Workneh Dechasa Education Foundation
A school for Oromia
Nicky Lopez, WDEF’s fundraiser collaborated with this super event which not onlyy brought in a share of ticket sales, but also made many more people aware of our charity and its work.
Aster Belay organised another amazing Christmas Party for our supporters to meet, enjoy Giftii’s amazing cooking, play party games and sing carols.
Things are now happening quickly in Guder, Oromia. Block A construction is complete and is now being decorated.
The generous grant of £8172 from Hazel’s Footprints Trust for the pupils’ rest and refreshment room has been transferred to WADA and work has begun digging the foundations.
WADA managed to complete Block A within budget and the trustees were confident to transfer the requested funds for the toilet block and the foundations of Block B. WADA is currently negotiating with local utility providers to arrange water and power supplies.
We have applied to Artelia Foundation, a charity associated with the engineering firm Artelia, which offers consultancy and funding support to engineering projects in developing countries. We hope they will support sustainable solutions such as solar panels, batteries and water pumps. We were introduced to Artelia by the father of one of our fundraising swimmers.
Understandably, our bank balance is now looking quite depleted, but Giftii, Rosa and Nicky have fundraising events planned for December. In the New year we have signed up for places in the London Landmarks Half Marathon, the Royal Parks Half and Vitality 10K.
We hope the building will be completed by the summer. So far the build has gone very smoothly due to WADA’s choice of skilled contractors and their effective project management. The final stage, dealing with outside agencies may be more problematic but we will back them to finish the job.
Three swimmers accepted the Serpentine challenge on 20th September, followed, the next weekend, by five runners taking on the Vitality 10K. Between them they raise almost £5000 for the school in Oromia.
Thanks to them and to all who sponsored them, as well as the team from WDEF who cheered them on and flew the flag from the sidelines.
