On Saturday, August 30th, 2008, GGRF Board Member Erin Sines spent the day with Team Tesfa as they trained at Meskel Square. The whole team was there, including the four young women GGRF provides with shoes, clothing, food and coach subsidies, the 10 additional young women GGRF has provided with shoes and the approximately 15 other young men and women with whom they train.
While the team was training, Erin had an opportunity to speak at length with Menna Alemu, the Tesfa Foundation chief of staff and the person who oversees the girls we support. Menna asked Erin to reiterate to everyone how grateful the team is for GGRF support. Erin also spoke with the coaches, although conversations were limited due to the language barrier. They also thanked everyone from GGRF for support and hoped that we would be able to continue.
Unfortunately, most of the girls on the team still live in unstable situations. In fact, one is currently homeless. Most are not in school. This is what makes the Team Tesfa program, which, besides GGRF support for training, also provides housing, educational support and vocational training. One of the girls, Worke, is an intern at one of the Tesfa schools. She hopes to become a teacher one day.
Menna mentioned that Dana Roskey, the founder of the Tesfa Foundation and Team Tesfa, and the Tesfa Foundation, are trying to open a café in Addis. Those on the team (men and women) will work in the café and earn wages. They will also provide shower facilities for the team. On her last trip, Erin took a bag of hair ties and barrettes for the girls. Erin noted that many of them were wearing them this time.
After practice, Erin took the team to lunch. They went to a local café and had traditional food. After the meal, the coaches and the team members gave speeches about the need for team work, the continued effort to train, and so forth. The GGRF-sponsored girls spoke about how grateful they are for our support and that Erin was able to spend the day with them. They asked that Erin take their greetings back to all of us.
Team Tesfa is organized by Dana Roskey, Executive Director of The Tesfa Foundation.
To help the Girls Gotta Run Foundation support this and other teams, you can make a donation via Paypal from the GGRF Donations page. You can also use www.goodsearch.com as your search and shopping engine, specifying Girls Gotta Run as the charity you support.
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