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The Road to Sustainability
Once upon a time imagine1day trained a small Parent Teacher Association (PTA) from the remote community of Abada. Over the course of their three-day training the members of the PTA learned how to mobilize their community to support project, how to manage their school’s finances and how to increase the overall quality of education delivered at their community’s school.
A few months later the Abada PTA showed everyone just how much they had learned at the training when they petitioned the government and local cement factory to construct a 12 km road to connect Abada to the central town of Debub.
Bulldozers winding their way up the mountainside to make way for a road to Abada.
Before the road existed community members would walk an hour to get to the nearest paved road or would have to walk 12 km over the mountains to reach the market in Debub. As a result, the construction of the road to connect Abada to Debub is a tremendous achievement for the PTA as it provided access for more than just construction vehicles to build the school. PTA member Kebedu tells us more:
“The road project began because imagine1day wanted to build a school here and they needed a road to do it. We talked to the local government and a cement factory that takes lots of stone and gravel from this area and they agreed to let us use a bulldozer for as long as we needed. Now that it is complete we realize that the road has not only brought us a new school, it has brought us much more.”
The road to health: “Now it is easy for us to transfer a person who is sick to the health station in Debub. Before the sick person would stay in Abada and we would wait for them to either live or die. Now we can call an ambulance from Debub to come and transport the sick person to the clinic. It is especially important for women who go into labour. Now more of them are delivering at the clinic instead of in their homes.”
The road to safety: “The area where the road is now used to be covered in bushes and trees. It was dangerous to walk along the path because there were different animals hiding there. Now it is safe for both men and women to go to the market in Debub. It is also safe for students from Abada to go to High School (Grade 9-12) there.”
The road to education: “When our new school is finished we will be able to invite guests to come for education festivals, sports and arts competitions and experience sharing activities. We will be able to continue to make our school better because the road gives us easy access to many new materials, resources and opportunities.”
Click here learn more about the amazing community of Abada in Northern Ethiopia.
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