Keynote Remarks to Nazareth School from Ms. Sophia Bekele

Jan. 5, 2015 – ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — Addis Ababa Ethiopia.  Founder of DCA Trust was invited to make a Keynote address at the Diamond Jubilee – 60th Anniversary celebration of the Nazareth School, held at the Sheraton Hotel, Addis Ababa Ethiopia on January 3rd 2015.. Ms. Bekele’s remarks can be found below.

Honoured Guests, Alumna of Nazareth School, Academic Leaders, Students & Parents of Nazareth School, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen:

I am deeply honored and thank you for inviting me to make this keynote remark. It is with great pleasure that I send this goodwill message to the 60th anniversary celebration to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee of Nazareth School.

I am unavoidably absent because of scheduling conflicts at this time of the year, but I really wish I could attend this grand occasion in Addis Ababa. Therefore, I thank our school principal the Hon. Brother Betre Fisseha for presenting  the below remarks on my behalf.

Let me begin by congratulating Nazareth School for attaining 60 years since it was founded as an institution for the training of young girls and women. This is an important milestone that is worth celebrating, especially all the important achievements that have been registered over the past 60 years.

As an Alumna of Nazareth School, I am indeed proud of my early association with our great school which has a very impressive history.  I am sure that the other Alumna are also very proud of our Alma Mater – a school that is devoted to the proper development of the moral character of young girls and women; as well as equipping them with the right academic and skills training they need to pursue fulfillment in different spheres of life.

For successfully sustaining this mission during the past 60 years, I wish to also pay tribute to those who had the vision to establish the school, and all the principals and teachers that have served the school since it was founded.

Therefore, allow me to also use this opportunity to mention that the dream of female youth education is one that we must all work hard to realize. An educated girl is already empowered, since she can pursue her life goals independently.  As young girls and women, we must continue to assert our rights to a good education.

At the beginning of December 2014, Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani young girl became the co-winner of the Nobel Prize for Peace award. We may all recall that she had been shot by the Pakistani Taliban who did not want girls in that country to be educated; but Malala Yousafzai did not accept the intimidation of those who want to restrict access of girls to education, and decided to oppose the Taliban. Her life story will continue to inspire many people in the years to come.

For those of us who received our formative academic experience from Nazareth School, this occasion is also an important time to give back to the school.

Therefore, towards assisting the objectives of the organizers to solicit support and harness resources for the development of Nazareth School, I wish to, on behalf of myself, and on behalf of the organizations that I lead, namely DotConnectAfrica Trust (DCA Trust) and DCA Registry Services Ltd., to make the following contributions: