The Parish Church of St John-at-Hampstead

One of the charities supported by the Parish

The Asra Hawariat School Fund was founded in October 1974 and is registered with the UK Charity Commission. The objects of this charity are the relief of poverty and the advancement of education in Ethiopia through the work of the Asra Hawariat School. The school  was started at the end of the 1950’s by Asfaw Yimeru, then a student at the British Council run General Wingate School in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. My husband, John Hester, taught Asfaw and witnessed the exciting drama of his petitioning Emperor Haile Selassie for land on which to build a school for the poorest of the poor. The petition was granted.

Today the school covers two campuses, the Old Land for years 1 to 4, and the New Land for years 5 to 8. There is also a thriving farm which acts both as a demonstration farm and as a source of fresh milk and vegetables for the Child Aid families. The school provides a completely free education with material and financial assistance for selected needy children. The priorities are homeless children who have lost both or one of their parents, children whose home lives have been marked with disruption, poverty and uncertainties, and children from very low income families. Thus far this school, with its related welfare activities, has been able to assist more than 112,000 needy children.

The Fund is one of the charities we at St. John’s have supported for some time. John and I visited the school in December 2006. We were able to see the remarkable work being done to alleviate great need. What we give reaps dividends.  Rev.Timothy Kinahan, a Trustee of the Fund and Hon. Secretary, makes regular visits to the school and keeps me informed. Copies of the Asra Hawariat School Fund Annual Report with a statement of Accounts are sent to those who contribute to the Fund. The Fund has no paid staff and is run on an entirely voluntary basis. There is a special note of thanks to the auditors and to the printers at the end of the Annual Report 2014 (the latest).

The annual reports always come with beautiful photographs of the children at the school and the latest is no exception. I will place a few copies at the back of the church and urge you to have a look.

This year the Fund helped make possible the refurbishment of 23 classrooms in the Old Land and the painting of 18 classrooms in the New Land…and glass was installed in the windows. (I promise you this is truly a huge improvement.)
They were able to install 11 computers at the Old Land and 13 in the New Land to the delight of both students and teachers. But the big news item is the major construction work on the New Land to create a science block, a school museum, an art and music centre and a new staff room.

The basement and first two floors of this building are now up. The Annual  Report  states that “£100,000 is going to be needed for completion, which will have to come from additional funds as we cannot afford to raid our running costs.” Tim wrote me in July saying this entailed significant fund-raising. Shortly before I was asked to write this article I heard again from Tim with the following good news, ” I am delighted to be able to tell you that our additional fund-raising for the new science block is going well, and we have already raised over £80,000 of the £100,000 needed. “

In order to ensure the continual and effective running of the school a monthly transfer of £9000 is made by the Fund. The contributions from our church go towards this. We and other supporters are thanked on the last page of the Annual Report as follows: “And , not least, thanks to all our supporters, whose remarkable generosity in difficult economic times has ensured another good year, and who have helped turn so many dreams into reality.”