More than a school place, it’s a lifeline

When Kiya was given a place at school, her mother “laughed all the way home.” 

For many families in the UK, starting school is taken for granted. For Kiya’s family in Ethiopia, it changed everything. 

Kiya lives with her mum, Meseret, and her younger brother in a small mud home. A few years ago, Kiya’s father became ill and despite receiving treatment, he passed away leaving a huge hole in the family.

Since then, Meseret has worked tirelessly, weaving grass baskets to sell at the market, yet earns very little, not even enough to cover the daily essentials. 

As the eldest, Kiya had to take on responsibility beyond her years, helping at home and walking long distances, jerry-can in hand, to collect water from the stream. Without support, she would grow up deprived of the opportunity to learn. Aware of Kiya’s situation, we gave her one of just 40 places available in kindergarten at Stand by Me’s Bethany School. 

“As a single mother speaking honestly, raising two children is very difficult. Even though I work day and night, I can’t provide for their needs. When I want to give them food, I have nothing to prepare for them. After I heard that Kiya was enrolled to Bethany School  I was so overjoyed and happy, I laughed all the way home.” – Meseret 

The place at school meant more than education for Kiya, it was a lifeline for Meseret and a sign that her burdens had been lifted. Through Stand by Me, Kiya now receives nutritious food, quality education and healthcare, and her family is supported when they need it most. For the first time, their future is no longer defined by poverty. 

Throughout Ethiopia we support over 1,000 children. Each year, we are only able to offer 40 kindergarten places at our Bethany School and 40 at our Abdi Academy, just 80 places in total. Yet demand far exceeds what we can provide. In some years, over 600 applications have been received. Behind every application is a family desperate for a different future. Every child is deserving of a place and every family in need of a lifeline, but we can only support the families in most need and so we work alongside the local authorities to ensure we are able to provide the most vulnerable children with a place. 

For the children who start at our school, the opportunity is life changing but the transition into education is challenging. They have grown up in homes without books or toys, often without electricity, and with little opportunity to develop basic literacy or numeracy skills. By the time they reach school age, they are already at a disadvantage. 

Early education can change that. Kindergarten is where children begin to build confidence, curiosity and the foundations for learning. It helps them settle into school and prepares them for the years ahead. 

However, we are only able to offer one year of kindergarten. While one year makes a difference, we know that children benefit most when given more time to develop these early skills. Some children will be the first in their family to learn to read and write and many have never before picked up a book. These children are starting from scratch and a single year is often not enough to fully prepare them for primary education. That is why our vision is to expand, building two dedicated kindergarten centres, one at Bethany School and one at Abdi Academy to provide space for additional classrooms and allowing us to offer two full years of early education. The first year will provide kids with the chance to gain a foundation for learning and the second year will develop on their skills and prepare them for Grade 1. This will give each child more time to grow in confidence, strengthen their learning and be fully equipped for the next stage of their education. 

At the same time, it will increase the number of children we can support in kindergarten across our two schools, from 80 children currently, to 160. This will enable more children to have the chance to start their education and the additional classrooms will allow us to keep small class sizes of 20, essential for our youngest kids to have the space to learn through play. 

Our vision is for every classroom to be alive with curiosity, joy and a love for learning and for each child to be encouraged to discover their God given gifts and dream beyond the limits of their poverty. Our hope is for every Stand by Me child to receive a transformative education that opens doors to a life of opportunity and our early years education is the first step on this incredible journey.