Africa project opportunities

[Maureen Ness]

Hi all,

 

We have an exciting opportunity to provide some help on a new school project in Ethiopia with the group TESFA. Please join us on Monday July 6^th at 6:00 at the West Bank Social Center (see below).

 

We will also have a regular monthly meeting on Monday, July 20^th at  6:30 at our new permanent location: Rapson Hall room 43 at the U of M. This will be a kick-off for another project in Africa, the Educational Opportunities for Somaliland Public Library.

 

Hope you can make it to one or both!

 

Maureen

 

From: Troy Gallas [mailto:troy....@gmail.com]
Sent: Monday, June 29, 2009 11:39 AM
To: Roxana Linares
Cc: Maureen Ness; Rich Koechlein; dana roskey; Jeffrey Swainhart; Michael Schumacher; Erin Schumacher; Mark Schumacher; deneen; Cien Keilty-Lucas
Subject: Re: school in ekodaga, ethiopia

 

To work around people's work schedules, lets plan on meeting on Monday, July 6th at 6pm at the West Bank Social Center. The address is 501 Cedar Ave. S. and is located above the Nomad World Pub. (Enter the bar and ask for the stairs to the wbsc)

This will primarily be a meeting for the AFH group, but if anyone else would like to attend, they are more than welcome.

Troy

solutionstwincities.org
threeseven.tumblr.com

On Jun 28, 2009, at 8:56 PM, Troy Gallas <troy....@gmail.com> wrote:

Hello all,

From what I'm hearing back, it seems like a meeting on Monday the 6th of July will work the best. I think for this meeting we can focus on having the core AFH group get together to formulate a list of questions that will help TESFA collect useful information about the site. Jeffrey, Maureen, Rich, please confirm that this works for you. Also, if you think anyone else can lend some expertise here, please feel free to invite them.

I'll be in touch with Mike and Dana about their travel plans later in the month and we can set up another meeting to get everyone on the same page as the project moves forward.

Look forward to talking with you.

Troy

solutionstwincities.org
threeseven.tumblr.com

On Fri, Jun 26, 2009 at 1:05 AM, Troy Gallas <troy....@gmail.com> wrote:

Hello all,

Just wanted to follow up on the recent email from Dana giving us a little more detail about the potential site for the school in Ethiopia. It would be great if in the next week of so the AFH group (Rich, Maureen, Jeffrey, myself, and anyone else we think can offer insights) could meet up and put together a list of questions that will help TESFA collect useful information about the site for us.

Later in July when Mike and others are in town (I think the weekend of the 25th?) we should also set up another meeting to talk more about the project, any developments, schedule, program, travel plans, etc. Hopefully by then a few more pieces will have fallen into place and we can begin the preliminary design work.

Let me know what works for you and we can get something scheduled.

I Look forward to getting started on this project with you all!

Troy

solutionstwincities.org
threeseven.tumblr.com

 

On Sun, Jun 21, 2009 at 6:47 PM, dana roskey <freg...@fastmail.fm> wrote:

Greetings!

I'm back from Ethiopia. Actually, I've been back for a few weeks, and
have been able to meet up with Mike Schumacher and family about the
status of our school project in Ethiopia.

To summarize developments, we have settled on a village about one hour
NW out of Addis Ababa as the most promising. They are eager to see us
come in and build a non-formal school to serve about 200 children. They
are so eager that village elders have already chosen a site for us. Now,
let me make clear that this is not a done deal. There are a few levels
of bureaucracy to negotiate until this land is ours, and until proposals
and budgets are all okayed. BUT this project looks as solid in its early
stages as any I've seen. I think it will be a go.

For now, I'm sending around a set of 7 photos of the land being
proposed. With a little imagination, I think you can visualize the
general scope and outline. Imagine the camera turning in a circle. #5 is
a little different: picture the tree as the border to the land.
Otherwise, the pics are taken from the center. I'm also sending two of
the village being served.

I know very well that these photos are not nearly sufficient for real
planning, but I think they might suggest some first notions about what
you're dealing with in building. What I would like from you all are some
questions that I can send back -- questions designed to help you in
designing the building, picturing the school, etc. The next stage in the
long process of procuring this land will be a survey by local officials.
This might be a good chance to collect some vital info about dimensions,
etc. Please feed me questions for my local staff. Be aware, though, that
surveying Ethiopian-style might not meet your standards here. In any
case, we will do our best.

All right, everybody. Many thanks for your continuing interest in
helping out this community. This promises to be a great project!!

Thanks
Dana
--
 dana roskey
 freg...@fastmail.fm

 

 

 

[Maureen Ness]

We had a great meeting last week at the new West Bank Social Center about the Ethiopia TESFA school project and were graciously offered a permanent AFH MN 3^rd meeting and charrette location. Due to the central location, proximity to campus, projector provided, and Monday night 2-for-1s at the Nomad (permitted to bring your glass upstairs), we feel that we cannot pass up the opportunity to make this our new home.

 

Next AFH MN meeting:

 

Monday, July 20^th 6:30 – 7:30 p.m.

West Bank Social Center.

501 Cedar Ave. S. located above the Nomad World Pub. (Enter the bar and ask for the stairs to the wbsc)

This will be a kick-off for another project in Africa, the Educational Opportunities for Somaliland Public Library.

 

We are so grateful to Colin and Troy!

 

Maureen

[Maureen Ness]

Hope to see you tonight at the West Bank Social Center at 6:30!