From Ruins to Renewal: Inside a post-war primary school in Tigray, Ethiopia

When students at Adidaero Primary School in Tigray finally walked back through the gates after years of war and disruption, they found a place that no longer resembled a school. Classrooms were cracked and empty, desks and blackboards had vanished, and even water and toilets were gone. Yet their return also marked the beginning of a quiet rebuilding of their school, their confidence, and their dreams.

For Jerusalem Abale, an eighth grader who hopes to become a doctor, the shock was overwhelming. 

Her classmate Hailemariam Yera, who dreams of becoming an engineer, echoed the same loss and the same hope. 

The war left him two grades behind, emotionally shaken, and separated from friends. But rehabilitation has begun.

Healing the Scars of War

To their principal, Teacher Tewolde Zewde, the transformation is deeply personal. Standing in a school that once housed displaced families and broken walls, he remembers the silence, the loss, and the frustration of not being able to teach:

Teklebrihan Hailesilasse, PIN’s Project Manager, explains the goal clearly: 

Broken Walls, Unbroken Dreams

The revival of Adidaero Primary School is ongoing—classrooms remain to be built, a laboratory and library are missing, and students take exams written only on blackboards. 

But what stands stronger today are the voices of the children who refuse to give up their dreams, and the community committed to protecting their school. As one student said simply: 

With the funding from Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs, we are working towards meeting the educational needs of children in conflict affected areas of Ethiopia.