Ato Mesganu Arega, Ethiopian Consul General in Dubai,
Ato Yegeletu Abeza, Administrator of the Gurage Zone,
Distinguished Guests,
Teachers and Students of the Gahrad Medhanialem Primary School,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Endemen Aderachehu.  Wehem Ne’ewi.

I am most grateful to all of you for your very warm welcome this morning.  This is my first trip to the Gurage Zone and my fourth trip to the SNNPRS.

It is a great pleasure for me to have this opportunity to join you to inaugurate the school expansion project here in the Enemor and Ener Woreda.  This project was funded by Japan’s grant-in-aid scheme for grassroots and human security projects, amounting to USD 112,340, based upon the grant contract signed last September.  Our project partner is the Enemor and Ener Woreda Education Office, a most competent local authority.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Improving the educational environment is a great challenge in Ethiopia, and the Enemor and Ener Woreda is no exception.  In this woreda, local communities have been making great efforts to improve access to education.  Indeed, in Gehrad village, the local community built this Gahrad Medhanialem Primary School as a first cycle primary school in 2006 and has expanded its facilities.  Today, the school, including the kindergarten, enrolls 414 children.  Almost all the graduates want to continue their study in a second cycle primary school.  However, there was no such school in this village.  Some lucky students went to other schools in the neighboring villages, walking for one or two hours every day.  Others gave up further education as those schools do not have sufficient capacity to accommodate additional students.

Therefore, this project aimed at improving access to second cycle primary education in Gehrad village.  Through this project, two blocks with a total of ten classrooms have been newly constructed and fully furnished with 200 combined desks and chairs and ten teachers’ desks and chairs.  As a result, this school will serve as a full cycle primary school, and about 500 students who desire to continue their study will be able to do so now in their own village.

There is one more point worth mentioning about this project.  It is a community endeavor.  The residents actively participated in this project by offering their labor and construction materials.  It is also worth noting that the School Committee, and especially Ato Cheru Gizaw, facilitated this project with us to complete it in time in collaboration with the local community and the local authority and in line with the project guidelines.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The newly built school blocks are now handed over to the community and the Woreda.  I am confident that you will make the most use of them and enjoy great benefits.  At the same time, 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 time.  Finally, I do hope that we can work together again in the future for the economic and social benefit of underprivileged people in rural areas of Ethiopia.

Amesegenalehu.  Gowetanhya.