The Aysanew Kassa Trust was set up in memory of Aysanew Kassa, affectionately known as Aysan, who lived in Azezo, a district of Gondar in the Amhara region of Ethiopia. From an early age Aysan was aware of the importance of education to the people of his village. When his life as a lawyer took him away from his community and Ethiopia, he did all he could to ensure that Azezo's poorer children were given the opportunity to complete their education.

In 1991, Aysan married Jean Bailey and during her first trip to Ethiopia she visited the Azezo High School library, discovering that for 2,000 students it contained only 50 very old and largely irrelevant books. During the next two years Aysan and Jean sent over 600 kg of educational books to the school. Thus began the Azezo education project: a small fund that provided pens, exercise books and a small monthly stipend to enable poor students to complete their high school education.

Aysan sadly passed away in 2000 and The Aysanew Kassa Trust was set up to continue his work and fulfil his dream of changing lives and achieving sustainable development through education