Pre-K through 12th Grade

Education is at the heart of everything we do. At the request of the community, Project Mercy opened Medhane-Alem School in 1996. Today, we have a Pre-Kindergarten through twelfth grade school. The combination of caring, capable teachers, and rigorous curriculum prepare all students for a thriving and successful future.

Children who attend the School receive:

  • First-class education
  • Two meals a day (grades Pre-Kindergarten to Eighth Grade)
  • Routine Medical and Dental Screenings
  • Access to a school nurse and clinic (grades Pre-Kindergarten to Eighth Grade)
     

Health Science College

Many rural villages have no trained medical professional to assist birthing mothers. The Health Science College trains future midwives and nurses who return to remote areas in exchange for a free education.

A Future Restored

Project Mercy salutes the university graduation of Seble and Samson, two of our former “House Kids” who attended our elementary and high school and then went on to further their education.
Seble and Samson are sister and brother and high achievers. Seble now has a degree in Accounting, and her brother, Samson, has graduated from Addis Ababa University where he studied Anesthesiology.
 
They came to Project Mercy over twenty-five years ago. Their mother and two other sisters had died and their father was struggling with his grief. Marta invited the children to live at the compound, which their father saw as a blessing. As House Kids, the children began receiving the love that comes with an expanded family and a quality education.
 
Seble and Samson are only two of the many children Project Mercy has helped to realize a bright future.

Feeding them Mind, Body and Sole

What is in the power of a pair of shoes? For Mabazash, a kindergartener, shoes are life changing! At four years old, she was missing a few toenails due to a fungal infection. Her plastic shoes did not protect her feet against scabies (an infectious skin infestation). Simply put, her feet were sore!

Fortunately, Nurse Katie at the school clinic scrubbed Mabazash’s feet with clean, soapy water. In her young life, not even her mother had cleaned her feet. Next, Katie examined and bandaged her feet. Lastly, she got her prize possession: a pair of TOMS Shoes!  A few days later, Mabazash took our Ethiopian Nurse, Beza, to her home. As they walked along the road, Mabazash cleaned any dirt off her new shoes. She was so proud of them!

She is also blessed to attend the only Pre-K in the area which allows her to have two meals a day, three times a week. Her father recently had surgery and missed planting his crops. Her older sister is the breadwinner for the family at the age of eight. Mebazash is one of the many young girls who benefit from Project Mercy’s holistic approach to incorporate healthcare, education and meals together for student’s success. We may never fully comprehend the power of the three will have on these little ones souls.  

Return to Serve

Beletech was a bright student at Medhane-Alem School. She worked extremely hard and was accepted into Birhan University. After graduating with her accounting degree, she started using her talents as a staff accountant for Project Mercy.
 
She has also helped her family by building a new house for them with a tin roof. The family moved out of their mud hut. The center of the family garden is the avocado tree that Beletech received when she was in the fourth grade.

Educate a Midwife

Her name is Sister Meseret. Her name translated means foundation. She truly is the foundation to our Maternity Program at Project Mercy’s Hospital. As the charge nurse for the unit, she works tirelessly to help bring life into a world. A world where the majority of women give birth without a medical professional. It is truly hard to understand all the lives of women and children she touches but here are a few:
 
Sobeza is so very grateful to the care of Sister Meseret and the hospital staff. But she, like so many of our mothers, believe their children would not be alive today if it was not for Sister Meseret.
 
“Sister Meseret is like the mother of all pregnant ladies!” Bilcha described her of being a mother of many, many children but having no favorites. Sister Meseret loves the ladies and treats them all the same. She visits the mothers even when she is not on duty after they give birth. She checks in on them and makes sure the nurses are doing what they are supposed to be doing.
 
Sister Meseret, when told that Bilcha was singing her praises says simple, “I love these ladies.” She has been serving in our hospital for over twelve years. She says the ladies from the area come up to her in the market and thank her for her care of them even years later!
All because one lady was educated at Project Mercy’s Health Science College.