As 2020 closes, if you haven’t yet, please consider donating to our annual Holiday Appeal. With so many challenges at home in the US this year, it has been difficult fundraising for our important long-term work in faraway Ethiopia. But we have big plans for 2021 and need your support for our work in order to improve reading and education for tens of millions of young Ethiopian children.

It has been a hard year everywhere, with the global pandemic and economic downturn. In education, schools have also been closed for most of the year in Ethiopia where remote online learning was not possible, and student learning suffered. Political instability and protests earlier in the year and military conflict in northern Ethiopia also affected access to education regionally. However, with lower Covid-19 impacts, the schools are now open again, with distancing, along with most of our school libraries!

Despite all the challenges, thanks to our supporters, volunteers and staff, Ethiopia Reads remains financially stable. We did our best to support reading despite closures, completed/launched new program activities in 2020 (see our earlier Holiday Appeal email) and kept our eyes firmly on our mission and long-term goals. 

In fact, looking forward as we enter 2021, I believe that Ethiopia Reads is in great shape to achieve much more!

My reasons for this confidence?

• Greater Recognition for our Work in Ethiopia: Ethiopia Reads has been recognized for our work over the years, amongst our literacy peers (e.g. Library of Congress award in 2016), the Ethiopian diaspora (e.g. SEED awards) and in Ethiopia (partnerships with the Ministry of Education and HoHe Awards).  However, slow progress in children’s literacy and a shortage of books and libraries remains a huge challenge in Ethiopia. This issue needs greater recognition amongst Ethiopian decision-makers, education professionals and parents.  In the recent years Ethiopia Reads been advocating more publicly for more books and libraries for children, through events such as the National Children’s Reading Summit, the only national event which brings officials and professionals interested in children’s literacy, reading and books together, and our recent sponsorship of the HoHe Awards children’s writing prizes, the only national children’s book awards.                                           
• Leading to Additional Larger, High-Impact Opportunities: Our professional work establishing libraries and providing books and trained educators to support “reading outside the classroom” is a critical aspect of children’s literacy development in Ethiopia. Few organizations have focused on this area and it is becoming much better understood and appreciated by the major players in literacy in Ethiopia, from the Ministry of Education (which has recognized us as a key partner) to major education donors such as the World Bank, UNESCO, DFID (UK) and the Finnish government. We believe that major opportunities will emerge to potentially deliver our expertise to much larger numbers of students. Over 30,000 primary schools serve well over 20 million pre-primary and primary students in Ethiopia, and few offer much for children to read outside textbooks, so there’s plenty to work on!                                                                                                                       
• Stronger Capacity to Build and Deliver Our Programs: Over the last 2-3 years  we have diversified our income sources to be able to focus more confidently on the longer-term aspects of our mission. Thanks to the support of our growing number of Mission Investors, who have committed to support the strengthening of our organizational capacity, we will be hiring development and communications team members in 2021. We will also be building our team in Ethiopia, strengthening and expanding our board in the US and our advisory board in Ethiopia.                                                               
• Establishing Ambitious Long-Term Goals: Our mission has always been to create a culture of reading in Ethiopia, focusing on the young, making books available through school and public libraries to reach as many young readers as we can. However, to make a material impact on the reading habits of the huge population of younger students in Ethiopia, we need use our experience and credentials to partner with national and regional educational organizations more creatively, advocate effectively through Ethiopian media, and employ digital media to reach parents and families directly. Our ambitious goals such as advocating for libraries for all primary schools, better access for kids to books in their communities and neighborhoods, national reading campaigns, improving the children’s book distribution ecosystem, and volunteer-run public libraries are all being launched or explored as long-term goals.

To do this, we need your sustained support and donations, and for you to spread the word about our important work!

At a time where Ethiopia faces many challenges, we believe that it is important to focus on investing in work with long-term value. Our goals will have a long-term positive impact on the knowledge, ideas and dreams of millions of children, who will grow into well-informed citizens, equipped to play a full and positive part in their country’s future.   

Please join us as a partner in our work and journey, by supporting us now at the donation link below.

Many thanks,    

Malcolm Clark
Chair, Board of Directors