STORY: Chinese-donated solar lamps light up students' way to success in Ethiopia
SHOOTING TIME: May 10, 2024/Archives
DATELINE: May 22, 2024
LENGTH: 00:03:52
LOCATION: Addis Ababa
CATEGORY: EDUCATION

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the Obay Primary School
2. various of students using solar lamps
3. SOUNDBITE 1 (Afaan Oromoo): MUSTARI IBRAHIM, Student at Obay Primary School
4. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): WANG HAOYU, Senior program manager of China Foundation for Rural Development
5. various of students having meals at school
6. SOUNDBITE 3 (Amharic): GEREMEW CHIMDESSA, Principal of Obay Primary School

STORYLINE:

Mustari Ibrahim is a student at Obay Primary School on the outskirts of Dukem, a town 33 kilometers east of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
   
Four years ago, Ibrahim and her family came to Dukem as internally displaced persons (IDPs) fleeing conflict in Ethiopia's Somali regional state.

The area where the IDPs are hosted is not connected to the power network.

Ibrahim studies at night using solar lamps donated by the China Foundation for Rural Development (CFRD).
   
SOUNDBITE 1 (Afaan Oromoo): MUSTARI IBRAHIM, Student at Obay Primary School
"We charge the solar lamp from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. We study at night using the solar lamp. After we finish studying, our parents use the solar lamp to carry out housework. Had it not been for the help of the solar lamp, I would have faced a serious problem in my studies and schoolwork. The solar lamp has greatly helped us. Without the solar lamp, my family members could not do anything during the night."
   
The CFRD has distributed 13,000 solar lamps to students in Addis Ababa and in the Somali and Oromia regional states.

SOUNDBITE 2 (English): WANG HAOYU, Senior program manager of China Foundation for Rural Development
"This project started in 2021. We are trying to provide solar lamps to Ethiopian primary school and middle school students, so that they can study after dark and also can help them brighten their way while going to school and back home. So far, we have distributed more than 13,000 solar lights in Ethiopia."
   
Geremew Chimdessa, principal of Obay Primary School, said that CFRD has donated solar lamps to 570 students. CFRD has also operated a feeding program at Obay Primary School for the past three years, serving breakfast and lunch to more than 600 students.

SOUNDBITE 3 (Amharic): GEREMEW CHIMDESSA, Principal of Obay Primary School
"After the school feeding program was started, the number of students coming to the school has increased significantly while class absenteeism has dropped to almost zero."
   
CFRD's school feeding program and solar lamp donation project have greatly encouraged the surrounding community to send their children to school, the principal said.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Addis Ababa.
(XHTV)