Debub Ethiopia College in Awassa


The frerenji Higher Diploma Leaders in traditional Amhara Region dress: a gift from Debub Ethiopia College before we left to work in Gondar, Amhara Region.


Some of our very happy HDP candidates during HDP graduation


Awassa



On the road to Addis Ababa


Gondar: our new home

A busy, satisfying and thought-provoking week. My colleagues have been very patient, welcoming and helpful as I’ve fumbled about trying to get up to speed with what has happened so far and what I can contribute. My job title is “Cluster In-Service Trainer” or “Co-ordinator” depending on which paperwork I look at. Throughout Amhara and Tigray Regions primary schools have been organized into clusters which share ideas and resources under the supervision of a “supervisor” whose job it is to help the teachers in the cluster school implement better ways of teaching. The government teacher training colleges have a cluster unit which organizes of the college to provide training to the teachers in cluster schools and sets up a model classroom in the college as a showcase of teaching ideas and how to use resources. The Gondar CTE cluster unit has two full-time co-ordinators: Meleshew, a strong, driven woman who is almost in charge of the unit by sheer force of character and work ethic; and Mulugeta, a quiet man with lots of experience of designing and making teaching resources from local materials. One of the teacher educators in the college, Alemayehu, has responsibility for co-ordinating the work of the unit. Then there is me. I thought my role might be to lead and manage the unit, but after only a couple of days it has become clear to me that the unit is more than 90% of the way to being self-supporting. They certainly do not need me to “lead”. I see my role as providing support and advice from the background, and most importantly, helping to boost the confidence and status of Meleshew and Mulugeta so they run the unit entirely themselves. I’ve spent this week getting to grips with the action plan and sorting out the cluster unit’s new PC which is already infested with viruses. The PC has antivirus software but it’s two years out of date.

I’m continuing to enjoy the Gondar climate and to get to know the city. Gill and I today walked up to a hotel on a hillside that overlooks the city and were finally able to appreciate its size. We’ve met Gemma and Steve, two non-VSO volunteers here, and had drinks on Friday night with the other VSOs here: there are two Dutch physiotherapists and a Dutch IT consultant at the hospital and Lucy, who was in our intake, who is at Gondar University as an advisor.

We’ve come a long way in a week!