International Society of the Order of the Star of Ethiopia

Update:

With the end of 2024, we have closed this phase of the Ejersa Goro school renovation campaign. We kindly ask future donors to go to https://royalethiopiantrust.org/donate/ and make further donations in support of Jarso Primary School by earmarking their donation in the comments section of the donation.

We are grateful for your continued support!

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Ejersa Goro is a small town in eastern Ethiopia near the city of Harar. Ejersa Goro was the birthplace of Tafari Makonnen, the future Emperor Haile Selassie I.

Haile Selassie established Jarso Primary School there in 1960, but that school is now badly ruined, and in need of complete reconstruction.

Local officials have a reconstruction design and budget proposal for 8,385,172.49 Ethiopian birr (approximately $154,000 USD), but they lack access to the necessary funds. Local contracting firm Dereje, Andinat, and Partners Contractor Group has reviewed the town’s proposed design and agreed to their proposed budget.

On June 20, 2023, a meeting of local elders and town officials issued a formal request to the Ethiopian Crown Council to support reconstruction of Jarso Primary School.

Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie, President of the Crown Council, has pledged to raise $50,000 towards the reconstruction effort, which will cover the initial down-payment the town needs to provide the contractor to start construction. He asks for all supporters of the Ethiopian Crown to contribute to this effort.

The Crown Council will therefore oversee a GoFundMe fundraiser for the calendar year of 2024. This GoFundMe campaign will be operated by and send its proceeds to the International Society for the Imperial Ethiopian Orders, which is registered as a 501(c)3 in the United States of America as the International Society of the Order of the Star of Ethiopia. The International Society is working directly with education officials in Ejersa Goro, and will send all funds raised from this GoFundMe directly to local accounts in Ejersa Goro at the end of 2024. Any funds raised in excess of the initial $50,000 goal will go towards funding the $154,000 total budget.

His Imperial Highness Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie, together with the North American Supporters of the Renovation and Development Committee of Holy Trinity Cathedral, invites you to help him raise funds for the restoration of Holy Trinity Cathedral in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Menbere Tsebaot (“Altar of Victory”) Cathedral – more commonly known as Holy Trinity Cathedral – in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, is now eighty years old and in serious need of renovation. Built by His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie to serve as the Orthodox metropolitan Cathedral of the City of Addis Ababa, it serves as a monument to those who gave their lives to preserve Ethiopia’s sovereignty during the Fascist occupation, and beyond. It is the final resting place of Emperor Haile Selassie I, his wife Empress Menen, many other members of the Ethiopian Imperial family, three patriarchs of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, and numerous patriot leaders of the occupation era, as well as other prominent members of Ethiopian civil and military society. The Cathedral is where Patriarchs of the Orthodox Church are enthroned, and where Bishops are consecrated. The Cathedral is notable not only as a major religious institution, but is a national institution, and a historic, cultural, and architectural landmark. Its preservation is of great importance to the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, the City of Addis Ababa, and the Ethiopian nation.

The Cathedral administration has organized a Renovation and Development Committee and begun much-needed repairs. Over the past eight decades, extensive structural damage, water damage, and damage to the murals and stained-glass windows have been sustained; there is a need to replace the electrical system; and a need to renovate the crypt under the church where the tombs of the Imperial family are located. The renovation work is already underway at the hands of one of the most reputable construction firms in Ethiopia. However, it is not fully funded, and the Cathedral has launched a major fundraising campaign to meet the shortfall.

Cathedral hierarchy and the Renovation and Development Committee have appointed His Imperial Highness Prince Ermias to serve as an official ambassador in this fundraising effort. Every dollar you donate will go towards the Cathedral's renovation campaign and help to preserve the age-old bonds between the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and the Ethiopian Crown.

We are members of the International Society of the Order of the Star of Ethiopia, and are organizing this fundraiser at the request of Prince Ermias, the Patron of the Society and President of the Ethiopian Crown Council. The Society is a 501(c)3 registered in Alexandria, Virginia. Your donations will be tax-deductible. All proceeds from this campaign will go directly from the Society to the Cathedral renovation committee.

ልዑል ኤርምያስ ሣህለ ሥላሴ ከቅድስት ሥላሴ እድሳት እና ልማት ኮሚቴ የሰሜን አሜሪካ ደጋፊዎች ጋር በመሆን በአዲስ አበባ ኢትዮጵያ የሚገኘውን በታላቁ መንበረ ጸባዖት ቅድስት ሥላሴ ካቴድራል ለሚደረገው እድሳት መዋጮ እንዲረድዋቸው ጥሪያቸውን በትህትና ያቀርባሉ።

መንበረ ጸባዖት (ድል አድራጊው መንበር) ከተሰራ አሁን ሰማንያ ዓመት ሞልቶት ከፍተኛ እድሳት ያሰፈልገዋል። በግርማዊ ቀዳማዊ አፄ ኃይለ ሥላሴ ለአዲስ አበባ ከተማ ዋናው ኦርቶዶክሳዊ ካቴድራል እንዲሆን ተሰርቶ በፋሺስት ዘመንና ከዛም ብሗላ ለአገራቸው ነፃት ለተዋደቁ መታሰብያቸው ሆኖ ያገለግላል። ግርማዊ ቀዳማዊ አፄ ኃይለ ሥላሴ፤ ባለቤታቸው ግርማዊት እቴጌ መነን አስፋው፤ ሌሎች የንጉሣዊያን ቤተሰብ አባላት፤ ሦስት የኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋህዶ ቤተ ክርስቲያን ፓትርያርኮች፤ በፋሺስት ጣልያን ወረራ ግዜ የተፋለሙ ታላላቅ አርበኞች፤ ሌሎችም ታዋቂ ሲቪል እና ወታደራዊ የአገር ባለውለታ ሰዎች መቃብራቸው በዚህ ታላቅ ካቴድራል ይገኛል። ይህ ታላቅ ካቴድራል የፓትርያርኮች እና የጳጳሳት ሲመት የሚፈጸምበት ቅዱስ ስፍራ ነው። ይህ ካቴድራል ታላቅ የሐይማኖት ተቋም ብቻ ሳይሆን አገር አቀፍ፤ ባህላዊ፤ ታሪካዊ እና አርኪቴክታዊ ቅርጽ ነው። የዚህ ካቴድራል እድሳት ለቤተ ክርስቲያን ብቻ ሳይሆን ለአዲስ አበባ ከተማ እና ለመላው አገራችን ኢትዮጵያን ትልቅ ፋይዳ አለው።

የካቴድራሉ አስተዳደር የእድሳት እና ልማት ኮሚቴ አደራጅቶ የእድሳቱን ስራ ጀምሯል። በ80 ዓመት ውስጥ ሕንጻው ብዙ የውሃ ጉዳት፤ የግንብ እና የምሰሶዎች መሰነጣጠቅ፤ የስዕሎችና የመስኮቶች መጎዳት ደርሶበታል። የኢሌክትሪክ ሲስተሙና የንጉሣዊያን ቤተሰብ መካነ መቃብር የሚገኝበት ምድር ቤትም ሰፊ እድሳት ይፈልጋሉ። የእድሳቱ ስራ በኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ ካሉት ታዋቂ ነባር የመሃንዲስ ድርጅቶች አንዱ ተጀምሯል። ሆኖም ለእድሳቱ የሚያስፈልገው ገንዘብ በሙሉ ባለመኖሩ የእድሳት ኮሚቴው የማሰባሰቡን ስራ በሰፊው ጀምረዋል።

የካቴድራሉ አስተዳደር እና የእድሳት እና ልማት ኮሚቴ አንድ ላይ በመሆን ልዑል ኤርምያስን የእድሳት መዋጮ አምባሳደር አርገው ሾመዋቸዋል። እዚህ ከምትሰጡት ስጦታ አንድም ሳንቲም ሳይቀነስ ሙሉ ስጦታችሁ ለካቴድራሉ እድሳት እንደሚሰጥ እንደሚሰጥ እና ይሄም ከጥንት ጀምሮ በኢትዮጵያ ዘውድ እና በኦርቶዶክሳዊት ቤተ ክርስቲያን መካከል የኖረውን ትስስር ያረጋግጣል።

እኛ የዓለም አቀፍ የኢትዮጵያ ክብር ኮከብ ሊሻን ማህበር አባላት በዚህ መዋጮ ይምንሳተፈው በልዑልነታቸው ጥያቄ ሲሆን፤ የድርጅታችን የበላይ ጠባቂ እና የኢትዮጵያ ዘውድ ምክርቤት ፕራዜዳንት ናቸው። ድርጅታችን በቨርጂኒያ ስቴት አሌክሳንድርያ ከተማ የተመዘገበ 501(c)3 ከትርፍ ነፃ የሆነ በጎ አድራጎት ድርጅት በመሆኑ ስጦታችሁ በአሜሪካ ከግብር (ታክስ) ያስቀንሳል። የሚሰበሰበው ገንዘብ በሙሉ ለካቴድራሉ እድሳት ኮሚቴ እንደሚሰጥ እናረጋግጣለን።