Published Fri, Jan 15, 21.
Written by Scott Chleborad.

Ottoro_Hand_Washing_Station.jpg

After nearly nine months out-of-school, the lower grades at Adams Thermal Academies are back in the classroom. Ethiopia took a phased approach in bringing students back to school after the COVID shutdown earlier in the year. First the older students in grades 5-12 were allowed to come back at the beginning of November. Then the lower grades, KG through 4th, came back in late December. Our schools are now full with a total enrollment of 1,273 in Hosanna and Ottoro! And we're continuing with our mitigation plans to protect all students and staff.

Nationwide, Ethiopia currently has 13,090 active cases of COVID and 12,880 or 98.4% of those cases are described as mild symptoms. Of the total 129,455 cases documented, only 2,006 or 1.6% have resulted in death. The vast majority of COVID cases have been concentrated in the capital of Addis Ababa with 57% of cases originating from there. 

While documented cases have been very low in the southern region where Hosanna and Ottoro are located, two weeks ago we learned that a student from our schools visited a doctor in Addis Ababa and then came back home with COVID symptoms. Our team immediately quarantined the student at the local hospital and conducted 132 COVID tests on classmates, staff, friends and family of the student. Thankfully, the infected student has fully recovered and all 132 tests came back negative. We thank God for his continued protection and care. 

Please keep our students and staff in your prayers as they endeavor to stay safe and get caught up in all of their school work. And thank you to our many sponsors who have been writing to our students and encouraging them over the holiday season.