Ethiopia

The project was originally established in 1997 by the ex Mill Hill Chaplain Paul Hunt with the Catholic Church in Ethiopia and developed by Judith Herbertson.

In recent years, the project has been organised and run by Lesley Sharples, the Head of Business Education at Mill Hill School. The focus was and is to develop English language skills primarily for adults through language courses organised, resourced and taught by Mill Hill staff and U6 students to facilitate the dissemination of these skills to other adults and children living in the surrounding communities.

The project has over its time, raised finance for capital projects in the project bases of Sodo and Sadama which are situated to the south west of the capital Addis Ababa, building a Mill to grind corn and maze; it has helped finance the building of a tarmac road in Sadama, resourced the local school providing books and equipment and introducing new cohorts into education. Funding continues to provide essential finance to facilitate pastoral work in the local communities.

The longer term aim of this project is to raise sufficient financial capital to build and resource a new medical centre in Sadama, as at present, locals have to walk a great distance if in need of medical assistance, to the nearest town of Hosaina.

The Ethiopia project has now been running for 10 years and in that time, many Millhillians and staff have participated, be it in actually going to Ethiopia or through fundraising here in GB to ensure the continued success of the many projects and activities undertaken with our friends in Ethiopia.