|
|
Tammy
Fisher
Director of Public Relations
La Sierra University
Riverside, California
909-785-2016 voice
tfisher@lasierra.edu
September 11, 2003
| Who: |
|
La Sierra University (4700 Pierce
Street, Riverside, CA) Students In Free Enterprise (SIFE) team going
to Kalaala, Ethiopia (about a one hour drive from Addis Ababa) Friday,
September 12, to begin Micro-Enterprise Projects to instill in local
Ethiopia students a value system that encourages them to create
free enterprise. La Sierra SIFE will also establish longitudinal
studies on the projects to ensure their long-term effectiveness.
|
| When: |
|
La Sierra University students and
teachers will leave the United States on Friday, September 12 and
return Monday, September 22.
|
| Website: |
|
Check out La Sierra SIFE on the web: http://www.sifelink.com/.
Our projects features include SIFE projects and information on class
details. To see information more details on the classroom connection
use the password – LSUSIFE
|
| What: |
|
SIFE will establish an animal farm, bakery and
vocational school in Kalaala, Ethiopia, a farming village of about
8,000 people. The projects will provide income to help the elementary
school improve its facilities, pay tuition for the children (about
400 students) to attend school, and begin a medical center on site.
|
Animal Farm: |
Student
will learn how to care for 100 goats, 500-1,000 chickens and
3 cows as well as how to track the milk and egg production,
and how to track sales. Some goats will be raised for meat.
The price of goats is $20 each in Ethiopia, cows $200 and chickens
$1.
|
| Bakery: |
Purchase
“Villager Solar Oven” that can bake 1,500 loaves
daily. The goal is to give each child a loaf of bread every
day. Oven costs $10,000, plus $3,000 for shipping.
|
| Vocational
Training: |
Create
a vocational center to teach local people how to build furniture
from metal and wood. Provide five sewing machines to teach sewing
and embroidery skills.
|
| Transportation: |
The
purchase of a Toyota Hilux vehicle used to transport teachers,
health workers, food and medicine. Funds already donated.
|
|
| Why: |
|
SIFE is in the business of helping
others become self-sufficient. La Sierra SIFE has established a
number of micro-enterprise projects internationally including: Cow
Bank in India, Alpaca Bank in Peru, and the Little Red Hen Chicken
Bank in Mexico. Projects benefit the La Sierra University students
as well, educating them on the financial status of other countries
compared to the United States.
|
| Education: |
|
La Sierra SIFE is working with many K-12 schools
across the United States on the Ethiopia project –details
for the schools on the web, www.sifelink.com
|
| History: |
|
The International Medical Aid Association (IMAA)
of Riverside, CA helped establish a local school in Kalaala in 1998.
The Kalaala School has 35 acres of land, a 10-room school building,
a vocational building, a first aid center, barns, farmhouses, and
a few farm animals. La Sierra is partnering with the IMAA in this
next phase of development to establish free enterprise.
La Sierra University SIFE was formed in 1991. La Sierra SIFE teams
have won five national SIFE Championships. In 2002 La Sierra earned
the SIFE World Cup Championship in Amsterdam following several rounds
of national and international competition.
|
| Interviews: |
|
Interviews available with: Heather Miller, SIFE Faculty
Fellow. Questions may also be submitted to the on-site team in Ethiopia
via email. |
.
. . . . . . . . . .
|
