The first students were enrolled in our new Child Sponsorship scheme – supporting vulnerable & disadvantaged children to stay in school.

Belayneh Shewaye joins us to manage our growing school operations in Gondar.

Brushwood Primary School in Chesham – Meseret Elementary in Gondar.

The first of a multi-year project to improve student literacy in our partner schools. Funding for this project comes from The Waterloo Foundation, our UK Link schools and our Sponsorship programme.

Link Ethiopia was awarded a two-year grant to set up and run a sports initiative across 14 schools in the Amhara and Oromia regions.

Link Ethiopia hosted our first annual conferences for UK teachers (in London and Manchester) as well as our regular annual conferences in the North and South of Ethiopia.

A generous donation from one of our long-term supporters has helped us to start a donkey library in Dembia Zuria, south of Gondar town. The donkey and the librarian take books to six rural satellite schools, reaching more than 4,000 children. This is the first of several donkey libraries that we go on to set up.

Twenty students from the Misbourne School visited Azezo Secondary School in October 2009. Students spent time with their Ethiopian peers, helped paint a classroom wall and took part in various classroom activities.

Matt Stockdale joined the charity full-time to oversee our fundraising, operations and growing network. He and volunteers moved into Link Ethiopia’s first UK office (St George Church, Tufnell Park, London).

A teacher and a pupil from Chechela Elementary School in Gondar visited their UK link school, Lambton Primary in County Durham.

Five teachers from three UK schools visited their link schools in Ethiopia (Backwell Secondary, Dr. Challoner’s Grammar and Gayhurst Primary).