Special Needs, Special Opportunity

Special Needs, Special Opportunity

We have some students whose stories Muday could not overlook when they approached the school. Muday created Fresh and Green Academy to help children who need it the most, and that is why these kids were taken into the school, even though they need more resources than normal to succeed. While many of our children suffered in their early years from malnutrition, and the debilities that come with that, several of them faced even more frightening challenges: hydrocephalus, blindness, paraplegia and emotional scars.

A boy named Yesuna was brought to the school because his mother wanted to abandon him. He had been neglected since birth after his mother could not afford to feed him. He was left in their hovel while his mother waited for him to die, and malnutrition made him blind, deaf and unresponsive. He has a severe mental disability. He is too weak to walk or even sit up. But Muday would not abandon him.

Through daily care for over 2 years, Yesuna is coming back. Turns out he is not deaf after all, and responds to music and clapping. His caregivers have applied physiotherapy methods and he now has the strength to sit up on his own. He can now communicate his most basic needs, but cannot speak.

Yesuna has almost constant attention, from his caregivers to be sure, but from his schoolmates as well! A television is kept in his room and his friends come to be with him and watch TV. And this is one of the real benefits of having these students in the community: these kids learn to build people with special needs into their own lives! Everybody lends a hand when needed.

We need your help! Can you help sponsor one of our special needs kids through the Friendship Club program? We have created a special category for this initiative and you will be sure to get progress reports from your Friend along the way.

Become a Friendship Club member!

Return to #StillWithThem #GivingTuesday

#WalkForThem Spring Fashion Show Fundraiser

Friends came together for our stunning and exciting #WalkForThem Fashion Show in New York City on May 20th. Our volunteer models, mothers and daughters all, raised nearly $7,000 for Fresh and Green Academy! A great thank-you also for the talented volunteers who put the show together, and of course all of our donors and sponsors who have given us new resources to keep our 235 students in school!

Models proudly showed fashions made by our Mothers Cooperative at the school. Our guests were entertained by Mike DiRubbo’s Jazz Trio who immediately left for a tour of Czech Republic. Patrons were treated to a traditional Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony hosted by Executive Director Sosina Mulugeta Gebreyesus.

If you are interested in purchasing fashions from the Mothers Cooperative, please visit our Etsy store by clicking here.

There is still time to donate to the event. Thanks for supporting #WalkForThem!

Fresh and Green Goes to High School

Fresh and Green Goes to High School

We are so proud of our nine Grade 8 graduates for passing their high school entrance exams! Most were in kindergarten when Friends of Fresh and Green got involved with the school 8 years ago, and we began to grow the school by a grade each year.

Running a high school curriculum is not on the books for Fresh and Green Academy right now as we try to secure the rights to the land that the school is on. But we will continue to support our graduates as they start up a new path on their journey to higher education and eventually a profession. They are such important members of our community and set a great example for the younger kids!

Our graduates will still start and end their day at the Academy with a meal, with high school classes down the road in between. But we have to pay for their uniforms and books as well as providing medical care if needed. We estimate that it will cost $500 up front for supplies and then $75 a month for each student over the course of the year.

We need your help! Can you help sponsor one of our high school kids through the Friendship Club program? We have created a special category for this initiative and you will be sure to get progress reports from your Friend along the way. If you can help us with the upfront costs as well, then great! Please make a separate donation and you’ll get a tax receipt for that as well.

Become a Friendship Club member!

New Highs for Poker and Blackjack!

New Highs for Poker and Blackjack!

Over 50 players and volunteers helped us raise even more money than last year as the Eighth Annual Casino Event went down last night in New York City. Congratulations to the new champions of Poker and Blackjack who shared some amazing prizes while helping the children of Fresh and Green Academy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The roulette table was a big hit and the raffle for Red Hot Chili Peppers and Yankees vs. Red Sox tickets added a lot of excitement to a noisy but friendly night of gaming.

A big thanks to our hosts at Connolly’s Pub Klub 45 on West 45th Street and to our always professional dealers and croupiers.

We hope to keep expanding this night which benefits our efforts in Africa and will keep you posted on the date next September for another chance to win for a good cause!

Dancing West Coast a Huge Success

Dancing West Coast a Huge Success

We had a HUGE amount of help from our new and old friends in L.A. and the result was a resounding success! Not only were we entertained by our very polished dance couples and Marvin Glover’s Band, but we raised thousands of dollars in donations, raffles and the silent auction to help Fresh and Green Academy buy their school property in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
We were honored by the presence of Milica Kennedy Kastner, who flew in From London to accept the Emissary of Excellence Award for her work in championing human rights.
A special congratulations to our Dancing with the Stews Mirror Ball competition winners Jutem Lee and Ron Wild of San Diego and heartfelt thanks to the great efforts of Lam Nguyen, Merle Norman, Jeff White and Brian Nguyen to put together flawless routines and raise money for our cause at the same time!
We would also like to thank everyone for coming out to the spectacle, we hope you were lucky enough to win a prize, and we are glad you took the time to learn about and support our kids and their families at the Fresh and Green Academy.