Many children and teens in the Tigray Region of northern Ethiopia returned to school this fall after being unable to attend for the last three or four years. Their schools, homes and communities were destroyed or devastated by war from November 2020 through November 2022.

As the Tigray People’s Liberation Front fought against the Ethiopian ­Defense Forces in a struggle for political power, many students fled their homes with their families. Some teens joined the fighters. Other students were killed or traumatized during the war.

“The devastation is hard to describe,” said Gidey Zerabruk, a member of Enda Ferensay Elementary School’s parent-teacher association. “Some families have lost everything, including their homes. Those who still have homes have lost children, and the economic situation has become crippling. Most can’t even afford daily meals, let alone school supplies.”

The Meserete Kristos Church Development Commission, a Mennonite church partner of Mennonite Central Committee in Ethiopia, distributed 15,000 MCC school kits to students in 65 Tigray schools in September. A kit contains notebooks, pencils, pens and colored pencils as well as a ruler, eraser and sharpener in a cloth bag.

Recipients were determined based on their level of vulnerability, including those without a father or sufficient income and those living in temporary shelter or with a disabled family member.

Kalkidan Fistum, 13, was a fatherless student who came to the school kit distribution held at Rama Secondary School in Rama Adi Arbate District.

“We didn’t have anything, and without the donations, our families would have had to borrow money to buy ­supplies for us,” Fistum said, adding that she was out of school for three or four years. “I felt terrible when I was sitting at home without attending school.”

Frewyni Abrahaley Teklay, 14, said she was glad to be back in school.

“I felt stuck at home, but I was afraid to leave because of the soldiers,” she said. “Now that school has resumed, I’m happy to see my friends again. . . . I want to be a pilot and help lift my community out of these difficult times.”

The school kits were donated by individuals, churches and groups in Canada and the U.S. Each school bag is individually sewn and commonly used as a backpack.

To encourage donations, MCC issued its second annual school kit challenge in August, with a goal of 24,000 kits. Donors exceeded the goal, donating 30,714. In 2023-24, MCC shipped 81,048 school kits to eight countries.

At the Ethiopian distribution, middle school teacher Memhir Adanech Mekonen said the students were traumatized by the war.

“They aren’t as hopeful as they once were, and many are injured. It’s hard to motivate them or even give them basic instructions,” Mekonen said. “Some have lost family members, so it’s impossible to expect them to be the same as before.”

Going back to school helps children with their trauma, and getting the kits has been good for morale, said Beriha ­Maasho, deputy administrator of Addisalem Elementary School in Woreda District.

“They [the students] are thrilled and very happy to receive this support,” Maasho said. “The parents are also very happy. Seeing their children so happy brings them joy. The entire community — teachers, students and parents — are grateful for any help.”