RPCV Continues Work in Ethiopia

Last February Bob Gausman (Ethiopia 70-72) returned to his country of service to build an elementary school in a rural village 250 miles southwest of Addis Ababa.  Working with the Glimmer of Hope Foundation  and the local development association he was able to achieve his goal.  The school opened in October of 2008 with over 2100 students enrolled, far more than the 1000 he had anticipated.  More information about the school can be found at http://www.bekha.org.

One of the problems the school is now facing is a shortage of books.  Gausman reports that he first became aware of the lack of access to books in Ethiopia during his service there in the early seventies.  Unfortunately, things have not changed much. Most children, Gausman says, “will go through the majority of their entire school career without owning a single book.”  He, along with a foundation called Central Highlands, is currently trying to remedy the situation by gathering surplus library materials from the U.S. and shipping them to schools in Ethiopia.  He hopes to get as much as 20,000 pounds of books to ship by sea to Djibouti, then by truck to Ethiopia.

Enjoy the pictures of Bob’s school below!