Countdown to Clean Water in Alugude & Durbe

In the past few months in the ward of Alugube and Durbe, which is a collection of six smaller villages, there has been an unseasonably large amount of rain.  The weather has caused many of the existing paths and roads to wash away and there have been greater challenges reaching the few local sources of water.  These streams and rivers, which are normally 3-4 hours away by foot, have taken longer to reach as a result, as paths are slippery and extremely muddy!  Whilst the 'water' is plentiful, it is dirty, cloudy and polluted with debris that has slid into the natural sources from the surrounding terrain due to the heavy rain.  These circumstances have made the desire for local, clean water greater than ever before.

Ideally, every family would instead collect the rain in buckets and makeshift water buts as an alternative to women and girls spending many hours of their days collecting water.  This would be the best scenario to also prevent them from making a dangerous journey where mud slides and flooding are also possibilites.  However, due to the very low standard of living, many families do not have many (if any) extra buckets and large bottles that they can collect rain water in.  Historically most of the families in Alugude and Durbe instead spend much of their limited money on medicines when their family members have fallen ill from drinking contaminated water from polluted sources.  Few have had the opportunity to buy needed materials, tools or life-improving items, in anticipation of these increasingly challenging rainy periods.  Each day is spent just surviving, and there is little energy left to plan for the future.

Desperation is growing for the day when HOPE's staff and lorries arrive with the materials needed to build a new water system for their community.  April 2018 is the time that has been set for this life-changing work to start.  This is dependant upon the rain ceasing so that the community can first build a road that can support the weight of the lorries.  Money is also necessary before the work with start.  This is a policy of HOPE to ensure that each project can start with the confidence that each project can also finish!  The community deserves this assurance.

Like much of the world, unseasonal weather patterns are also becoming more common throughout Ethiopia.  Unpredictability is the only thing that is certain.  The budget for this project, however, is a definite.  Like all of HOPE's projects, three different suppliers have submitted quotes for the materials and HOPE's project manager has determined the best cost and supplier for each item.   The full budget is then drawn up, along with the agreement of the local community to contribute labour and local materials (sand, wood, etc.), which is approximately 10% of the total budget.  The remaining money will need to be raised over the next six months if the current plans are to go ahead.

HOPE UK is pursing a variety of fundraisers to ensure that this community of 1,986 can improve the quality of their lives and has a source of safe, local water.  Thank you for your donation and playing your part in this life-changing water project.  We, and that community, are grateful.  Help us to invite others to join this worthwhile pursuit!

Links:

• HOPE's website