By Dick Moeller

We depart from our hotel about 8:00 am for a more leisurely day after a jam packed one yesterday. We have three projects to visit today, but because they are in opposite directions from Axum, our group divides with Eric, Aman and Sibo going to two of the more difficult locations and the rest of us taking the bus to the third project at Mai Liham which is a spring protection system.

We arrive at the site with water committee waiting to meet with us to express their thankfulness for the project. The community was already actively using the project this morning and it has been functional with out problems for about 5 months. The project serves about 65 households, approximately 375 beneficiaries.

This project supports a cattle trough extension for the farmer’s livestock. It is located about 50 yards away from the water point itself to keep it free from contamination and is very actively used.

At the project site, we get to meet and discuss with Aleman, the spring system technician and field coordinator for REST. She is shown in the picture above along with the other women who made the trek down to the water point. She has overseen the construction of the project and works to mobilize the community for sanitation training and sustainability of the project. We learn from our discussion with REST, that they have a total of 30 spring system technicians, of which 25 are women, an awesome example for the communities.

The community invites us to share some food with them, including some coffee, ambasha bread and popcorn. They have broken some small leaf branches from nearby trees to make us a nice “cushy” seat on the rocks.
After the site visit, we set out for our four hour drive to the Gheralta Lodge. The drive will take us through the beautiful mountains around Adwa and Adigrat. We even get to enjoy a couple of mountain rain showers that cool things off. As this is planting time for the farmers, the rain will be a welcome boost to their crops.

We had arrived at the Gheralta Lodge about 4:30, giving everyone some time to walk around the compound to enjoy the tranquility and beauty of this place. Each of the buildings is designed to fit in with the natural rock formations in the surrounding area, as well as the local housing.

One of the most pleasing scenic views includes the rather large boulders which are on one side of the property. From the site one can see the Gheralta Mountain in the distance, and four Orthodox churches in the expanse of the valley.
The lodge is located on property which has its own organic garden, and serves excellent meals in pleasant surroundings. We are all eager for dinner meal which will include all the green salad that we can eat!

 By Dick Moeller

We depart from our hotel about 8:00 am for a more leisurely day after a jam packed one yesterday. We have three projects to visit today, but because they are in opposite directions from Axum, our group divides with Eric, Aman and Sibo going to two of the more difficult locations and the rest of us taking the bus to the third project at Mai Liham which is a spring protection system.

We arrive at the site with water committee waiting to meet with us to express their thankfulness for the project. The community was already actively using the project this morning and it has been functional with out problems for about 5 months. The project serves about 65 households, approximately 375 beneficiaries.

This project supports a cattle trough extension for the farmer’s livestock. It is located about 50 yards away from the water point itself to keep it free from contamination and is very actively used.

At the project site, we get to meet and discuss with Aleman, the spring system technician and field coordinator for REST. She is shown in the picture above along with the other women who made the trek down to the water point. She has overseen the construction of the project and works to mobilize the community for sanitation training and sustainability of the project. We learn from our discussion with REST, that they have a total of 30 spring system technicians, of which 25 are women, an awesome example for the communities.

The community invites us to share some food with them, including some coffee, ambasha bread and popcorn. They have broken some small leaf branches from nearby trees to make us a nice “cushy” seat on the rocks.
After the site visit, we set out for our four hour drive to the Gheralta Lodge. The drive will take us through the beautiful mountains around Adwa and Adigrat. We even get to enjoy a couple of mountain rain showers that cool things off. As this is planting time for the farmers, the rain will be a welcome boost to their crops.

We had arrived at the Gheralta Lodge about 4:30, giving everyone some time to walk around the compound to enjoy the tranquility and beauty of this place. Each of the buildings is designed to fit in with the natural rock formations in the surrounding area, as well as the local housing.

One of the most pleasing scenic views includes the rather large boulders which are on one side of the property. From the site one can see the Gheralta Mountain in the distance, and four Orthodox churches in the expanse of the valley.
The lodge is located on property which has its own organic garden, and serves excellent meals in pleasant surroundings. We are all eager for dinner meal which will include all the green salad that we can eat!