THIRD ANNUAL ENGLISH LANGUAGE BOOT CAMP

ANSO’s third annual English Language Boot Camp (ELBC) is taking shape.  This year there will be four teachers traveling to Ethiopia to conduct the ELBC (total immersion English instruction) to 70 high school students from the Karayu tribe between July 8^th and 28^th.  The teachers are Rebeca Elliot, Lara Swanberg and Sharon Biggs all from the Grande Prairie area and Jennifer Morrison from Red Deer.  As usual, the teachers will be paying their own airfare and volunteering their time while ANSO will be covering the expenses associated with the ELBC and the cost of room and board for all participants.

In support of this year’s camp, the ELCB alumni (the teachers that have previously taken part in an ELBC) organized the ANSO Balderdash Auction & Barnyard Buffet which was held at BJ’s Q Club & Sports Lounge on June 1^st.  The event attracted about 100 participants, featured a buffet dinner, a variety of fun auctions, a goat raffle, a piñata and a lot of good fellowship.  It raised almost $6,000 to help off-set the costs of this year’s ELCB, so it was a definite financial success.  There is a good chance something similar may happen again next year.

The teachers traveling to Ethiopia this year were very involved with the buffet & auction, have been actively preparing lesson plans and are collecting the various teaching aids they will be taking with them.  From Ethiopia we hear that student selection is taking place, support staff has been selected and the planning process is well underway.  This has all the markings of another very successful ELCB.

If this sounds like something you would like to do, consider volunteering for ANSO’s fourth annual ELBC in 2013!

FW: Unique Way of Raising Funds for ANSO

 

In late 2005, when ANSO was just starting up, we somehow got connected with Ian Sewall who at the time was with the Peace Academy of Virtual Education (PAVE).  Ian liked what ANSO was doing, so he organized a fundraiser on ANSO’s behalf.

Ian has a lot of four legged friends, so it was not surprising that his fundraiser was a Sleigh Ride involving everyone associated with PAVE – staff, students and parents.  Participants were asked to bring a gift – it could be something either filling (food) or fun – and during the evening these gifts were auctioned off with the proceeds going to ANSO.  The participants enjoyed it so much that this has become an annual occurrence with PAVE ever since.  Ian is no longer with PAVE, but Joan Coy has stepped in and is continuing the tradition on his behalf.

This is truly a win-win-win situation.  The people that take part have a great evening, ANSO gets a sizable donation and the people of Ethiopia are the final benefactors.  Thank you Ian (and Joan) for establishing and now continuing this great tradition.

ANSO's Third Annual English Language Boot Camp

Are you a teacher or an individual looking for an enriching volunteer experience teaching English in Ethiopia for three weeks this summer?

On March 8^th, ANSO attended the Mighty Peace Teachers Convention in Grande Prairie to talk about volunteer teaching opportunities this summer in a remote Ethiopian community.  Three teachers who have been to Ethiopia on ANSO’s behalf shared their experiences. The turnout was amazing! The seats were filled and people were even sitting on the floor!

Is this experience for you? Read below……

About ANSO’s English Language Boot Camp 2012

·         ANSO’s third annual English Language Boot Camp.

·         The location is a rural school that was established by the Gudina Tumsa Foundation in 1992 at Fantalle, which is about four hours drive east of Addis Ababa just off the main highway to Djibouti.

·         The students attending the English Language Boot Camp are of high school age and are members of the Karayu tribe.

·         The person(s) undertaking this adventure pay their own return airfare to Addis Ababa (between $3,000 and $3,500).  Once in Ethiopia, transportation to and from Fantalle and room (complete with a shower that may work) and board at the school will be provided by the Gudina Tumsa Foundation.

·         There would be the opportunity for tourist type exploration of Ethiopia at either end of the teaching commitment at your own cost.

·         ANSO has been supporting students at this school for the last six years.

If you would like more information, go to our “contact us” page and get in touch with us. We’d love to hear from you!

               

BLOG SITE UP AND RUNNING AGAIN!

 Unfortunately the ANSO blog has been out of commission for some time.  Now that we have it back up and running again, we plan to bring you up to date news on ANSO initiatives and activities on a timely bases. 

Some 2010 Statistics

Between September 30, 2009 and September 30, 2010, ANSO has:

-          Distributed another 1000 goats (total now over 2500)

-          Awarded 13 donkeys with carts

-          Awarded numerous other animals

-          Supported 61 high school and 5 university level students (total now 214 student years of support)

-          Reorganized and added to the micro-businesses – there are now 125 women running their own businesses

-          Provided 1250 days of training to the women starting their own businesses

-          Provided 420 days of basic “mother & child” health training to 20 Traditional Birth Attendants

-          Started looking into a major water project.

And there is still a lot more to be done!

FW: English Language Boot Camp a Resounding Success

 

On both of our last two visits to Ethiopia, we were told how desperately rural students in southern Ethiopia needed additional help learning English.  Under the Ethiopian Education system, students start grade one studying in their local language (one of the 14 official languages in Ethiopia) and immediately start learning English as a second language.  By the time they get to grade eight, the curriculum says they should be switching to English as the primary language of education with their local language being the secondary language.  Actually the local language becomes the third language because they are also required to learn Amharic.  At the end of grade 10, all students wishing to go on must pass exams written entirely in English.  At the end of Grade 12 they must write their university entrance exams in English and one compulsory exam in Amharic.  Rural students are at a disadvantage because the good teachers stay in the cities – many of the rural teachers have never really had an opportunity to speak English – what they have is entirely “book learning”.

This year ANSO teamed up with the Gudina Tumsa Foundation (see link) of Ethiopia to provide a three week English Language Boot Camp experience to 60 rural Ethiopian high school students.  ANSO recruited the teachers in our local community, paid the meal costs for students and staff and helped organize the whole expedition.  Gudina Tumsa Foundation provided the facilities at their boarding school near Fantelle, selected the students, provided support staff and hosted the teachers while in Ethiopia.  The teachers paid their own air fare, volunteered their time (three weeks of teaching, one week of travel and no one knows how much prep time), prepared the lessons and took along incredible amounts of teaching aids and other goodies.

The English Boot Camp turned out to be a fabulous success for all involved.  The three weeks were spent formally interacting from 8:00 AM to 12:00 noon and from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM, but in reality students and teachers played, laughed and learned together much more than that.  Whether it was playing soccer, Fantelle Golf or just going for walks, students were eager for the teachers company, and the teachers enjoyed the students.  We are told the students English improved significantly, but what really benefited was their confidence in using the language.

ANSO and the Gudina Tumsa Foundation plan to organize another similar English Language Boot Camp during the summer of 2011.  If you are interested in being part of this experience, please give me a call at 780 512 7022. 

 

April, 2010 Trip to Ethiopia

April, 2010 Trip to Ethiopia.

 

Between April 4^th to April 29^th eight of us spent 20 exhausting but very rewarding days visiting various ANSO and Rotary projects throughout southern and eastern Ethiopia. There is absolutely no doubt, we are making an impact! We talked to students who were going to school because of ANSO Student Support, women how had thriving business because of ANSO Micro-Financing and families that were enjoying the benefits of their own goat herds because of ANSO Animal Restocking.  Because of some political unrest  in the Haro Dibe area in December of 2009, ANSO’s activities in that area had to be curtailed for a while, but everything is now back on course.  While a few of the new businesses are struggling, there have also been some outstanding successes that were very good to see.

 

On a personal note, it is the first time we had been to Ethiopia during the rainy season.  All my mental images of that country were is shades of brown and grey and this time everything was a vibrant green.  What a difference some water can make!  It helps to understand the nature of a country to see it in all the different seasons.

 

As is always the case with these trips we experienced and learned a lot.  We were treated like Royalty everywhere we went. Over and over, we  asked to “ Please thank those people in Canada who are making this possible” – that would be the people who buy our cards!  Things are improving, but there is oh so much more that could be done. We came home tired, but totally recharged and ready to carry on for another year.

 

We are counting on your continuing support.

 

Chris Andersen, ANSO