November 4, 2016
Dear Friends and Supporters,
In our July 2016 newsletter, we featured a profile of Nebil Kumedin, to inform readers about his education and activities at Fregenet School. Nebil, 11, is currently a grade 5 student whose grandmother believed in him when no one else would. She has encouraged the determination and hard work Nebil shows in school, earning him the admiration of teachers and students alike.
Nebil was born and raised in Cherkose, Kirkos sub-city, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, many of whose residents are economically destitute. He hails from a poor family, for whom hardships and problems come in bundles. Nebil’s parents divorced before he can remember. In his neighborhood, theft, drug addiction, unemployment, and dropping out of school are commonplace. When no one else would give little Nebil a chance, his grandmother stepped up and took him in. Now that he is 11, Nebil and his grandmother keep an eye out for each other
Nebil understands the difficulties his guardian faces. Grandma has no income, and children in this situation are not expected to attend school. But that was not an option for Nebil’s grandmother. When she heard about Fregenet Kidan Lehitsanat, she set about registering her grandson. His teachers tell us that from kindergarten, Nebil showed promise despite his immense struggles at home where even survival is an accomplishment. He is a role model in his behavior and his concern for his fellow students. But that’s not all. “I don’t want to be a regular child who comes to school to just count the grades,” Nebil says. “I want to be the smartest boy of all and I want to make my grandmother proud. I want to be an engineer in the future who serves his country.”
Fregenet School strives to offer hope of a better future for children like Nebil. The school provides educational, health, and nutrition services to a total of 368 students, out of which 158 of them (87 girls and 71 boys) are in FKl campus and the rest are in nearby public schools.
To further our efforts to support children in need, we partnered with Global Giving in May 2016. Over the past six months, we have moved from an emerging organization to a partner, then to a leader, and after that to the highest award of being a super star charity. We are now working hard to match our GG Award level to significant fund raising, since we have not even reached one-tenth of our total project cost coverage in this endeavor. So far, we have raised $5,910.
In the coming days and months, we are hopeful that our award status will be featured in a GG newsletter that will reach more than 120,000 donors. The award status may also allow us to be referred for a grant from a corporate partner, which will help us to reach our goal and execute our project as planned.
We still need your support and call upon all our dear supporters to stand by us, garner support from your contacts on our behalf, and make our projects yours to be realized.
Thank you very much
The Fregenet Foundation