Featured Charity of the Month
“The Hope of a Community is the mind of a child”
The history of the Tesfa Foundation
Leeza, (Fregenet Woubshet), a 29-year-old American citizen of Ethiopian origin, died in an car accident in the summer of 2003. She had just completed her education in accounting, and was about to embark on the work she saw for herself ahead: the support of her family in Ethiopia and, in the longer term, the assistance of the children of Ethiopia. She envisioned a day when she would open a school for needy children there.
Friends and family were determined that her dream would not die with her. The Tesfa Foundation was established to carry out her work. In October, 2004, the first Tesfa school opened in Addis Ababa. It was named 'Tsegereda' , which was her childhood nickname: Rose.
Tesfa Foundation-UK
A few years later The Tesfa Foundation-UK was set up to continue the work for of the US charity and now helps to provide early childhood education to the poorest children in Ethiopia.
There is no public pre-school provision in Ethiopia. With Tesfa's help, the children learn basic maths, English and science. Since 2004, six schools have been founded by Tesfa in and around Addis Ababa, serving more than 700 needy children between the ages of 5-7.
Tesfa-UK also twins British schools with Tesfa education centres in Ethiopia through its learning partner programme.
Supporting the work of Tesfa
You can help by -
- Sponsoring a child through one of their Early Childhood Education Centres for £10 a month.
- Coming along to the Tesfa music festival - The London Four (L4) between 18 - 21 June in venues in North, South, East and West London – a mere £5 secures entry and all proceeds will go to the Foundation.
- Supporting Tesfa in the Run to Beat event on 27 September 2009.
Tesfa in the News
My African Adventure
“Instead of receiving wedding presents, Nathalie Allexant-Rowland asked for donations to build a school in Ethiopia. She tells Victoria Furness about her experience…”
More details about the Foundation from www.tesfa-uk.org
See past charity of the month entries here.