May 13th 2022 will mark the 3rd anniversary of Workneh Dechasa’s death and also the 2nd anniversary of when his family and friends began our efforts to establish a school in his memory in his birthplace.

The previous two anniversaries were held on Zoom but this year we wanted to meet face-to-face and organise a number of fund-raising activities for our supporters to participate in.

Unfortunately, it has taken us more than a year to open a bank account and although we finally overcame that hurdle on April 22nd, we still have one or two hoops to jump through to set up Donations pages on the website and register for Gift Aid.

We have therefore decided that we need more time to plan an outdoor face-to-face event in a London park to joyfully remember Workneh and kick off a year of serious fund-raising. At this moment we just ask you to Save the Date 9th July 2022.

We obviously encourage you to take a few moments to remember what a kind, gentle, smart, funny, committed person Workneh was and touch bases with others who knew and loved him on May 13th, but we also hope you will join us in July and support our fundraising activities to remember Workneh in an appropriate and meaningful way.

Workneh Dechasa passed away on 13th May 2019.

Today, Saturday 15th May 2021, we are holding an event to remember Workneh and celebrate his contribution. We also want to share with his vision of an elementary school to be built in his birthplace Malkaa-Dhagaa Gudar and tell you about our plans to realise that ambition, in his memory.

• 0:00 – 0:05 Welcome and introduction by St Peter’s vicar (Tina)
• 0:05 – 0:20 Personal contributions in memory of Workneh (2 minutes each)
  • Aster Belay
  • Michael Hawkins
  • Rundasaa Ashetee
  • Minomi Taylor
  • Dhaabaa Hailemariam
  • Peter Okoye
• 0:20 – 0:30 A moment of personal reflection and music (Aster)
• 0:30 – 0:35 Introducing WDEF (Muluneh)
• 0:35 – 0:40 What we have achieved this year (Siobhan)
• 0:40 – 0:55 The development of WADA in Oromia (Girma)
• 0:55 – 0:60 Video from Malkaa-Dhagaa Gudar
• 0:60 – 1:10 How you can help (Brian)
• 1:10 – 1:15 Feedback from everyone and closing remarks (Muluneh)