Economic Growth Ethiopia Project #21650

Bring clean water to an Ethiopian village of 1729

by HOPE International Development Agency

Project Report | Mar 24, 2016
THANK YOU! Clean water is on its way!

By Julie Cole | HOPE UK Fundraiser

HOPE holds a community meeting

Thank you so much for donating to HOPE during Global Giving's recent campaigns. We are pleased to announce that we have now reached our fundraising target and that the Kalebo Laka water project can proceed in May as planned. We are so pleased! Between your generous donations, Global Giving's matched funds and one large offline donation, HOPE UK is transferring the needed money for the upcoming water project to HOPE Ethiopia to begin buying the necessary materials.

Like all HOPE projects, construction work is proceeded with community meetings to discuss the logistics of the project and consult about the exact location of the water points and wash basins. In Kalebo Laka, the community has already agreed to provide the necessary labour for digging the pipe line trenches, site clearing and the transportation of construction materials. They will also provide local materials (sand, gravel, wood for fencing, etc). Shortly community meetings will also take place to elect 20 members for the Water Committee (10 men and 10 women) and 10 Water Caretakers (also 50% men and women). Training will be provided throughout the construction of the water system for both of these groups. Their involvement is essential for sustainability.

Presently HOPE Ethiopia is completing a water project in a nearby village to Kalebo Laka, funded by our partner, HOPE Japan. The attached photos from that village capture show what will soon be taking place in Kalabo Laka as well.

One difference, however, is that in Kalebo Laka HOPE is also planning to run a programme to invest in 200 women. Not only will they receive all the obvious benefits from living only five minutes from a source of clean water, but HOPE will also teach basic business skills and principles of saving and lending money over a 12 month period. These women - usually the least educated and most needy in the community - will volunteer to be placed into a Self Help Groups (SHGs) of 20 other women to support one another, learn together and lend money to each other for income generating activities. In the two villages where HOPE has recently piloted this work, the following has been reported, "Even though it is a very short time since we started the women empowerment intervention (less than a year), there are good indications of empowering SHG members to make decisions on issues that affect their social and economic lives. Almost all SHG members are engaged in income-generating activities as a group and individually, and have made strides towards positive change in gender relations in their households …". If you are interested in learning more about this complementary project in Kalebo Laka, please follow this link: http://www.globalgiving.co.uk/projects/start-shgs-for-200-women-in-kalebolaka/

In conclusion, we want to thank you again for your timely and generous contribution to HOPE's work in Kalebo Laka. We believe that access to clean water is a catalyst to transformational change. You have enabled this to happen in Kalebo Laka and we are grateful.

Villagers help dig into the source of the spring

Assistance digging the pipe line trench

Pipes ready to be laid to transport the cleanwater

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Dec 29, 2015
Thirsty for clean water in 2016

By Julie Cole | HOPE UK Fundraiser

Village leaders

Cooler and wetter weather has hit Kalebo Laka in recent weeks. Whilst there are tragic reports of famine and drought from the north of Ethiopia, the village leaders in Kalebo Laka are dealing with opposite weather conditions. This is consuming much energy and is raising fears that food supplies will be washed away. Of course, rain can be captured for drinking and cooking purposes but few families have enough necessary large, open-topped buckets for collecting the rain that is presently dominating their lives. These unexpected weather conditions have only increased the need for access to safe water in Kalebo Laka.

HOPE Ethiopia has a field staff team that has the capacity to deliver an increased number of water projects. The director has restructured the staff to maximise the delivery of water projects and the related education programmes to the villages that invite HOPE to work with them to build the infrastructure to access clean water in southwest Ethiopia. The staff is presently completing a project in Dorze Bele (see previous project on Global Giving) and will soon be ready to start work in another village. Funding is the only hindrance to more water projects being delivered in 2016.

Kalebo Laka has a population of 1729 and longs to be the next village where HOPE's work begins. The community longs to reduce the diseases contracted by drinking contaminated water as well as the walking distance and time spent fetching water, particularly for women and children. They are desperately thirsty for improved health and opportunities for education and income generating activities that will have a lasting effect on their community and will help them to make the needed steps out of poverty.

In addition to your kind donations, we are also applying for additional funding from UK-based foundations to assist with the needed funding to start this programme in Kalebo Laka at the earliest possible time. Events and other fundraisers are also being planned. Thank you for your assistance to move us closer to this goal. Like Dorze Bele, we long to see another community fully benefit from access to clean water and help themselves out of poverty.

Thank you again for your assistance in playing your part.

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