Nativity School Keren (Shinara), Eritrea

NATIVITY SCHOOL KEREN (SHINARA), ERITREA ABOUT THE SCHOOL Nativity School was founded in 1961, and the De La Salle Christian Brothers took responsibility for the school in 1982 when it was solely an elementary school. They expanded it to a junior secondary school in 1993. Today, it serves 504 students, including 267 girls and 237 boys, in kindergarten, elementary, and junior secondary school. It is located 9 kms from Keren as an oasis in the middle of Blin and Tigre pastoral communities. As a solitary school in the village, it continues to provide a warm and personal setting that allows young men and women of varied backgrounds to develop their skills and talents academically. “The steadfast commitment of the community also is reflected in its dedication to excellence in education. The school is responding to today’s need while maintaining its solid Lasallian traditions,” reported Headmaster Brother Menghistu O/Michael, FSC. The school has been very successful in the national grade eight exams, which has created the challenge of not having enough space to accommodate more students and programs. The school receives about 100 applications each year and accepts about 70 students. ABOUT THE STUDENTS The typical age of students entering the school is eight, although some start at age 10 because they come from far mountainous remote areas and spend a great deal of time walking to and from school. Approximately 70 – 85 percent of Nativity students are the first in their families to reach this level of education. The students are from families with very simple, pastoral/nomadic living. Almost all are farmers who depend on small cottage farms that they own. At times when rainfall is insufficient, people have nothing to harvest and no income at all. This makes living conditions very rough. Poor family living standards and unemployment make the situation worse. This leads to little household food and poor sanitation practices which means inadequate care and diseases like bilharzias and tapeworm, waterborne diseases caused by the shortage of water. After completing their schooling at Nativity, students move on to the obligatory assignment of national service before continuing schooling. ABOUT THE TEACHERS Teacher to student ratio this year is 1:28. The school has 18 teachers, three cleaners, and one gatekeeper. The education level of the teachers includes high school graduates, college level, and certified teachers. A TYPICAL DAY AT SCHOOL A typical school day is very busy in hot conditions. After classes, students rush home to complete other tasks, like looking after livestock, fetching water if they are lucky to get it, collecting wood for fire, etc. CHALLENGES FOR STUDENTS Nativity students face many challenges in getting an education, including financial problems, distance of villages, unemployment, health issues, and more. MOST URGENT NEED Nativity School’s most urgent need is clean, potable water. ABOUT THE AREA Anseba is an inland region in western Eritrea named after the Anseba River around which the region is situated. Its capital is Keren and it has an area of about 23,000 km². The river begins in the central Eritrean highland plateau, in the suburbs northwest of the capital Asmara. It then descends northwards into the northwestern lowlands, traversing the mountains of Rora Habab and Sahel before joining the Barka River near the border with Sudan. Other towns in this region include Halhal. The region borders Gash-Barka to the south, the Maekel (Central) region to the southeast, the Northern Red Sea Region to the east and north, and the nation of Sudan to the west. There are a number of flora and fauna species within this region. Notably, this was historic habitat for the endangered Painted Hunting Dog, Lycaon pictus, which is now thought to be wiped out in the region. Eritrea as a whole was extensively forested as recently as 1900. However, at present the total forest cover of Eritrea is less than one percent. The deforestation in Anseba mirrors the country as a whole. CONTACT NATIVITY SCHOOL Headmaster: Brother Menghistu O/Michael, FSC Email: [email protected] Updated February 2014.

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