Hawelti Mobil: Think and understand

Without dreams, visions starve.
Without vision, there are no powerful goals.
Without powerful goals, we stop before we have begun.

(Waldefried Pechtl)

One of our main goals from the beginning was to create better learning conditions for the students of the Hawelti School in Aksum and thus to enable a better future.

However, on our first visit in 2014, we were told about many other challenges; above all, it was about hunger and thirst. For example, the teachers told us that a large part of the children did not have enough to eat, became ill and therefore played truancy. Or the children fell asleep from hunger during the lessons. In 2017, we were able to counteract this challenge with our large project and also implement other smaller projects in the city.

While on our previous trips to Aksum we mainly worked with authorities, the school principal, the teachers and other organizations, this time we came into much more intensive contact with the children during our six-month stay. This also gave us an insight into how lesson content is taught: mostly theoretically (by the way, this is not so different from most other countries in the world!).

We experienced that the students either listened to the teachers or read the textbooks. This was also true of the natural sciences. Independent experiments were a rarity. With blunt scissors and broken cutter knives, “refrigerators” were made of polystyrene (with a mini lamp in which the cable was plugged directly into the socket without a plug) as well as “microscopes” made of cardboard and an old light bulb for magnification. In predominantly theoretical lessons, there is a risk that what has been learned in this way will “wander” into short-term memory, but will also be quickly lost again.

But what we encountered again and again during our trip were inquisitive and curious children who soaked up everything that was happening around them. For example, there were sewing machines that we had overhauled. The mechanic hardly had a chance to work in peace, because many children followed every action with their eyes very close to his hands. There were children who could hardly be stopped from helping on the construction site and who wanted to be very close to the action when the power transformer was set up. There were enthusiastic children who not only heard something about light theoretically from the book in physics class, but also received a cable, a battery and a light bulb from Günter with the offer to turn on the light. There were children who repaired school furniture with us and great enthusiasm…

In Aksum alone, there are currently 15 schools; in addition, there are various schools in the surrounding villages. A large proportion of the children come from very poor backgrounds and grow up in a region that is almost exclusively characterized by agriculture and begging. So it can be assumed that the children cannot develop visions of the future with these framework conditions. Due to the predominantly theoretical lessons, imagination, curiosity and enthusiasm are often lost.

Tell me, and I’ll forget it.
Show me, and I may keep it.
Let me do it, and I’ll be able to do it.

(Confucius)

Since one of our projects enabled us to make many contacts with schools outside Aksum, it quickly became clear to us that the situation was even more difficult for the students outside the city. After our many impressions and experiences, we thought about how we could implement our vision of a better future for the children in and especially in the towns outside Aksum. This gave rise to the idea of a separate Hawelti mobile, in which a “field of experience of the senses” is linked with a “science center”. It should be a voluntary and free offer for children, as most families cannot afford an entrance fee.

Loosely based on Confucius, we want to bring the children closer to the exciting world of technology, new technologies and natural sciences. This is done by reflecting, thinking ahead, understanding, experimenting and doing. With our Hawelti mobile, we want to create a platform that preserves natural imagination, curiosity and curiosity and creates even more desire to learn for a better future.

What exactly do we want to offer?

We will be in our Hawelti-Mobil …

• “incorporate” a “science center” as the centerpiece with various interactive exhibits and experiment stations where the children experience science through their own “doing”. These exhibits are built in the form of boxes and thus find space in a transporter
• depending on the space, we will additionally equip this vehicle or a second one with…
  Have material available to make compost and grow vegetables with the children (around 70% of the waste in the region is organic; but is not currently used)
• Ways to analyze water, so we can teach children about the importance of clean drinking water; to this end, possibilities of filtering water are also to be shown
• Laptops so that children learn the important use of computers
• install a sewing center where children learn to repair or make clothes
• Microscopes, anatomy dummies, solar experiments and much more

It is also conceivable to bring sewing machines to the people in the region and empty their work with them. Sewing machines are already available and can also serve as a gateway to open up a livelihood, especially for women

It is very important to us …

… to operate this Hawelti mobile with its own employees; in this way, we enable people in the region to feed their families. According to current calculations, the costs are around 185.00 euros per month – this corresponds to around 1.00 euros per hour of work! (As of January 2018). In order to collect these monthly costs, more than 20 donation dinosaurs are currently in use, collecting donations throughout Germany and in Salzburg.

In addition, the infrastructure in Ethiopia is not comparable to that in Germany (no S-Bahn network or bus network comparable to Germany), and so children from surrounding towns will not find access to our center. That’s why we will create a mobile center that will bring individual exhibits and experiments to the children in the surrounding region with a vehicle.

How will we implement the idea with the center?

A concept for the mobile center is currently being developed together with the Hüttinger company. After a resulting cost calculation, we will collect donations. In Aksum itself, talks are already underway with the university, which is seeking cooperation.

If we have been able to collect enough donations, the exhibits will be created in Nuremberg and brought to Aksum.

Who is already at our side?

• We are pleased to have won Hüttinger as one of the world’s leading providers of science centers for this idea.
• There have already been several discussions with the University of Vienna, which maintains a large “compost project” in Addis Ababa, for the idea of compost; here, too, there is already a commitment to cooperation.
• We want to make our entire center modern and sustainable; for the planning of solar energy, we were able to win over the company Greenovative, which was already a great partner for us in our kitchen project.
• This second major project will also be cost-intensive and so we are pleased to have gained a first partner in Soroptimist International, Club Ellwangen/Jagst, who will help us to collect the urgently needed donations.

As already indicated, we want to run our center with our own employees. They will not only be involved in the construction of the exhibits, but will also accompany and look after the children in the center. According to current calculations, the costs are around 185.00 euros per month – this corresponds to around 1.00 euros per hour of work! (As of January 2018). In order to collect these monthly costs, more than 20 donation dinosaurs are currently in use, collecting donations throughout Germany and in Salzburg.

Project Update April 2019:

We continue to be in close coordination with the Hüttinger company. We are currently planning to create around 30 exhibits from the “STEM” areas (mathematics / computer science / natural sciences / technology). Since the planned boxes in Ethiopia are exposed to a high load due to the daily assembly and dismantling as well as the climatic peculiarities, we decided to develop and produce the exhibits here in Germany.

The high quality entails high costs – according to an initial calculation, we need about 250,000 €. So far, we have been able to raise more than 10% of this sum through donations and are currently in contact with foundations.

Of course, we want to avoid “working past the interests of the people of Ethiopia”.

That’s why there were many discussions with lecturers and directors about the idea. In addition, there were talks with the president of the university in Aksum. They are planning to build a permanent “science center” and see our mobile as an important addition. And there is a great interest in partnering with us.

Equally great is news: several people in Aksum are currently working on the foundation of an Ethiopian non-profit association, which will then be our direct partner on site. We are particularly pleased about that! So it is a great recognition of our work on site!! This association has another special significance for us: it takes over the entire organization of the Hawelti-Mobile directly on site!

Through this development, we are convinced that our Hawelti-Mobil will be an enormous enrichment for the region.

Project Update August 2019:

The Hawelti mobile continues to be our main project.

According to current calculations, the cost of this mobile is around €250,000. We already have great partners to be able to implement this project. However, as a small association, we still need some donations to be able to realize our project. We are also trying to win foundations for our idea.

For many of our donors, it is difficult to understand how high our current donation level is. We thought long and hard about how to map the current status.

Now we have found another great partner in the company TicToys from Leipzg. TicToys offers “Binabo“, colorful chips that are made of forward-looking biomaterials (sugar and wood fibers) and are therefore 100% natural.

So what does this have to do with our Hawelti-Mobil?

As an association, we received 5,000 of these Binabo chips at the production price, and together with TicToys, we created a “Hawelti mobile” with experiment boxes.

By the way: After the end of this campaign, we can disassemble the mobile into its individual parts (Binabo chips) and take it back to Ethiopia as a creative toy!

You can find out what one has to do with the other on our supporters page.

Project Update December 2019:

Even though we are working on many other construction sites “on the side”, the following applies:

The Hawelti mobile is our main project.

And for this main project, we continue to have great partners and were able to raise some very generous donations by the end of the year. With these, we have now reached around 20% of the required costs.

In Germany, we will continue to work on winning foundations and other sponsors for this idea so that we can implement this project quickly. And in Ethiopia, talks are still ongoing with Aksum University about cooperation.

This mobile will be coordinated by a future association that will be founded in Aksum. Due to a change in the law in Ethiopia, a complete “restart” was necessary and all documents had to be resubmitted. Now we are confident that it won’t be long.

Even though it will take some time before we can implement the project, we are already thinking about what a suitable vehicle should look like in order to cope with the regional conditions. Here we are pleased to have met the company Evum Motors GmbH in Munich, which has wrapped a fully electric, robust all-wheel drive transporter. The concept of the vehicle and the drive appeal to us very much because it is not only practical, but also sustainable.

Project Update 2022:

Our last trip to Aksum took place in February 2020.

Unfortunately, Corona made it impossible for us to travel again and planned.

Even worse is the war between the Ethiopian government and the Tigray region, which has been raging since 03.11.2020.

Since the war in Tigray is leading to food shortages, hunger and malnutrition, we as Hawelti e.V. have decided that emergency aid comes before all our projects.

The donations already received for this project will be retained. However, almost all of the donations currently collected will flow into this emergency aid.

You can find out more about the emergency aid here: Emergency aid

Project Update 01/2024:

After our last trip in February 2020, Corona and the war made it necessary for us to focus on emergency aid for the people.

This help is still necessary and important – nevertheless, especially now after the war, we think that the children in Tigray must be given a vision, because they are the ones who can positively influence the future of the region.

Thus, our “heart project” is now increasingly in focus again.
During our trip, there were discussions with the school authority to find out current school and student numbers.

In addition, there was an appointment with the president of the university to discuss possible cooperation.

Such talks had already taken place before the war. Now, however, there is a completely different situation; and the president is also a new one.

It is all the more gratifying that the new president has also promised us support.