When schools reopened across East Wollega in September, more than eight hundred children arrived with new exercise books already in their bags.
In previous years, families delayed buying supplies until crops could be harvested and sold. For weeks at the beginning of the term, teachers taught classrooms where three or four children shared a single notebook.
By purchasing in bulk and staging distributions two weeks before the first day of class, the foundation ensured every enrolled student started the term on equal footing.
“When a child has their own book and pen, they sit differently in the classroom. They participate.”
Attendance across the partner schools was 18% higher in the first month compared to the previous year.
The foundation is expanding the distribution network to three additional woredas for the upcoming academic year.