Stairs

Last year when we visited Dembi Dolo, in western Ethiopia, one of the things that weighed heavy on me was how difficult it was to access some of the water collection sites in that region. In that area of Ethiopia it rains for several months out of the year, so there are often naturally flowing springs that people use to collect water. The springs are contaminated as soon as they flow out of the spring eye, so it is not an adequate source of water. In these areas we often build spring protection systems rather than hand dug wells. In addition to the water not being clean, a big problem is that accessing these springs is often treacherous. The springs usually are down in a ravine with very steep, slippery slopes that you have to walk down to access the water. The women and children have to climb these slopes while carrying heavy jugs and clay jars filled with water. It is very dangerous.

Here they are cutting footholds into the ground with a machete for us.

You can imagine what would happen if someone fell while carrying a full jug of water.

So last year when we sat down to talk to the Zonal Administration about the water needs in their area, I felt like I had to express my concern about the conditions the women faced in carrying water out of those areas. My heart was burdened and I just kept thinking what good have we done them if we give them clean water, but it is still just as dangerous to get to it. When we fund a well or spring protection, the contractor uses local labor from the community to build the site. So we asked them to give us their word that if we funded the spring protection, that they would do something to make access to the sites easier and safer. They understood my concerns and agreed to address the problem.

This year when we returned to some of the same sites, I was overjoyed with what I saw.

Stairs!

The contractor and the members of the community had built stairs on the site where there was a steep slope accessing the water point. I was pleased, the women were pleased and the community seemed proud. In addition to being safer, I think the whole process helped to build a level of trust between us and the communities. We kept our word to fund the project and they kept their word by building stairs. Everyone was happy.

Back Home!

Hey everyone! I made it back home yesterday evening. If you are wondering why there were not more posts while I was gone, it is because I could not get logged into my blog for most of the trip. Just a little reminder that I was in a developing country. :)

I will post some stories about my trip in the coming days, but in the mean time here are a few pictures.

It was a good trip and I look forward to sharing stories with all of you.