"We can do no great things, only small things with great love."
Mother Teresa
"We can do no great things, only small things with great love."
Mother Teresa
Yirgaalem is one of the oldest towns in the southern part of Ethiopia and it used to be the capital city of the then Sidamo region. During that period the first comprehensive high school, the first Norwegian Evangelical elementary and secondary school and the first modern hospital in the southern part of Ethiopia were established in Yirgaalem. The development of Yirgaalem began to slow down when it lost its status of being the regional capital city to Hawassa in 1967 and its status of Zonal town again to Hawassa in the beginning of the 1990’s. Such administrative measures forced various institutions to relocate to Hawassa minimising the resources that should be allocated to the infrastructural development of Yirgaalem. Despite this Yirgaalem and its surrounding villages along with neighbouring districts continue to produce one of the best coffee brands in the world, the Sidama coffee, contributing to the wider economy of Ethiopia.
Demographically the Sidama zone in general and Yirgaalem and its adjacent villages in particular are among one of the fastest growing in the country, thus making it difficult to meet the growing demands of school places for children. Prior to the involvement of the Yirgaalem Appeal Trust (the Children of Yirgaalem appeal Trust) it was even harsher for the poor families living in and around Yirgaalem to send their kids to school due to lack of spaces as well as their inability to fund for educational materials and school uniforms for their children. The first badge of visitors (later trustees) travelled to Yirgaalem in 2004 with Dereje Retta Geleta, (a naturalised British citizen who grew up, studied and worked in the town). This was more or less a fact finding mission led by qualified social workers from the Home finding and fostering Agency, UK. The trip was sponsored by Terry Casey the managing director of the Homefinding and Fostering Agency and headed by Glyn Charlton.
The group, having carried out its assessment, was convinced that there were thousands of children in the town who aspire to go to school but unable to do so due to lack of resources. It was agreed to set up a Charity, The Yirgaalem Appeal Trust, whose aim it is to fill this gap and provide educational opportunities to some of the children of Yirgaalem.
Mark specialises in the rural business, agriculture, horticulture, food manufacture, education and healthcare industries as well as supporting organisations from a wide range of sectors to develop and deliver impactful sustainability and ESG strategies.
As one of the authors of the firm’s Dynamic ESG service suite, Mark is well placed to guide business leaders through the process of integrating environmental, social and governance considerations into their operations with an emphasis on measurable outcomes and RoI.
Mark has worked in both the public sector and private enterprise, bringing a dedication and enthusiasm to the unique challenges each provides. With an auditor’s eye for detail, he has become known for his sharp insights and capacity for business transformation.
Mark has won numerous awards for his work including National Finance Director of the Year 2007, the ICAEW’s National Accounting for Sustainability award in 2012, Finance Director magazine’s National Business Finance Director 2014, the Institute for Fiscal Turnaround’s Public Sector Award 2016 and the Institute of Directors’ Blue Ribbon for Governance and Finance Excellence in 2018.
He is also a trustee of a charity delivering education in Ethiopia, a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Fruiterers, a Member of the Guild of Freemen and a Member of the CBI’s South East Council. Mark re-joined MHA again in 2019 having originally trained here in 1997.
Glyn Charlton
Glyn spent the early years of his life in practical agriculture until he was fortunate enough to be engaged by Unilever in their subsidiary BOCM Silcock as a cattle specialist. In 1994, he started his own buying cooperative called the SKS Dairy Group which included a large percentage of dairy farmers in Kent and Surrey. Since retiring early in 2002, Glyn has been a Parish Councillor in both Tovil and East Farleigh and Chaired them both for several years. Glyn was Governor of Hadlow College for 10 years retiring in 2014. Glyn is still a trustee of East Farleigh Allotment Association, East Farleigh Recreation Field and The Yirgaalem Children’s Appeal Trust based in Ethiopia. He was Finance Director of the Kent County Agricultural Society for 9 years retiring in 2016 during which time the society enhanced the exhibition capacity to ensure there could always be a county show.
Currently still a Parish Councillor in East Farleigh and enjoys travel to new places which originally gave him the opportunity to visit Yirgaalem at the very outset of the charities work and has been involved throughout the entire project visiting Yirgaalem 6 times and incorporating the visits with sightseeing in some of the more historical sights in the north of Ethiopia.
Dereje Retta Geleta
“I grew up in Yirgaalem. Studied and worked locally before leaving for Europe at the age of 28. In the UK I spent most of my working life supporting and helping unaccompanied minors and mainstream young people in my capacity as a social worker and manager in the organisation I set up and as a consultant to the Homefindiing and Fostering Agency.
When I traveled back to Ethiopia in 2004 I decided to provide educational materials to 30 disadvantaged students selected from my old schools in memory of my late mother Abebech Feyissa. The Director of the Homefinding and fostering Agency, Terry Casey, was sincerely moved by my humble intention and decided to sponsor a fact finding group to Yirgaalem, which laid the foundation for the inception of The Yirgaalem Appeal Trust – A Charity dedicated to helping the children of Yirgaalem and its adjacent villages.
Over the last decade the Charity built a school,which was named after my late mother, helped the expansion of at least two schools and supported various projects locally. I can only say how privileged I am to have come across such wonderful British individuals and institutions committed to working with children of Yirgaalem. Hope the good work will continue in the future so that we can reduce the burden of poverty by providing access to education to thousands of children.”