most important coffee producing areas and the center of the southwestern part of Ethiopia. Indeed, Japan has close ties with your area as one of the major coffee consuming countries, as well as through JICA’s technical cooperation for forest management in Belete and Gera forests. JICA has extended assistance for local communities to organize forest management cooperatives called “WaBuBs,” which formulate and implement forest management plans. Natural, organic coffee produced in these forests is sold by WaBuBs through forest coffee producers’ cooperatives to the Oromia Forest and Wildlife Enterprise, which in turn has exported about 35 tons of such natural coffee to Japan at a very good price since last autumn, twice the average price of Jimma coffee. Now, your natural, organic coffee is sold in the Japanese market under the brand of “Mocca Wild Belete-Gera.” This is the tie binding Japan and Jimma. I just wanted to remind you how close we are through coffee even though we are geographically far. Today, therefore, it is a great pleasure for me to attend this inauguration ceremony for the school expansion project in the Seka Woreda, Jimma Zone, Oromia. The project was funded by Japan’s grant-in-aid scheme for grassroots and human security projects, amounting to about USD 97,000. Our project partner was the Justice for All and Prison Fellowship Ethiopia, a well known Ethiopian NGO, very active for human rights protection. Excellency, Ladies and Gentlemen, Improving the educational environment is a great challenge in Ethiopia, and the Seka Woreda is no exception. This elementary school was established in 1960 and is today the only school that exists in the Seka Kebele. It is an old school with a long tradition. Yet, several classrooms have deteriorated, and woodworm has caused health problems among students. In addition, some classes are overcrowded. In these circumstances, this project aimed to improve the educational environment by providing additional classrooms. Two blocks with three classrooms each have been constructed to provide six classrooms in all. Two additional classrooms have been attached with funding from the woreda administration. 150 combined desks and chairs, six blackboards, and six desks and chairs for teachers have been supplied as well. Through this project, a total of eight classrooms are newly available. As a result, the average number of students per class for grades 7 and 8, the most congested before, will be reduced from about 80 to about 50. The days of the overcrowded classroom will be gone. There is one more point worth mentioning about this project. It was a community endeavour, in which the residents participated by offering their labor and construction materials. I would like to pay tribute to the entire community for their active contribution to this project. Excellency, Ladies and Gentlemen, The newly built school blocks are now handed over to the community. I am confident that you will make the most use of them and enjoy great benefits. Please keep in mind that it is equally important to maintain the facilities in good condition so that the school will serve the local interests for a long period. Finally, I do hope that we can work together in the future for the economic and social development of rural areas in Ethiopia. Thank you for your attention. Galatoomaa. Fayyaa ta’a. |
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