Meet Aregay!

My Role as a Hydrogeologist:

Greetings from Tigray! My name is Aregay, and I am the Hydrogeologist for The Relief Society of Tigray (REST). I survey the areas in which we implement wells within the rural regions of Tigray to ensure the well will produce water for many years to come! My role within this agency is critical, and I am very proud and honored to be a part of such an amazing organization!

My Why:

I grew up in a rural community in Tigray, so I know firsthand what life without clean water access is like. I spent many years facing the hardships and dangers of walking for water. I remember waking up very early in the morning to collect water with the other young girls in my village before heading off to school. Sometimes, there would be hyenas at our local water source, and so we would have to hide and wait for them to leave before we could safely gather water for our families. This caused us to be tardy for class which was unavoidable. Unfortunately, we would be punished for our tardiness, resulting in hours of physical labor. This involved collecting rocks to assist with the school building repairs. We would spend all day after school enduring our punishment. After this we often needed, once more, to collect water. This needed to be done before sundown when the hyenas and other dangerous wild animals would arrive at the water source.

I consider myself lucky because I know many young girls and women in other regions have endured a lot of sexual harassment and abduction during their long walks for water. For me it was more of an issue of physical safety from the wild animals and the exhaustion of enduring long laboring hours of punishment from being tardy for class.

Despite my adversity and struggles, I studied hard and earned good grades, allowing me to be accepted into a university! With the chance at a higher education, I knew I wanted to one day give back to my home community. I often thought of the young girls gathering water daily, risking their lives for their families as I did. I was determined to provide a better life for them and future generations.

Once I began working for REST, I was able to take on my first project, a well for my home community! This was extremely exciting for me, and I was overcome with immense joy.

The women and girls of my town are now able to enjoy a life of blessings thanks to the generous donors of Water to Thrive and the passionate support of REST. Together we are accomplishing such great things, and I am beyond grateful and honored to be a part of such meaningful transformations.

Aregay Gebremedhin