Ato Mamo Mengesha, Teachers/Educators Award, 12ኛው የበጎ ሰው ሽልማት
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You may recall that my time in Ethiopia as an IFESH volunteer was in large part made possible by the able leadership of Ato Mamo Mengesa who was the IFESH Country Representative for IFESH for many years. Over the years, he has also worked closely with the Ministry of Education as well as local schools.
In early September, as part of Ethiopian New Years celebration Ato Mamo was presented with the Teachers/Educators Award at the 12ኛው የበጎ ሰው ሽልማት ceremony & celebration.
The excerpts featuring Ato Mamo are at this Dropbox link. Part 1 (13MB) is the overview of Ato Mamo's contributions and Part 2 (19MB) is him receiving the award.
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/ktx1h78749c8g5rxfua3z/AK4bNFQqSqR505NK6gHc0qc?rlkey=297indxljag3nq095v9a8spz6&dl=0
You can watch the full ceremony to see other distinguished honorees at:
Watch "12th Bego Sew Award 12ኛው የበጎ ሰው ሽልማት ሥነ ስርዐት የቀጥታ ሥርጭት ከኢንተር ለግዠሪ ሆቴል | ጳጉሜ 3 2016 ዓ.ም @BalageruTV" on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/live/8IycHWmI4_0?si=dcYOmRReSR1P62jb
I thought you might like to share in this recognition. Many of you have contributed to Ato Mamo's achievements through your teaching and your work and/or being a part of these email groups over the years.
Below (and attached) is an adapted translation of the comments on the video for our members who do not speak Amharic.
Ato/Mr. Mamo Mengesha Woldeyes received the Teacher/Educator Meritorious Award at the 12th Bego-Sew Awards (12ኛው የበጎ ሰው ሽልማት) on Sunday September 8, 2024, at a ceremony held at the Inter-Luxury Hotel in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
After receiving the Award, Mamo first thanked the Almighty God and secondly thanked and congratulated his wife, W/r Worknesh for supporting him and for being by his side for the last 50 years. He also thanked Hillside School and the School Board Director for giving him the opportunity to serve as a consultant, therefore, allowing him to continue work in the sector. Finally, he requested that the recognition and honor should go to or be shared with Ethiopian teachers who are always there to help their students enduring the troubles and threats in conflict zones without even properly getting their monthly salaries.
Mr. Mamo Mengesha Woldeyes was born in Sela Dingay of the former Shoa province. In 1964 (Ethiopian Calendar), he became a primary school teacher in the former Wollega Province and was then promoted to schools supervisor in Horo Guduru Awraja,Wollega.
During those early years, he worked hard to support primary school teachers and directors, especially in remote areas to improve the quality of education. He also coordinated the “School Timber Projects” in the 1970s and planted hundreds of thousands of trees in 18 schools. After serving for 10 years in the education sector he joined Addis Ababa University and graduated with Honor receiving Gold Medal from Mengistu Hailemariam, the then President of Ethiopia. After completing his studies, Mamo was re-assigned as Director of Secondary School in Wollega Province. While serving as a school director, he showed remarkable achievements by planting trees to beautify the school and building additional classrooms to provide admission for students flowing from several feeder schools. For his outstanding efforts, he received awards at regional level. Mamo also served as Education Leader for the Wollega Province for two years.
Then, he was promoted to the Head Office of the Ministry of Education (in Addis Ababa) just before the 1991 change of government. During his tenure at the Ministry of Education, he led various departments and implemented education sector development programs. While serving as head of the teacher development department of the Ministry of Education, he designed and implemented Ethiopia-wide teacher development programs. After receiving his Master’s Degree from Finland, he focused particularly on mainstreaming special needs education programs by training teachers and raising awareness. Mr. Mamo also served as acting Deputy Minister of Education.
After leaving the Ministry of Education, Mamo served as the Country Representative for USA-based non-profit IFESH (International Foundation for Education & Self Help) for 13 years. During this time, he facilitated the recruitment and assignment of American volunteers to teacher training colleges and universities throughout Ethiopia to improve higher education and teacher training programs. Serving as the IFESH representative in Ethiopia, he actively collaborated with “Books for Africa Program” based in the USA and facilitated the importation and donation of books to Ethiopian schools and universities. Among his contributions to the educational sector, he presented many research studies at international education conferences such as World Education Forum-2000 in Senegal Dakar, and other similar African Regional seminars organized by UNESCO.
Mr. Mamo currently is a consultant at Hillside School, Addis Ababa.
Note: We would like to thank Ato/Mr. Alemu Abebe - alemuab...@yahoo.com for his assistance in the translation of information from Amharic to English. He is a skilled translator from Amharic to the English and Russian languages and is committed to developing literacy.
With kindest regards,