Water to Thrive founder Dick Moeller has been visiting water projects throughout Ethiopia this month, each from a different time in our ten years of service. Here is his report from Axum.

Saturday June 9

Today we say goodbye to our partners in Tigray, REST, after 5 days of field visits to projects.  But before we catch our airplane, we managed to squeeze in one last project (Mai Mekan) this morning very near Axum, built in 2010, overlooking the city.

Some community and water committee members met us and we leaned that the project has performed well and provided clean water for the community with no major issues.  You can see Axum in the background behind the women pumping water.

During our visit in 2010, the project was still under construction and the community was sharing an open, contaminated well with the animals. The open well is nearby and still provides a good supply of water for the livestock.

 

Every community we visit expresses their gratitude and thanks for the blessing of clean water. Here the community shares some fresh popcorn with our group before heading to the airport.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once  on the plane, we sat on the runway about an hour because of rainy weather in Gondar. We landed with no problem…..but by the time we got to the hotel, the sky open up again……heavy heavy rain for about 30 minutes and then light rain the rest of the afternoon…..after a late lunch, we decided to relax instead of fighting the rain in the field. Our most exciting moment of the afternoon came when lightning struck the hill top about a 100 yards from the dining room……that will get the adrenaline flowing!