TESFA LAUNCH PARTY
Tuesday, August 10, 5:30-6:30 PM
Westminster Church, Meisel Room
1200 Marquette Avenue, Minneapolis MN 55403
Map and directions
This Tesfa event is an open house! Come when you want and stay as long as you like.
Find out more about Tesfa Download PDF
Tesfa means 'hope' in Amharic
Schools
  • 7 schools serving 1000 children since 2004
  • 3% of children kindergarten age are in school in Ethiopia
  • The first school was opened for $5,000
  • The latest rural primary school for 250, built and funded for $25,000
  • Public school classes average 80 students
  • Average teacher salary in Ethiopia is around $50/month
  • 14 moms at the first school start successful small businesses
  • For many moms, it takes only $100 to start a business
  • The average family at our schools lives on $10-25/month.
  • The average family in Ethiopia has six children. If the mother works, toddlers are left home alone. Often older sisters don' get to go to school because they have to watch siblings.
  • Impact: high-quality schooling for one child affects the entire family, an average of 8 people in Ethiopia. In a school of 100 children, that's 800 people impacted per year.
  • There are 80+ languages in Ethiopia.
  • All Ethiopian schools switch to English language in 7th grade or so. But there are very few primary teachers properly prepared to teach English.
    • The importance of education:
  • 46% of the population in Ethiopia is 14 years-old or younger.
  • Literacy rate is 42%
  • And enrollment rates average 60-70%.
Team
  • We have dozens of young athletes in school.
  • Many women athletes are working 80 hours per week in bars and cafes. The average waitress makes about $10/month.
  • Dozens of young athletes in vocational training
  • 10 homeless teenage women in safe housing and school
  • Teenage women flock to the capital city, Addis Ababa, escaping arranged marriages, or unable to go to school in the countryside.
  • Most athletes in Addis Ababa are training twice per day on one meal per day, consisting mostly of bread.
US / UK ties
  • 8 sister school connections in the US and UK
  • Dozens of visitors and volunteers from the US and Europe
  • Volunteers teach art and English, mentor our kindergarten teachers, study while they are there, run with our athletes, train the teens in vocational skills, train moms in vocational skills, tutor moms in healthcare issues, help build the schools, etc.
  • Sister school children in the US and Europe learn about the value of education. They learn about lifestyles of the poor in the developing world. They see through the eyes of a child in another culture.
  • We offer donors the chance to SEE where their money is spent. If they want, they can participate in school-builds.