Happy New Year!
Happy Ethiopian New Year!
Melkam Enkutatash!
The Ethiopian New Year begins today, September 12, or Meskerem 1 on the Ethiopian calendar. Enkutatash, represented by the yellow flowers that blanket the countryside this time of year, is a season of renewal: the end of the rainy season and a major holiday celebrated with bonfires and fireworks, new clothes, and traditional feasts. It is also the season for students to start or return to school, and though HMA is still 12 months from opening its doors to our first class of students, the excitement is building!
Our campus is literally rising from the ground. The faculty housing area resembles a small village. The classrooms and dorms have added their second floors and taken on their final shape.
Deputy Head Tesfaye Kifle spent the past two weeks in the US with Head of School Kari Ostrem and me for an intensive planning period and productive visits to St. Andrews and Lawrenceville, whom we thank for their generous hospitality.
In coming months we will begin the critical work of recruiting students and top-notch founding faculty. Contact us if you would like to be considered for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to design programs and teach at our transformative school. We could not be more excited about the progress to date and the road ahead. But we can’t do it alone. As part of your New Year's celebrations, please consider a donation in support of this historic journey!
On behalf of all of us at EEI and HMA,
Rebecca Haile
EEI Executive Director