Fund Raising

Our online fund raising team of Las Vegas is working hard to make a target of 5,000 Dollars and partnered with Fast racks an online fund raiser company.

We created a fund raising web site (http://www.supportourgroup.com/ZM3974) and look around see what you can do. May be some of the magazines are what you need in your life.

Thank you

Mulubrhan Dagnew

http://www.supportourgroup.com/ZM3974

Alternative and Sustainable design systems, why not in Ethiopia?

Among the most economical, political and technological powerful nations of the world is America. America has been leading the world in the past 100-200 years. Europe and Asian nations are also on the list. But the fastest and dramatic change has been recorded in most of the Asian nations in the last few decades.

Recently in the field of environmental science the issue of environmental pollution and sustainability was a corner stone of many decisions. Unsustainable and environmentally risky technologies has been cornered to shelves. Nations are enforcing their law to bring an environment friendly and sustainable technology options.

The success stories of Scandinavian nations and Germany in Europe are among the few which are acclaimed for going extra miles from what has been expected to develop and adopt alternative technologies. Many Asian nations are also on the race. On the other side third world nations while trying to reach the levels of developed nations through the old way, they seem that they are going to be burdened sooner or later with questions of sustainability and environment friendly technology alternatives.

Among the trying underdeveloped nations, most of them are in Africa and Latin America, Ethiopia is one. African nations burden is two fold ...policy issue and second is financial and technological capability bottle necks. But also the major factor is education and knowledge of society which is always at its lower level and the changing world is burdening them with new challenges.

In this blog, I need to raise questions for discussion?

1. What kind of development strategies should the developing nations follow?

2. If they have to follow the latest sustainable and green technology alternatives in all aspects of the economy, who will be responsible in filling the technological and educational gaps?

3. If they have to follow old fashion way, truly they will gain economically from the running away old companies but would the risk be embraceable? whose fault should be in future environmental problems?

4. To avoid any possible problems in future and minimize technological, economical and other gaps coming with new alternatives, how far should the developed nations assist the underdeveloped...what should be the stake of underdeveloped nations? are some of the questions which come to my mind now and then.

And particularly while trying to rebuild our old through our Alumni , should we have to spend our time and energy to raise funds for building masonry school  buildings or we have to find a way to bring a holistic and sustainable school development alternatives.

I am raising the questions not with any single interest to discourage the endeavours which has been put by the dedicated Alumni members but just trying to think what if we could do it differently.

When calculating the time and fund spent to build conventional buildings and compare them with simple and sustainable design methods which are developed in America and Asia, I found it that there are some concepts we have to reconsider.  We have to reconsider in a sense that to introduce the new technologies and be able to expose the students in Adwa and else where in Ethiopia to the alternative new systems and  technologies.

And probably I believe that any one interested in helping and promoting their products in Ethiopian market can use our old schools to demonstrate their technologies and expertise so us to compete in this competitive world.

Thank you

What a world!

I was searching and “googling” today to help my old school rebuild and revitalize the school and education system in my small old city. I know and understand that the mission is very narrow and simple one, why because improving education system is a broader topic which needs a strategic planning, finance and vision. But since it is the objective of the Alumni I am only focused in helping the Alumni objectives.

While “googling” I came across to Bill Gates note in his web site which explains about upcoming movie called “Waiting the Superman” the note shows discussion madeby panelist at Oprah Winfrey show with Bill Gates and some others. As learned from the note the film is about the problems in American education system. Does America have a problem in education system is still a wider topic which needs experts discussion but reading the report left me a puzzled feeling and it also remembered me an old saying in Ethiopia (Tigray)  “yezegenem azene..yalzegenem azene” the story is about happened in the old historical place in Axum, Tigray. In Axum there is a tunnel believed to cross a long distance which goes from Axum to now a country called Eritrea.

The tunnel is believed to have been built by the Kings in Axum, Tigray 2000 years ago or so. One time in history troops were passing through the tunnel and it was dark and when the horses and troops walking step  created a strange sound: some thought it is a sand, others from curiosity grab a hand full, some others fill their bags and some other filled as much as they could and loaded their horses.

After miles of travel through the tunnel end up exiting to the open air where they were able to see what they heard and grab from the tunnel and it turns out to be Gold. There was no possibility of come back to the tunnel and those who did not grab anything were sad, and those who grab and loaded still wished they could have loaded more and feeling of sadness filled the army and wise person said “yezegenem azene yalzegenem azene”  

That was how I felt reading about the new film, “Waiting for Superman,” which is expected to show education problems in United States. I was also thinking about the education situations in Adwa, not political issue but the lack of resources, poverty and lack of dedicated and experienced teachers in third world and the brain drain problem created by the powerful nations to name a few.

Who should feel sad? Of course like the tale we all feel sad about the problems but seriously Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gate and American school do you have to feel sad? Please think of third world nations who are dependent on $1 a day to go to school and at least learn something.

What a world!

Success story of Neil deGrasse Tyson and why not in Adwa

As a young man I was born and raised in a very poor country when compared to the well developed industrial nations. But I want to say we are not just poor...with nothing.

As a kid I had the tendency to look at to the skies. Not only me but every Kid does that. We ask questions. What is this and what is that? I remember that we used to call Moon that it is "nay ezgiher himbasha" i.e. Gods pancake.

All the stars had name. Amazing is that the early star which comes always first and brighter than all and the late star what we call it "kokeb tsibah"

Late when we grew up our teachers in science class thought us to paint a glass with black soot in order to minimize sun rays and look at sun in day time and know how it look like. When you look hrough the darken glass (soot on glass) the sun looks like the moon. All this are child hood memories. A lot of passion to know about nature and natural beings around us. Including question who are we? where do we come from? and the like.

I think every child in every corner of the world thinks same way regardless of wars, famine, migration and displacements. Some get the best and end up enjoying life some end their life some where. Luck, Gods deed or what I do not know but there is some thing I understand every human being is equally endowed with natural intelligence. To explore and express your knowledge and intelligence you need though, what? audience. Yes a good audience.

The most respected and known intelligent people in the world are those who were able to get a listening audience. Others do not. Furthermore they get support and help from their audience (community, government or what ever the source resource giver it may be is their audience). Others do not and die with out expressing what they think or know.

I am lucky to get enough time to write about what I remember as a child and relate it to the most famous people in the planet like Neil deGrasse Tyson. There are even some who do not have the chance to seat down and write what they think. They are occupied with daily responsibilities. Neil deGrasse Tyson is much luckier to be able to express and try to know deeply what is going on in the universe, Born in America raised in a family who understand and support and studied passionately in his garage from child hood. He brought it to the people through media. people listened and appreciated and helped him to grow more and better.

Until now I never listened over and over as many times as to Neil deGrasse Tyson's interview and Martin Luther Kings "I have a dream speech".  Neil deGrasse Tyson is hilarious, charismatic and very intelligent person.

Readers. or may be Neil deGrasse Tyson can you help us to help the disadvantage kids in Adwa and rebuild our collapsing school.

Cheers...am I mumbling or I make sense or I made my community look like beggars..I am not sure what you think about this little scratched note, drop me a line of comment and I will read them all. 

Cheers read science a lot.

Thank you

link for Neil deGrasse Tyson web site: http://www.haydenplanetarium.org/tyson/

Few Picture Collections of Current School Condition

Really time flies and things change easily. I remeber all this pictures of the school when it was fairly in good condition. I looked at my self to know if I am getting older and collapsin like my old school. I am doing good, I am not that old. My school is however not only getting old but collapsing with no point of return.

Help Science to grow and flourish in third World

Science in third world is not only at its infant stage but also it is hugely challenged by many factors which includes poor infrastructure, huge gap with progressing world in an alarming rate, brain drain, peace and instability, environmental crisis to name few of the factors.

 

Understandably, it is primarily the responsibility of the nations, their governments and the people to tune themselves to tackle their problems. There also lies a moral responsibility of the most affluent and powerful nations. There are also many global environmental activists who believe it is an issue of justice.

 

We at Queen Sheba Alumni believe that education plays a key role in solving a piled up and inter-webbed natural and man made economical and social problems of many underdeveloped nations.

 

Our old elementary school and Secondary school is suffering and it is at the stage of collapse. The school was left unattended in the recent 30 years. One of our Alumni members, now living in United States was shocked to find his name on the walls of his long time class room the way he wrote it back then...it is still there. The reasons of failing to renovate and maintain the school is not from negligence. It was due to shortage of adequate resources, money and budgets.

 

It is fact that so much is done in the region in building new schools to reach out to more families and students in the region. Resources are not enough and they are always stretched to accommodate as more as possible. As former students, we are trying to raise funds to maintain and strengthen the collapsing old school of ours but our capacity to do it by ourselves is not enough and we welcome any one to help us in maintain and strengthen our school. You can help us in cash, equipments, books, teaching materials, laboratory and workshop equipments or any thing which you think will be help full for our school.

 

As Environmental Science scholar, I might hint that renewable energy technology, how to books, technical materials, how to build and make renewable energy harvesting technologies, solar panel making tools, wind turbine manufacturing technologies, biofuel processing technologies, equipments and others might be very help full for the arid zones of our region. Used medical equipments, medical science demonstration and teaching equipments in schools, chemistry, biology and physics lab equipments can be also very helpful. Why not an old computer in your garage..look around it might be seating idle. Send it to us and it will help many.