30 Aug Education
Scholastic education, in the broad sense of the term, is the only real option for third world countries, including Ethiopia.
Emergency aid is merely a response to immediate tragedies and is not a permanent solution. Welfarism further damages populations that have already been rendered powerless by endemic poverty.
The main tool that opens the doors to independence and the dignity of being self-sufficient is education, particularly for children, who are the adults of tomorrow.
The motto of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians is “evangelise by educating“. With 150 years of experience among youth on 5 continents, they know that it is the only way people can take their futures into their own hands. This is why the Adwa mission employs their best resources in the school.
One of the main objectives has always been to train teachers and continually re-train them.
Putting children into the scholastic cycle already starting at age three with the option of attending continually until they become adults is part of the Salesian System’s vision of togetherness in education.
Instruction in this system is comprehensive, as it strives to cover all spheres of interest: intellectual, moral, play, spiritual, psychological, and physical.
“Love everything that young people love” is one of the “secrets” of the Prevention System, that is, “Don Bosco style” education. He shared the dreams and hopes of young people and, out of love for them, never feared “risking to the point of recklessness” to make them “good Christians and honest citizens”.
Three pillars from Don Bosco’s teachings stand firm in the Adwa school (from the nursery school to the high school).
Reason: students are not given orders, they are reasoned with in a familiar and joyful atmosphere.
Religion: students of Christian and non-Christian denomination are accepted, there is an open dialogue with Islam. The proposed religion is Catholicism, with mutual respect and freedom of the individual.
Loving kindness: educators make the youth feel loved and important. They offer children the chance at a childhood and adolescence with everyday responsibilities and fun.
The results are clear: the first students to graduate from the pre-university two-year program received the highest marks in all of Ethiopia! Today, there are 1,400 students but there are more than 10 times that many applicants. Kidane Mehret is accredited by the government as an “experimental school”, raising the bar for public institutions.