German Church School
The German Church School (GCS) is a social project of the Evangelical community German language in Ethiopia in the capital Addis Ababa . Its beginnings go back to 1966 .
The school is the first and so far only integrative educational project in Ethiopia in which blind and sighted children are taught together. Classes at the school are reserved exclusively for Ethiopian children from the poorest families from the slum area surrounding the church . Only Ethiopian men and women are on the staff of the school.
A few aid organizations support the project. The school is mainly financially supported by the German-speaking Protestant community in Ethiopia and private donors in Europe and the USA . The financing is secured by arranging personal sponsorships for the school children as well as project sponsorships , donations and grants from aid organizations.
In 2004, the then German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and Eva Luise Köhler , Horst Köhler's wife, visited the school and paid tribute to the decades of work of the German-speaking Protestant community in Ethiopia, which is affiliated with the EKD .
In 2006, the partnership with the Friedrich-Ebert-Gymnasium from Sandhausen started. As part of this partnership, students from the FEG hold workshops in the German Church School and exchange ideas with their partner students.