AROUND CAMPUS
Ethiopia Commitment Going Strong
In late February 2022 , Aaron Fossi , our Save the Children liaison , addressed seventh and eighth graders during Chapel on the devastating humanitarian crisis in Ethiopia resulting from the violent internal conflict that has embroiled the nation – the lack of medical supplies , education , and transportation , displacement of people , and a worsening famine in the south . Sadly , we also learned that both of the recently built schools in Tigray , Ethiopia , for which Saint David ’ s boys ran construction fundraising campaigns , were closed to children . Ala ’ sa , had been badly shelled during the conflict and Kalina was utilized as a hospital and shelter for some displaced villagers .
During this period of great crisis in Ethiopia , Saint David ’ s boys stood ready to help and went to work raising funds so that the Ala ’ sa and Kalina schools could be operational when conditions improved .
Eighth graders spearheaded a number of spring fundraising projects including Walk-a-thons , ice cream sales , pay-to-play games , and the always eagerly anticipated quiz show “ Are You Smarter Than an Eighth Grader ?” ( Congratulations to Faculty Team Capulet-winners of this year ’ s show . Kudos to Mark Doocey , Debi Germann , Joe Shapiro , and Gene Romanosky ). In total they raised $ 24,176 .
What began as a mission-focused greater-good initiative in 2011 to give back on a global scale ( the local-scale initiative was Horizons at Saint David ’ s ), during our school ’ s 60th anniversary year by building a badly needed primary school in Tigray , Ethiopia , has evolved into our long-term commitment to educating children in Tigrayan communities in need of schools .
58 • Saint David ’ s Magazine