A Bright Vision for the Children of Ethiopia

Preschool has long been out of reach for children in rural Ethiopia. But thanks to an education movement spearheaded by our local partner — and the support of Holt sponsors and donors — over 34,000 children living in impoverished rural communities of Ethiopia are now receiving the early education they need to set them up for long-term success.

Inside a preschool classroom in southern Ethiopia, children huddle for a photo. Their feet are bare, their smiles are big, and one of them leans in to kiss their teacher — a young, joyful woman in bright red lipstick and a starch white lab coat — on the cheek.

The room is as bright and full of joy as the children and their teacher, with colorful child-sized desks and apple green walls adorned with posters, drawings and a laminated map of Africa. It looks like it could be a preschool classroom anywhere in the world. But until recently, children in this rural Ethiopian village did not have a preschool to attend. Most of their parents work as subsistence farmers, living off what they can grow on small plots of land. Before this school opened, the children of this community would spend their days at home, doing chores and helping to tend their family farms.  

“In this region and in many regions of Ethiopia, preschool is not widely available,” explains Malia Robello, Holt’s senior program manager for Ethiopia. “Historically, preschool was not prioritized by government schools and, especially in rural settings, families could not access any early childhood education.”

But when our local partner KTZ-OVC opened this early childhood education center with Holt’s support in 2025, families were eager to enroll their children — and the children were excited to learn and play together all day at school. The preschool is part of a larger compound that our partner was awarded by the government — providing ample space to expand the family strengthening, economic empowerment and education programs they provide to families and children in the surrounding community with the support of Holt sponsors and donors. Dubbed the “Bright Vision Center,” the compound truly embodies the spirit of its name — creating a bright vision for children and families in rural Ethiopia, especially in the area of early childhood education.

“At the heart of the Bright Vision Center is the Kembata Education Reform Movement,” explains Malia. Spearheaded by KTZ-OVC in March 2025, the movement builds upon the work Holt Ethiopia and our local partner have already done to expand preschool access for children living in rural, underserved communities. Together, Holt Ethiopia and KTZ-OVC helped to establish preschool classrooms in government primary schools across the southern region — all designed around a best-practice model of early education.

“Over the past seven years, Holt Ethiopia and our partners have introduced an evidence-based model [that] incorporates best practices in early childhood education,” explains Malia. “It uses a developmentally appropriate teaching curriculum, and it equips the schools and the teachers to set up these early learners for success.”

The reform movement furthers these efforts by bringing in government and community stakeholders — creating a coalition to help move specific reforms through and, ultimately, elevate the schools in these remote, rural communities to Ethiopia’s national education standards.

“Ultimately, the goal of the Bright Vision Center is to bring governments, the schools, churches, all the local NGOs together to learn from each other and make the necessary reforms to improve educational access,” Malia says.

But none of these efforts would be possible without Holt supporters who share the same bright vision for the children of Ethiopia — sponsors and donors who provide the material support children need to learn, from books, pens and paper to desks, uniforms and chairs, and help fund the trainings and other resources schools need to successfully implement Holt Ethiopia’s best-practice early education model.

With your support, over 34,000 children living in impoverished rural communities of Ethiopia are now receiving the early education they need to achieve long-term success in school — and one day, overcome poverty.

See photos and read more about the life-changing difference you’re making for preschool children in Ethiopia:

 “At the heart of the Bright Vision Center is the Kembata Education Reform Movement,” explains Malia. Spearheaded by KTZ-OVC in March 2025, the movement builds upon the work Holt Ethiopia and our local partner have already done to expand preschool access for children living in rural, underserved communities. Together, Holt Ethiopia and KTZ-OVC helped to establish preschool classrooms in government primary schools across the southern region — all designed around a best-practice model of early education.
“This girl was really excited and earnest and sweet as she stood to recite her lesson,” says Malia, who recently visited Holt programs in Ethiopia, including this school that Holt helped build more than 15 years ago in partnership with a local church and Holt sponsors and donors. It started as a three-room schoolhouse and now serves students from Pre-K through Eighth Grade.
Every year, children at our partner schools receive new textbooks and school supplies thanks to Holt sponsors and donors.
Recently, the early childhood education rooms at one of our partner schools were painted, furnished with child-sized furniture, and stocked with Montessori-aligned learning materials.
After Holt developed an early education program at this school, the community helped expand it to serve older children as well. “Holt’s investments in teacher training, early education program development and ongoing school support have created stability and attracted additional community and government support. The success of this model has enabled us to engage more than 200 government schools to establish preschool classrooms based on Holt’s best practices — helping children make a strong transition into primary school. This kind of public-private collaboration deepens our impact and helps every dollar of support go further,” says Malia.
One of the features of the Bright Vision Center is a manufacturing facility where they produce all of the materials and furnishings for preschool classrooms, including child-sized desks, tables and chairs as well as games, toys and other learning materials. “Cost was always a barrier. And most of the time, teachers would spend months making their own teaching supplies using local materials like clay and anything that they could access locally. … So producing these materials at the center really ensures that the schools have the resources they need to deliver effective lessons under the curriculum,” Malia says.
“At the heart of Bright Vision Center is the Kambata Education Reform Movement. And the movement is primarily about improving educational access, but also it aims to strengthen how education is delivered,” Malia says. With your support, over 34,000 children living in impoverished rural communities of Ethiopia are now receiving the early education they need to set them up for long-term success.
Little girl smiling in a classroom looking at the camera.

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