December 2nd 2012: The kindergarten has opened!
The opening of the Adigrat Vision Kindergarten was celebrated with an unforgettable festivity, by the 50 new kindergarten children (aged 3-4) along with their families, many guests of honour from the of city of Adigrat and the entire community!
The brand new team prepared local dishes with a lot of personal commitment and dedication, a band played a song especially composed for Adigrat Vision and there was a lot of merry dancing.
The mayor of the city of Adigrat pledged his ongoing full support and assistance to the association in a warm and appreciative address. Even the University of Adigrat has become aware of us: the Vice President made a speech, which we considered a great honor.
At the same as the opening, the excavation for the foundation of the second building was begun. The association expects the start of operations of the second phase in summer 2013 and then 100 children can be looked after for 8 hours daily.
Our vision of building a kindergarten in Ethiopian has become a reality, thanks to your help!
Adigrats children need our support!
September 2012
Members of the association traveled to Adigrat, to check on the construction. The building is well advanced, but due to the rainy season a little behind schedule. The furniture has been commissioned with a carpenter, a women's initiative (micro finance) will sew the curtains and the first teacher and head of the kindergarten, Tiblets, has been engaged.
A visible bridge from Germany to Ethiopia is now in existence: the first six ornamental stones, which were made in Munich by children at the Helen Keller Secondary School travelled with us to Adigrat and were secured to the outer wall of the kindergarten. We are thrilled with how beautiful it looks and we are sure that the donors from Munich will be just as delighted with it as our kindergarten children in Ethiopia.
We plan to open the first phase with 50 children in early December. Four weeks ahead of this, members of the association will come to Ethiopia again to ensure that everything is ready on time.
August 2012
What began as an idea, is becoming reality! Once we were able to gather the money for the first phase from our great donors, received all required approvals from the community Adigrat and a construction company was found, we could really get going in July:
Our kindergarten is being built!
By the end of September, the four group rooms and sanitary facilities, and soon after that the kitchen, will be ready. In October, the interior and the staff recruitment will follow: So if all goes well, the kindergarten will be able to start with tis first intake of 50 children between the ages of 3 to 4 in November.
We will keep you posted!
May 2012 II
Sometimes everything just comes together: a well-known director and producer, who donated a preview of his latest work, a Benedictine abbey, that made a hall available in the centre of Munich and ideal cinema weather: sunny and dry, but too cold for the beer garden!
This is how it came to be that 150 Adigrat and cinema enthusiasts gathered on 14 May in St. Boniface Abbey and Ossi von Richthofen (most well-known film "10,000 BC") personally presented his two latest works, produced with his good friend Roland Emmerich.
Both films had Africa as a theme. "GENTLEMEN OF BRAZZAVILLE" portrays the Sapeur, men from Brazzaville in the Congo, who have made a life's work of elegance, despite living in the middle of a slum-like environment. Colours, expensive designer clothes, fascinating dandyism, in a place where noone would have expected. "35 COWS AND A KALASCHNIKOV" is also about colours. A tribe in southern Ethiopia wears only body paint (made from mud colours) instead of clothes, but the status symbol of the men is a Kalashnikov, which they proudly wear to deter cattle thieves. Fascinating images, Ossi von Richthofen has created two genuine works of art rather than ordinary films.
The audience was absolutely thrilled, which was reflected in substantial, and much appreciated donations.
A fantastic evening, thank you to everyone involved and of course, once again, especially to Ossi von Richthofen.
May 2012 I
The time had finally come! The ornamental stones that every 300 Euro-donor would receive as a souvenir to take home, were ready to be presented. And because they were created as part of a sixth class project at the Helen Keller Secondary School in Munich, the "open day" this school held on Saturday 5 May offered the perfect opportunity to present the stones and our kindergarten project to the many visitors. That attended.
Our architect, Peter Ottmann, was naturally there. He had guided the students during the casting of the coloured concrete blocks with the donor's initials. He also brought three large display boards, which could be examined by interested parents and children.
There was a lot of activity. The Adigrat team was kept very busy with explanations of the reasons and reporting the progress of the kindergarten building project, as well as with all the Ethiopian good for sale at the stall. Soft, colourful cotton scarves, real incense and, as always, the very popular Ethiopian honey found many satisfied customers.
One hundred percent of the money raised, as well as the spontaneous donations went, of course, to the benefit of the kindergarten.
Many thanks to all contributors and donors. It was a great morning, that was certainly worth it for everyone!
February 2012
In early February, the association committee members, Countess Zegga Wrangel, Karin Staisch and Annette Weltz traveled to Ethiopia to coordinate the construction tender with the city of Adigrat and to find a local representative for our association.
We could found a competent, knowledgeable local partner, From now on, the trained social education expert will help us to overcome bureaucratic hurdles and supervise the construction of the kindergarten.
In order to get the construction tender on its feet, we needed an Ethiopian architect to align our plans to local standards. Sought, found: Melles Ghirmay from the capital Addis Ababa completed this quickly and cost effectively – many thanks for this!
Now we have the reasonable hope of being able finish most of the construction before the start of the summer rainy season.
In addition, the journey has brought the following important conclusion: you can not donate enough! Even once our nursery school is standing, many things will still be needed: a car to transport the food to the kindergarten children from the city center to the outskirts where we are situated. A small attached infirmary, where a nurse could not only provide care to the kindergarten children, but also to their families. In addition, we still have the "Elementary School" project on the adjacent property in mind.
This means we still need our loyal donors, new donors, and many more members of the association!
January 2012
The year 2012 began with something special for our kindergarten project. On 15 January, Dr. Ulrike Berg, founding member of the association, made her home available and prepared an unforgettable evening for friends and supporters
Two first-class chamber musicians, the pianist Ilyashov Masha and her husband, Daniel Nodel, violin soloist with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, took the audience on a musical journey around the world. From Schumann, Brahms and Dvorak to Tango, Habanera and Debussy, Gershwin and Rachmaninoff the performance covered three continents.
The applause was matched only by the generosity of the delighted audience.
We would like to thank the musicians and all those who spent this lovely evening with us.