Yenege Tesfa and Project T.E.N join forces for an outstanding summer camp!

Camp Bruh Tesfa - Bright Hope

School vacation was far from being without learning for Yenege Tesfa children this year! We have recently partnered with a new volunteer organisation here in Gondar - Project T.E.N., and their first task was the successful implementation of a 5 week summer camp for our children.

Conjit and the seven dwarves

The camp was planned by our 6 new volunteers and run alongside some amazing university students from Gondar's own community. The camp was packed with education - English classes, art classes, sport activities and drama classes too! Once a week there was also a themed day where we had the opportunity to bring in outside professionals with in-depth knowledge on topics such as hygiene, leadership, gender and environment.

Gevre-Michael presenting his project

The 5 weeks ended with a show of the children's talent. The older children of Yenege Tesfa worked throughout the camp on a project titled 'What Gondar means to me', and spoke beautifully when presenting their work to a hall filled with people. Their presentations were followed by a drama production that the younger children had been working on during the camp with the help of an enthusiastic and hard-working drama teacher. The story of 'Conjit and the 8 dwarves' was unbelievable to watch. The staff's hard work coupled with a grand set made up of 3 large backdrops and most importantly the confidence and talent of the children themselves, pulled off a spectacular play that packed out a hall - even the Mayor of Gondar came to watch!

All in all, the camp was a fantastic experience for everybody who took part and will be well remembered for a long time to come!

Werketu goes to University

 Werketu goes to University

Werketu Yayinshet is the big sister at one of our girls' shelters. She has been with Yenege Tesfa for three years, and prior to joining Yenege Tesfa, was forced into labor, causing her to drop out of school. She tried many times to restart school and was given lots of trouble for doing so. We are now honored to say that she has just passed 12^th grade and we are excitedly waiting to hear which university she has been accepted to. We are very proud of her and look forward to hearing the news!

Yenege Tesfa's first boy now at Ethiopian Airlines

Demoz Alebe now at Ethiopian Airlines!

Yenege Tesfa is delighted to announce that our very first boy, Demoz Alebe, who came into Yenege Tesfa's boys' shelter here in Gondar, was not only accepted into Addis Ababa University to study engineering, but now, Demoz has also written and successfully passed his exams to become a ground technician for Ethiopian Airlines. We wish him lots of luck on this exciting new journey!

Demoz at Ethiopian Airlines

School results for 2004!

An awards ceremony to remember...

Getachew, Daniel and Sisay enjoying the ceremony!

As summer vacation began, the children received their school report cards with their end of year results. As Yenege Tesfa proudly promotes and encourages education for each and every one of its children, the organisation was extremely proud to see the results of the students. 26 of the 53 Yenege Tesfa children had come in either first, second or third place in their classes! In classes of roughly 40 children, it is certainly a remarkable achievement that 50% of the Yenege Tesfa children are taking the top 3 places. The children's hard work did not go unrewarded and a prize ceremony was held soon after.

Sisay receiving his award

The prize ceremony was held at the beautiful Mintwab lodge, on a mountain overlooking the city of Gondar.  The lodge owner , a good friend of Yenege Tesfa and owner of the boys' home, kindly let us use the location for the day, for our award ceremony.   Dr. Mulat Abegaz is an excellent example to the children as a man who has built himself up and still continues to give to his community. We hope that they learn from him how big their own dreams should be for the future.

At the ceremony, each student that had come in first, second or third place at school received a prize for their hard efforts. The prize ceremony served not only to congratulate the students that had done so well at school, but also to encourage their fellow brothers and sisters to aspire to the same standards and we look forward to seeing the positive effect that this has in the coming school term!