Today we return to the same area with our implementing partners, Glimmer of Hope and REST, where we visited projects yesterday. It is a short drive from Makale to the project area so we are able to visit 6 different projects today.  Five of the projects (Adisenbet, Melhs, Mai Chaeda, Gereb Chegebna, Mai Chachaeta) are completed and supplying clean safe water to their communities. One (Mai Ere) is a hand dug well under construction, due to be finished in two to three weeks.  Too many to give you details on each one, so today I will provide some of the highlights of the day.

 

 

On the way to our first project, we pass this typical home for this region. You can see it is made with the most common material available, stone.  Also in the hot dry months, the stone will retain some of the night’s cool temperatures. The flat building is the primary living area and the building with the pointed top is probably for storage and cooking.  The compound is fenced with stone and the farmer will use the space inside the fence to store crops and well as keeping livestock at night.

 

 

One of the strongest memories that I will have of today’s visit to the field is the generous spirit of the communities. Each of the communities expressed their thankfulness and gratitude for the blessing of clean water, not only verbally, but with local food to share with our party. The community at Adisenbet was especially generous…..check out the picture above. Starting clockwise from under the pump handle….ambasa bread, tomatoes, carrots, boiled eggs, coffee, popcorn and roasted grain kernels.  This generosity defines the gracious spirit of the Ethiopia people so well!

 

 

We met and discussed with Water Committees at all six sites.  All are functioning well and have their bank accounts open.  As this is harvest time, they expect more contributions as the farmers sell their harvest at market.  In at least one community, the farmers are giving a portion of their harvest to the committee so they can sell it to put the money in the bank. The picture above is the Water Committee at Gereb Chegebna.  The woman on the right is the chairperson…..3 of the six Water Committees today are chaired by women!

 

 

We had the joy of meeting a lot of children at Mai Chaeda.  The water project is located very near a primary school and the children were let out to greet our traveling party. They met us with singing, clapping and a long line of jerry cans, ready to be filled with clean water. They also got to share in some of the food that had been prepared. This community had prepared a full meal for REST crew working in the area……greatly appreciated by the group near noon time!

 

 

The final projected we visited today was a hand dug well under construction at Mai Ere.  You can see from the picture that the crew has started the final concrete work at the surface level, where the pump will be eventually placed. This crew is working on two hand dug wells and one rehabilitation of a hand dug well in this immediate area. Mai Ere should be finished within the next two to three weeks.

Today is bitter sweet in some ways…..these six projects are the last for this trip.  Tomorrow I will be meeting our partner Oromia Development Association near Addis to visit an area that is in need of projects like these.  God willing, we will be bringing the bountiful, overflowing blessing of clean water to those communities in the coming months!

 

Today we return to the same area with our implementing partners, Glimmer of Hope and REST, where we visited projects yesterday. It is a short drive from Makale to the project area so we are able to visit 6 different projects today.  Five of the projects (Adisenbet, Melhs, Mai Chaeda, Gereb Chegebna, Mai Chachaeta) are completed and supplying clean safe water to their communities. One (Mai Ere) is a hand dug well under construction, due to be finished in two to three weeks.  Too many to give you details on each one, so today I will provide some of the highlights of the day.

 

 

On the way to our first project, we pass this typical home for this region. You can see it is made with the most common material available, stone.  Also in the hot dry months, the stone will retain some of the night’s cool temperatures. The flat building is the primary living area and the building with the pointed top is probably for storage and cooking.  The compound is fenced with stone and the farmer will use the space inside the fence to store crops and well as keeping livestock at night.

 

 

One of the strongest memories that I will have of today’s visit to the field is the generous spirit of the communities. Each of the communities expressed their thankfulness and gratitude for the blessing of clean water, not only verbally, but with local food to share with our party. The community at Adisenbet was especially generous…..check out the picture above. Starting clockwise from under the pump handle….ambasa bread, tomatoes, carrots, boiled eggs, coffee, popcorn and roasted grain kernels.  This generosity defines the gracious spirit of the Ethiopia people so well!

 

 

We met and discussed with Water Committees at all six sites.  All are functioning well and have their bank accounts open.  As this is harvest time, they expect more contributions as the farmers sell their harvest at market.  In at least one community, the farmers are giving a portion of their harvest to the committee so they can sell it to put the money in the bank. The picture above is the Water Committee at Gereb Chegebna.  The woman on the right is the chairperson…..3 of the six Water Committees today are chaired by women!

 

 

We had the joy of meeting a lot of children at Mai Chaeda.  The water project is located very near a primary school and the children were let out to greet our traveling party. They met us with singing, clapping and a long line of jerry cans, ready to be filled with clean water. They also got to share in some of the food that had been prepared. This community had prepared a full meal for REST crew working in the area……greatly appreciated by the group near noon time!

 

 

The final projected we visited today was a hand dug well under construction at Mai Ere.  You can see from the picture that the crew has started the final concrete work at the surface level, where the pump will be eventually placed. This crew is working on two hand dug wells and one rehabilitation of a hand dug well in this immediate area. Mai Ere should be finished within the next two to three weeks.

Today is bitter sweet in some ways…..these six projects are the last for this trip.  Tomorrow I will be meeting our partner Oromia Development Association near Addis to visit an area that is in need of projects like these.  God willing, we will be bringing the bountiful, overflowing blessing of clean water to those communities in the coming months!