Last Week in Numbers

56 children received a hot meal at The Kindu Klub

40 children received a hot meal at the Playgroup

17 children used the Kindu library

13 children attended football practice

Our sponsorship team visited 5 families

Resilient Children Inspire at Kindu Playgroup 

Our UK volunteer is spending two weeks in Ethiopia to get a sense of our work in-country. She tells us about one of her first experiences with The Kindu Trust:

“Every morning a handful of children, some with their mothers, some alone, come to the Kindu Trust Playgroup. It is entertaining to see how the children play with each other, read books and exercise their memories learning numbers or the alphabet. After they play for a while they all wash their hands, sit down and wait patiently for their meals. The Kindu Trust serves them rice or pasta with vegetables and every child gets one egg. The egg is always the special treat to which the children are looking forward. As I am visiting The Kindu Trust for 2 weeks it was one of the first things I did the morning after I arrived to sit down and play with the children. It is amazing how these young toddlers count to ten or know some words like apple, elephant and so on in English. When the kids leave after two hours there is quiet for a moment until the afternoon toddlers and babies arrive. In front of the playground two of the bead making artists settle down on a table outside and enjoy the sun while making necklaces and bracelets.

To my astonishment there was a little girl, only 6 years old, who came all the way from home by herself. Her mother is pregnant and therefore cannot walk her to The Kindu Trust but her will to take part was so strong that this brave little girl decided to walk alone. It was amazing and interesting to understand that children are sooner independent and find their own way through the streets. Again, in the afternoon the children washed their hands after playing, sat down patiently and waited for their food and special egg treat.
To sit with the mothers for the afternoon was very exiting even though I was not able to talk with them as I don’t speak Ahamric, the children bound us together. When the two hours in the afternoon were over, a little boy proved the independence of Ethiopian children to me again. He was not older than five years but came to the Playgroup with his grandmother who was nearly blind – the little boy led her by the hand all the way back to their home. It was very impressive to see how much these two hours of playing and food mean to the children and it proved again how important the work of The Kindu Trust is.”

The Playgroup is part of our extra recreational and education initiatives for our sponsored children which also includes the Kindu Klub for children from 6 years old upwards. The Playgroup has a dedicated Youth Worker who takes care of the children and teaches good nutritional and sanitation practice to their parents. Each child’s visit includes a hot meal, there are weekly baths with soap and clean towels and the transport costs for parents to bring their children to the Playgroup are covered by The Kindu Trust. You can read more about the project here and donate today to support the Playgroup here.

The Kindu Klub visit the Blue Nile Falls

This August we went on another wonderful Kindu Klub trip to visit the Blue Nile Falls, known as Tis Isat in Amharic. This trip is part of the The Kindu Trust’s mission to show impoverished children in Ethiopia the many amazing sites of their country they would not otherwise have the opportunity to visit and was funded through the generous donations of our supporters.

The trip took 150 children, along with volunteers and staff to visit the site in two hired buses. The day included food, chanting on the buses, ‘perilous’ suspension bridges and plenty of people people posing for photos by the falls. You can read a full account of how the day went and see some of the photos on our blog Kindu Klub trip to Tis Isat Falls. Thanks goes to everyone who made this trip possible!

Children cross the suspension bridge on their way to Tis Isat falls

Three months ago we emailed you to ask if you would help support a trip for the Kindu Klub children to see outside of Gondar and visit the impressive Blue Nile Falls.

And you did!

Your generous donations more than met our target and we are happy to report that the trip has now happened and made over 150 people very happy!

On Sunday 9th of August 138 children from the Kindu Klub, 2 volunteers and 6 staff members boarded two buses at 7:30 in the morning to go to the Blue Nile Falls, known as Tis Isat in Ethiopia. The falls are one of Ethiopia’s most famous tourist destinations but most of our children have never been outside of Gondar so spirits were high and everyone was very excited to travel to Tis Abay, where the waterfall is found.

The day began on the bus with the children fed a breakfast of bananas, biscuits and bread. The Kindu Trust football team entertained the children with dance and music, distracting any children from car sickness and making the five hour drive fly by.

The trip was planned for rainy season, to see the waterfall at it’s most impressive, and we were lucky that it fell on a clear, sunny day. Joseph, our UK volunteer, even got his first sunburn! The children had another snack to boost their energy before the exciting walk to the waterfall began. We were accompanied by a guide who taught the children about the history of the area, the buildings and the two bridges which lead to the waterfall.

Speaking of bridges…

The walk over the suspension bridge was especially thrilling for the children. A wobbly walk was enjoyed by some children but many were sacred by the drop. Older children, staff and our volunteers were deployed down the line to ensure all children made the crossing safely and with peace of mind! But as soon as everyone was across we all got to see how breathtaking the waterfall was. As planned, thanks to rainy season there was plenty of water flooding down.

Once all the children had time to admire the falls, pose for photos and generally scramble about in the new scenery we made our way to Bahir Dar for lunch before the return journey home. As a lot of the children had not left Gondar before lunch was a good opportunity to talk about all the different impressions and excitements while enjoying the luxury of a hot meal in a restaurant.

Back on the bus all the children were really happy, singing traditional songs, laughing and talking. Back in Gondar the children were picked up by their parents who will no doubt hear the stories of the Falls for a long time to come!

Thanks to your generosity there is £150 remaining from the trip budget which will be used to take the children from the Playgroup, still too young for big trips, to visit one of Gondar’s most popular tourist sites! The children, aged 0 to 6, will be visiting Fasil Ghebbi, a royal enclosure. Fasil Ghebbi is an enclosure that contains the remains of a fortress-city within Gondar, founded in the 17th and 18th centuries by Emperor Fasilides and home to Ethiopia’s emperors.

Our local volunteer, Zenebe, and volunteer from the UK, Joe, help one of the children cross the rope bridge.

Some of the Kindu Klub children pose next to the Blue Nile Falls.

The children walk back to the buses at the end of the day through woodland.

The children settle down to a varied lunch after their exciting trip.

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who made this wonderful and unforgettable trip to the
Blue Nile Falls possible for our children!