Check out this great article in The Union about the Adami Tulu Project to build a school for orphans and vulnerable children in Ethiopia.

A Sustainable Vision for Africa: Educational leader lends a hand in Ethiopia

By Kyle Magin

Call it the “teach a man to fish” philosophy.

Aaron Klein, president of Sierra College’s Board of Trustees and a representative for part of Nevada County, is taking a different tack on lending a hand to Africa.

Rather than write a check to an aid organization in Africa, Klein is working with a group of people to finance and build a school in Ethiopia, with hopes of denting African dependence on Western aid.

“We’ve seen billions in aid go to Africa over the last 25 years,” Klein said. “What that has done is create a culture of dependency. Most of the aid we send there never gets to the people. And, what does, in effect, creates a continent-wide welfare system.”

Klein first visited Ethiopia in early 2010 to adopt his daughter, Emma. In September he visited again, this time to a village called Adami Tulu, where a school for about 100 orphaned and vulnerable children operates on a campus with three school buildings.

“I was out on the lawn at recess with the Adami Tulu kids,” Klein said. “And, as a lot of adoptive parents joke about, it’s a good thing you can’t process paperwork on the spot, because they are just amazing kids.”

Adoption, though, is another unsustainable answer, Klein said.

“You can’t have one continent adopt another continent’s kids,” Klein said.

After he returned, Klein and wife Cacey began work on a fundraising initiative to raise $35,000 for another school building in Adami Tulu, which currently offers three grades, to enhance the village’s offerings and eventually give it a K-12 school system. It costs about $11.23 per child, per month to finance the school, and only about 40 percent of the kids can pay tuition there, which is $1.50 per month.

“The idea is to build a foundation for self-sufficiency,” Klein said.

The school’s focus is to offer an education that will provide the children with technical skills and conversational English with an American accent.

“The ultimate job these children would love to have, is working in a call center,” he said. “In an area with monumentally high unemployment, you’re almost guaranteed a job if you speak conversational English in an American accent.”

Backers have raised about $20,000 for the new school building, which would take the school to a seven-grade offering and double its enrollment from 100 to 200.

Klein is planning a trip back in August to finish construction at the new building. Visit www.hopetakesroot.com to find out how you can donate to the school.