In cooperation with the TDVA, Rainbows4children has completed the building of the Nicolas Kindergarten, and in September 2005 this was opened to 160 children, aged 4-6 years. Now in 2011, 240 children attend the Nicolas Kindergarten, and we have built an eating room to give them more space for learning.
We have completed all 4 floors of the Nicolas primary school, and now in 2011-2012, 640 children can study in grades 1 to 8. In 2010 we completed the building of offices for the school staff. In 2011 we will build a library and music room for the primary school and start building work on the secondary school. Our goal is to complete the school building for children up to and including grade 12 during the next 2 years, so that they can complete their education entirely at the Nicolas School.
The chairs and desks for the school are produced in workshops which employ many of the
children’s parents who have disabilities, providing valuable work for them. Equipment for the school is funded by donors and is supplied mainly by local businesses in Mekele and in Addis Ababa. In 2010 we equipped the school classrooms and library with 22,000 books and the planned new library will allow them to be housed in one location.
What more is needed?
In 2011 and 2012 our focus is to complete the building work of the school. Once the main structure is complete, further investment is needed to equip specialist classrooms and to ensure the school resources are well maintained. Three volunteer teachers from Europe have already spent time teaching at the school. This has helped to improve significantly English language standards and teaching methods in general. During the course of 2011, European volunteers at the school include a teacher, a nurse and a student.
Many of the children from especially disadvantaged families having parents with disability are in need of sponsorship. This helps to give every child a chance to learn regardless of parental income. $150 sponsors a child from a poor family for a year to help pay for their education and subsistence costs, uniforms and necessary materials for school. In return sponsors receive regular updates of the students’ progress and occasional notes and drawings from them. To date 206 of the 860 children at the school are sponsored and we add 30 new children to the scheme each year.