30 km northeast of the historic city of Lalibela is a small town known as Genete Mariam. No less historical, it is home to the famous Genete Mariam church, with wall writings indicating that King of Kings (Atse) Yikunnoamlak built it. The historical importance of this is in its potential to yield answers to various questions about the end of the so-called Zagwe and the emergence of the Solomonic dynasty.
In this town is a small primary school which was built in 1965 Ethiopian Calendar (= 1972/1973 G.C.). Students who finished their primary education had to travel, often on foot, to Lalibela or Kul-Mesk to continue their high school education. Repeated pleas by the community to help build a high school within Genete Mariam fell on deaf ears forcing the community to build a whole high school independently. In 2019, a building with four classrooms was constructed. In 2020 the regional education office provided the town with 1 million ETB to help construct a second building. There are now two buildings and eight classrooms recognized by the education bureau. This high school is now teaching 500 students.
As part of a work trip to Lasta Lalibela, a friend and I were able to visit this school in May 2022. We left saddened at the state of its faculties. It was hopeful seeing that the school has 22 dedicated teachers who strive against several problems to help get their students to pass high school. There are now 228 male and 272 female students who attend grades nine to eleven. But the school needs a lot of assistance. It lacks adequate libraries, has a shortage of classrooms; there is no laboratory, no computers, there are no fences delineating the high school from nearby farmlands, there is a lack of accessible water, and its toilets are in deplorable conditions.
We have launched a fundraiser in attempts to address at least one of these concerns. As you can see in the first image attached, the library only has one shelf full of books. These were bought by teachers from Bahir Dar and are mostly self-guide books that are thought to help students pass (12th grade) matric examinations.
We want to equip the library with additional educational books for 12 different subjects, i.e Biology, Physics, Chemistry, History, Civil Studies, Amharic, English, Geography, ICT, Economics, Literature, and Art & Design. We will also be accepting book donations that aren’t subject specific (i.e. literature and the like) at the Urban Center in Meskel Square. All other inquiries could be directed to the organizers that you can reach at https://www.gofundme.com/f/genete-mariam?utm_campaign=p_cf+share-flow-1&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer.
Let’s give these students a fighting chance of completing highschool.
Image 1: the library of the Genete Mariam Secondary School. Picture taken: May 2022.
