For years, education in Malkamari village in Ethiopia reflected the uncertainty surrounding the community itself.
Learners studied in makeshift classrooms under trees, while the few fortunate enough squeezed into the village’s only two classrooms.
In this historically conflict-hotspot borderland village, cycles of conflict, revenge, and counter-revenge periodically disrupted daily life, leaving many parents ready to move with their children at short notice. The temporary nature of schooling only deepened that uncertainty. For many parents, education was difficult to value when tomorrow itself felt uncertain.
As a result, children dropped out, and school enrolment remained between 100 and 120 learners. At one point, many parents saw little value in education.
Following a participatory learning event with the community, BORESHA-NABAD, through VOPA, supported the construction of three permanent classrooms, sanitation facilities, and 60 desks, transforming the school into a visible peace dividend for a community beginning to imagine permanence differently.
Today, 365 children are enrolled in lower primary at the school.
For parents such as Madina Guracha, that permanence has brought the confidence to plan for the future in a place where conflict once made families hesitant to look beyond the present.
“Today, I walk my children to school with hope. I no longer worry about conflict disrupting their education. We now eat, share and live peacefully with our neighbouring community. This peace, together with the investment in education, gives me confidence that my children have a gateway to a better and more prosperous future.”– Madina Guracha
In an underserved borderland village where opportunities for children remain limited, the investment is helping shift parents’ attitudes towards education in a fragile setting where prolonged uncertainty has weakened confidence in its value.
With support from the European Union, BORESHA’s investment in permanent school infrastructure signals to families that their children can stay, learn, and aspire. It gives parents a reason to invest in education while offering children a pathway to opportunities beyond the cycles of poverty and conflict that shaped previous generations.
Feedback from the district administration describes the investment as “a candle in the darkness.” Just two kilometres away, in the neighbouring town of Malkamari, Kenya, a BORESHA-NABAD-supported peace dividend borehole implemented through RACIDA is cementing these gains and bringing the Garre and Degodia communities together. Investment in the school is also helping reshape the area as communities increasingly share the tangible benefits of peace.
Interestingly, Malkamari Primary School does not close when lower-primary classes end at midday. From 2:00 p.m., more than 80 adult learners, including women, youth, and community elders who missed formal education earlier in life, use the same classrooms to learn.
For some, it is their first opportunity to read and write. For others, it is a second chance they never thought they would have.
That second shift gives the school significance far beyond its walls. In a context where misinformation, exclusion, and limited access to education can deepen mistrust, adult learning strengthens people’s ability to participate, communicate, and make informed decisions.
“When I was young, there was no opportunity for me to sit in a classroom. Today, I sit where our children sit and learn to read and write. It is never too late to learn. When people understand more, they also understand each other better.”
– Mzee Ali Bakaye
By morning, Malkamari Primary School is educating the next generation. By afternoon, it is giving an older generation a second chance.
In doing both, the school is becoming more than an education facility. It is a shared community asset, a visible dividend of peaceful coexistence, and an investment in a future where knowledge, opportunity, and peace reinforce one another.