Clean water and new skills for Garadida

Since our last report on the Garadida water, sanitation and livelihood skills project, the community continues to appreciate, enjoy and experience an improved quality of life further to having access to local, clean water. HOPE has continued to invest in the community through the implementation of our health education and livelihood skills training for women components of work.  Along with the new agricultural skills training and environmental protection work, these will continue until the 24-month project is complete, in early 2022.  As new skills are practiced and changed behaviours are embedded, HOPE anticipates that there will be more evidence of improved lives and increased hope for the future. Thank you for your contribution to this life-changing project!

Below is one example of a changed life.  Solele is one of the members of Edget Self Help Group (SHG) in Garadida:

Solele is 45 years old and the leader of her SHG.  Since the completion of the water system in Garadida, clean water access has improved the quality of her life.  Solele says that her family and all of her community are now much better protected from waterborne diseases, because they no longer drink and use frequently contaminated water from open sources. No longer is diarrhea, trachoma, cholera affecting the community on a regular basis.  Instead, they are sourcing safe water just minutes from their homes from the new local water points and they are practicing improved sanitation habits and personal hygiene. Prior to HOPE's involvement, there were not any pit latrines in Garadida and the health post did not have access to clean water and women's health, in particular, suffered as a result. Now, however, everyone is washing their clothing, crockery and selves more frequently, leading to improved general health and well being.  They are also consciously washing their hands carefully and often, as instructed in the COVID-19 prevention training that they received from the outset of the project.  Whilst there have been no confirmed cases of COVID locally, this training raised their awareness of the need to protect themselves and others.

Women, like Solele and all within her SHG, are saving money weekly and are now running their own income generating activity.  For Solele, her weekly savings is 5 birr for regular saving and she also weekly contributes 2 birr to a collective social fund, available for emergency needs, like paying for a funeral.  Solele started a small business purchasing and reselling onions in the local market. She took out a 500 birr loan from her group to increase the initial capital needed to start her business.  She now has generated a 545 birr profit and will soon have repaid her initial loan.  She now has plans (and the confidence) for her next business venture!

Solele and her group members explained that they have benefited greatly from the SHG program -  economically and socially.  In addition, the social interaction and communal work habits have improved; the group members are the agents of development work in the village and they are models to other women who are not in an SHG.

Starting in the second year of the project, HOPE will work with the community to build a local dam and plant 15,000 trees. It will be a gabion stone check dam, which will be built primarily as an erosion control measure.  They will use box-shaped metal frames, called gabion boxes (or baskets) that are filled with stones.  Gabion boxes are advantageous because they are quick to construct, flexible, tolerate movement, and are permeable to water, providing good drainage.  Gabions offer an easy-to-use method for decreasing water velocity and protecting slopes from erosion. In addition, the roots of trees also provide needed soil stability and as the trees grow, they absorb and store carbon dioxide emissions that are contributing to changing weather patterns. Not only will planting these 15,000 trees benefit the Garadida area, but it is part of the government’s wider initiative to the ‘greening’ of Ethiopia and climate-resilient growth, aiming to reverse the effects of both damaging farming techniques and climate change.  This environmental protection component of the Garadida project is new and best protects the community from any severe weather damage that could reverse the significant development further to the implementation of the water system and livelihood skills training.  

HOPE UK is now raising funds for our next water, sanitation and livelihood skills project in the neighbouring community of Markala.  This is a smaller community, but one that is also desperate for clean water access.  They also long to have a bright future.  Do give to help HOPE bring them hope for their future as well.  

In these challenging times, we welcome innovative means to raise money and greatly appreciate introductions to community groups (churches, schools, etc), plus small and large companies that would like to see a clear impact of their donations. Similarly, many companies have Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) objectives, aims and sometimes, grant-giving Foundations, but charities need to be nominated to be considered.  Remember HOPE if this is the case in your spheres of influence!  We value your ongoing support of HOPE's work and look forward to hearing from you.