Monday October 11, 2010

Today we plan to spend our morning with the community members at two W2T projects, Mai-Shana I and Mai Shana II, completed in the summer of 2008.  These water points were among the first 12 funded by Triumphant Love Lutheran Church in Austin, the home congregation of Rennie, Ed and Dick.  The communities have had more than two years of use from the projects, so it will provided the W2T group a great perspective on the impact of the projects on the community and their operation over the two years.

We depart our hotel about 9:00 am and drive east to Adware and then south to the area of the projects.  It takes us about 1 ½ hours to reach Mai-Shana I.  This project is located close to the community’s prior water collection point, a wet weather creek bed.  

In the dry season, this source would dry up and the community would resort to dipping water out of an old Italian well that is unprotected and very deep.  Because of the slowness of gathering this water, wait time often exceeded 3 hours for the women in the dry season.  In addition, the creek water source runs past an Army camp where the soldiers use the stream to wash their clothes and to bath.  This of course causes major contamination downstream.  

The water committee (3 women and 3 men) gave a great account of the functioning of the well and its operation.  There have been no issues with either and they experienced no downtime.  The water committee has successfully collected annual payments for the maintenance fund, 5 birr (about $.40) from each family using the well.  Also each family pays the guard with a ration of grain for his services.  In addition the women mentioned the reduction of disease previously caused by the contaminated water.  They say it is almost non-existent now.  

The community expressed their gratitude by sharing a coffee ceremony, fresh popcorn and roasted sweet corn. We express our gratitude to the committee for receiving us today and our hopes that the clean water brings the blessing of good health and prosperity to their community.

We drive a short distance on the main road and then walk about 20 minutes through the grain fields to reach the Mai-Shana II project.  

Here we hear a similar story….their prior water collection point was a wet weather creek bed, shared with the livestock.  But in the dry season, their only alternative was dig into the sand in the creek bed in the hope of finding water.  

The water committee gives a similar account of the operation of the well…..really trouble free since it was finished.  And each community family is contributing its fair share to the maintenance fund and supporting the guard with a ration of wheat.  In addition to serving their nearby community, there is a school nearby with about 500 students that has no water source.  The committee allows the students to fetch water from their project as they need it. 

One particular comment from this community will stick with the W2T team.  In expressing their gratitude, the chair of the water committee, Kidanu Woldegerima (age 63), said the following: “My father and his father had no opportunity to drink clean water.  I feel blessed to have it now and I give thanks for it every time I eat and drink in my home.”  Kidanu is also a priest of a local Ethiopian Christian Orthodox church.

The W2T team left the visits at Mia-Shana I & II exhilarated, seeing firsthand the impact of clean water on the communities, their dedication to protect and share this precious resource, the cooperative nature of the water committee and the community……all done with a grateful heart.  There has been no finer moment on our trip.

We say our goodbyes to the community and head back to Axxum, arriving early afternoon.  After lunch, the group visits some of Axxum best tourist attractions…. 

St. Mary’s of Zion (The church built by Haile Selaise) , 

the monastery where the Arc of the Covenant is supposedly kept, 

and the Obelisks of Axxum.  

We then turned our attention to helping the economy by doing a bit more shopping!

Tomorrow brings more site visits to W2T projects, one of which is still under construction.

Dick Moeller

Sunday October 10, 2010

This Sunday morning we start our day early, leaving Simien Mountain Lodge at 8:30, headed north for Axxum in Tigray.  This will certainly be the longest driving day of the whole trip.  The trip is only about 230 kilometers (about 140 miles) but will consume all day!  The road is mostly gravel and dirt, with 5 or 6 major elevation changes, so we literally will have traveled through 100’s of switch back turns when the day ends.  In addition, the road is undergoing a major improvement through a contract with the Chinese, so the road has major sections under construction.  The road from Axxum to Debark was originally constructed by the Italians in the late 1930’s during their brief occupation of Ethiopia.

Shortly after departing Debark, the road drops down a steep mountain, descending over 3.000 feet in a very short distance.  It makes for some sharp hairpin corners and nerves of steel for the drivers.  Actually the road is very safe, but those afraid of heights might choose to close their eyes for these first few sections. The first third of the journey produces some beautiful views of both the Simien Mountains that we are leaving behind and the farming on the rich soil in the area.  The mountain framing produces some beautiful patchwork vistas in the valleys.  In many area, the fields glow bright yellow, as the blooms of the Niger plant is now in full force.  The flowers of this plant is harvested for the black seed in the bloom, which can be used for feed as well as oil extraction.

Clearly, the highlight of the day came late in the journey when the group was able to visit the Selekleka Clinic at which Jim Sorensen and his wife Carolyn had served as medical missionaries some 50 years ago.  They served this community for about 2 ½ years, during which their daughters Lynnae and Diane were born.  Also, their adopted Ethiopian son, Wolde, comes from this community.  As Jim approached the clinic down the short road leading to the front, memories and stories came pouring out.  Before we knew it, there were about 25-30 local community members following the group around and exchanging stories with Jim in Amharic.  Amazingly, the current guard of the compound, who looks after the facility, is the son of someone who worked for Jim and Carolyn in the Clinic.

 Jim provided a guided tour of the facility, inside and out and described how the clinic was laid out and operated on a daily basis.  Although not in active use today, the building remains in surprisingly good condition, except for being a bit over grown with plants.  The building was originally built by the Italians, and then converted to a clinic just about the time Jim and Carolyn arrived.  Although there is no water available at the site, the electrical lights throughout the building continue to work.

The group chose the perfect spot near the entrance of the clinic for our Sunday devotion.  Again, we were blessed to be able to use a devotion prepared by Jim’s daughter, Lynnae, that fit the day perfectly.  It was a special moment for us to share and honor the service of Jim and Carolyn (and many more just like them) to the community of Selekleka.  As we proceeded with the devotion, the community members stood nearby, quietly and reverently, also sharing in this special moment.

We proceeded on into the town of Selekleka, where Jim wanted to look up a few others that had worked at the clinic that still lived in the town.  He was successful in locating Tsehaye, who had assisted Jim and Carolyn by looking after Lynnae and Diane during clinic hours, and Aligas who had worked at the clinic. Before long, a crowd of children, young people, and the elders crowded around in the street to hear them exchange their stories.  After many hugs, we had to say our goodbyes, as dusk was closing in on us.

We arrived at the Yeha Hotel in Axxum about 6:30 p.m. after an exhausting day of travel.  After a quick dinner, everyone was ready for a good night’s sleep.

Dick Moeller

Saturday October 9, 2010

Our day is planned to enjoy one of Ethiopia’s great natural landmarks, the Simien Mountains National Park.  The great news is that the day starts clear with sunshine and blue sky.  We load up in our cars with our scout about 9:00 a.m. and head off to explore the park.  Not far from the Lodge, near one of the first vistas, we meet about 20 local children who have set up a handcraft display of hand woven items.  Everyone in the group, including our drivers contributes to the local economy.  One young boy was the spokesperson for the group and clearly a tough negotiator!

One of the major attractions in the Park is a large colony of Gelada Baboons.  The Gelada’s are native to this area, and they are the only grass-eating baboon of the specie.  They are generally very docile and spend most of their day eating grass and roots.  The adults will consume between 1 and 2 kilos of grass per day.  No more than a couple of miles into the park, we encountered our first (of several during the day)  group of geladas.  

As normal, they were busy eating…..so we were able to get very close and walk among the families.  We were able to observe them in their daily routine.  The families usually consist of a dominate male with several females and their children.  The male is very protective of the family, so we were careful not to get between them and their family group.  The females tend to the young with a very strong motherly instinct.  You can often see them carrying the young on their back and holding them to their stomach area as the baby gelada nurses.  

The males are easy to pick out as they have a much thicker mane around their head area.  The young gelada are very playful.  We saw them chasing and tumbling with each other, climbing trees and doing flips, all under the watchful eye of the dominant male.  In some of the vista pictures, you will see many of the sharp cliff that dominate the Simiens.  To protect their young, and themselves, from the local predators (primarily hyenas) the gelada retreat to the sheer cliffs at night for their sleep.  All in all, it was incredibly fascinating to watch the groups interact and go about their daily routine. 

The Simiens contain the highest mountains in Ethiopia.  Our lodge was located at 10,500 feet and our trip into the park took us to approximately 13,000 feet elevation.  Our trip into and out of the park covered about 80 miles.  Everything was very green and local flowers and plants were in bloom, so there was magnificent beauty at every turn.  We were able to see waterfalls, sheer cliffs, distant farming valleys, mountain peaks…..all intermingled with the local people and their grazing livestock. The pictures show some of the striking views that we were able to enjoy, but in no way can the pictures do justice to views.  Absolutely stunning and magnificent.

About two-thirds of the way into our journey, we visited the Ambaras Primary School Project, one that was implemented by a Glimmer of Hope and the Amhara Development Association.  Over the last two years, several school blocks, a library and a science lab have been constructed for this very remote and isolated community.  Since it was Saturday, school was not in session, but, as always, foreigners draw a crowd out of nowhere and this was no exception.  After arriving, we soon had more than 50 men, women and children gathered around to check us out, as we checked out their school.  Rennie especially made connection with a number of the women and children.

Our farthest point into the park was at Checken.  This is a popular campground for hikers and trekkers who are exploring the Park on foot.  When we arrived, a lot of preparation was underway in setting up tents and preparing food for the night.  

The temperature in this area will reach near freezing each night.  We were more interested in snuggling up to our hot water bottle so we started on our trip back to the lodge.

As you might imagine, at this elevation, the weather can change quickly and you get unusual occurrences.  As we were driving back, the wind pick up again, an began pushing the clouds up the valleys and over the road.  Almost instantly, we were covered in a thick layer of clouds, so much so you could see no more than a few feet in front of the car.  Since people and animals can walk on and across the road at any moment, this slowed our progress to a crawl.  Fortunately this passed in about 10 minutes and resume our trip back to the lodge.

After getting back, we were able to enjoy an hour or so of relaxing time before dinner.  After dinner, we grabbed our hot water bottle and headed up a small hill to room……..only to be treated to another one of His magnificent creations.  On a clear night, with no chemical or light pollution, at this elevation it feels like you can reach out to touch the stars.  The sky was filled with stars and the Milky Way was vividly visible.  Once again, it reminded us how incredibly blessed we are to be on this journey for water.

Dick Moeller

Friday October 8, 2010

After a nice breakfast at the Goha Hotel, the group set out for our trip to the Simien Mountains.  But first we stopped to visit King Fasiledas’ Bathhouse.  

This place, located in Gondar, not far from King Fasiledas’ Castle, has special significance for Christians in Ethiopia.  In 1632, during Epiphany (January 9,10,11), King Fasiledas celebrated the restoration of the Christian Orthodox Church as a major religion in Ethiopia by allowing Christians in the surrounding community of Gondar to celebrate their baptism into the faith by jumping into the King’s bath with the blessing of the local priests.  This celebration is called the Kimket.  King Fasiledas continued this celebration all 40 years of his reign and it has continued annually ever since.  The king’s bath is larger than several Olympic swimming pools and 3 meters deep.  It is flooded each year from a nearby river to fill the bath and is then drain until the next year.  It is estimated that over 60,000 Christians each year participate in Kimket and it is observed as one of the four major religious celebration in Ethiopia each year. The King’s Bathhouse is currently undergoing a major restoration project (you can see the scaffolding in the picture) that was started over 8 years ago.  It is being financed by the Norwegian government.  It is due to be finished in the next couple of months, just prior to the next Kimket celebration in January.

Because of the powerful connection to water and baptism at this place, our group took the opportunity to share a devotion.  The devotion was written by Jim’s daughter, Pastor Lynnae Sorensen.   It was based on the passage in Acts that describes the conversion of Phillip with the Ethiopian eunuch. A powerful and appropriate passage that binds together our work in Ethiopia, the people of Ethiopia and our Christian faith.  It was a special moment shared by all.

We said our goodbyes and expressed our gratitude for the help and support we had received from our hosts at ORDA over the last several days.  They are a great partner for our water projects and every staff member cares deeply about serving the people in the Amhara region.  The journey from Gondar to Debark, the town closest to the entrance to the Simien Mountain National Park, is about 2 ½ hours.  It was an uneventful journey……except for the beautiful vistas seen from the highway, a great precursor to the trip into the Park.

We also managed to have our first flat tire (large nail) of the trip.  It was repaired satisfactorily in Debark while we had lunch at a local hotel.  

Also over lunch, our drivers picked up our entrance passes for the park and the required scout that must accompany every group that enters the park.  The scout is to ensure that visitors only travel in the allowed areas, as well as provides the needed local knowledge about park conditions.  As we drove through the town, we passed through a very active Debark open air market.  All matter of food, animals, grain, hardware, home items, etc. can be found every day at the market.

The Lodge is a short 22 Kilometers (13 miles) from Debark, but it still takes almost an hour to get there.  We arrive at the Lodge about 3:30 just as the wind was pushing the clouds and fog up the valley to blanket the area in wind and mist.  

After getting settled, we all came to lodge to relax, read and gather some warmth from the fire.  By dinner time, the temperature had dropped to around 40F, still windy and misty, so the fire felt great.  

After dinner, as we headed to our room, we received another pleasant surprise…..each of us got a hot water bottle to warm our bed! 

We all went to bed hoping that tomorrow brings a warmer day and clear skies to enjoy the beauty of the Park.

Dick Moeller

Thursday October 7, 2010

Our day started promptly at 8:00 am today, headed out to the Degola Chenchiya kebele (like a county).  When we visited in June we saw about ½ of the 10 W2T projects in this area and we are hoping to see as many of the remaining as time permits today.

Our first stop of the day was a hand dug well at the community of Seha.  As we approached the site, three women were leaving the water point with their daily collection of water.  One of the women was carrying her water in the traditional clay pot.  The pot holds about the same amount of water, but they are rarely used now because the plastic jerry cans weigh about 20 lbs. less.  Also, near the site, we visited the community’s prior water collection site.  It was a small runoff pond that currently has water in it, but will be empty when the dry season starts.

At the water point, we met a precious 5 year girl, named Enkow Endalew.  With the community’s permission, she enjoyed drinking the clean water directly from the pump and splashing water on her face and head.  A joyous moment for all!

On the way to the next project site, we passed by the kebele administrative office.  Jim noticed that a number of farmers had come together to thrash their wheat in a cooperative effort. He suggested we stop  and we watched them use cattle to crush the wheat stalks and heads and then pitch the wheat in the air separate the wheat grains from the chaff.  

We then took a short walk up the valley to a nearby community where women and children were fetching water from a contaminated water source.  Over four hundred community members used the water source and several of community leaders pleaded for a water project for their community.  One young women was especially passionate and compelling.  She said she was speaking for her children and the children of the of other mothers and not for herself.  She prays for the day that her children can drink and bathe in clean water so it can reduce their frequent illness.  

Fortunately, their community is included in the current W2T proposal for 2011 as one of the additional 13 water points to be implemented in Degola Chenchiya.

We could only continue another mile or so and our cars and trucks had to stop because the path was too difficult.  The remainder of our journey to see two W2T would be on foot over rugged terrain.  Our hosts estimated about 45 minutes to reach the last project…..it turned out to be more than an hour of difficult walking.  Most of the path was in amongst the fields of wheat, barley and teff.  In every field, there would be a handmade platform that rose several feet above the crops.  Perched atop the platform would be young boys, age 8 to 15 whose job was to protect the crops from birds using either a sling shot or the loud crack of a whip.  Very practical….but it keeps these young boys from being able to attend school regularly because of their responsibilities.

The first project we reached on foot was at the community of Abarko.

As we were visiting with one family who were collecting water, the mother (also a member of the water committee for the well) complained that the guard was not keeping the well open the prescribed number of hours.  The well is suppose to be accessible 3 hours in the morning and 3 hours in late afternoon.  In the morning, the guard would only let them fill up the 10 jerry cans or so and then he would lock the well and leave.  With the help of the ORDA staff, a quick meeting was held with some of the other water committee members and a determination was made to fire the guard tomorrow and replace him with a female who lived near the well.  It was really wonderful to see the women bringing the issue forward and to see the committee working together to resolve the issue.  It was a great demonstration of the importance of both the water committee and having active participation by the women on the committee.

Continuing our walk, we reached the hand dug well at Aliwonz.  

This project site was so remote that the community members assisted ORDA by bringing all the tools and construction materials the last mile.  These were either carried by hand or by donkey and could only be done early in the morning or late at night, after they had completed all their other responsibilities.  After a brief visit with the community and sharing thanks, we headed back to the cars/trucks….arriving more than 2 ½ hours after we had left.  Tired but exhilarated by people we had been blessed to meet along the way!

On our drive out, we stopped by one of the sites we had visited in June, Denkel #1.  It was close by the path and a number of the committee had been waiting to see us and thanks us again for bringing clean water to their community.  

After visiting briefly with the community at Denkel, we headed to a water collection site in the kebele of Minzinero.  It was a short distance off the highway.  The site was a wet weather creek that dries up in the summer dry season.  

As you can see from the picture, it was a beehive of activity…….cattle and goats drinking, one man washing his head, a young girl washing clothes, and several people collecting water for their home downstream from all the activity.  The kebele has over 6,000 members and currently has only 5 hand dug wells for clean water.  The Minzinero kebele will be on the candidate list for funding projects in 2011.

Jim’s thoughts captures the impact of the day for us all……….

The emotion of the need still calling to us disturbs us greatly. When I see the joy in the faces of those who now have clean water, it feels good; and, they are so thankful--praising God for all that has been done. However, just over the hill will be another community without clean water.

We arrived back at our hotel about 6:00 to witness another of God’s great gifts…….a beautiful sunset that painted the sky with amber and orange….a fitting reminder of how blessed we are even in the simplest things in life.

Tomorrow we head north from Gondar for a day of R&R and beautiful mountain vistas at the Simien Mountain Lodge (highest elevation hotel in all of Africa).  This will likely be our last post for a couple of days, because I doubt that I will have internet connection there.  We should have some updates Sunday October 10^th.

 Dick Moeller

Wednesday October 6, 2010

Wow! 4:00 am came early for us all.  We had to leave our Addis hotel at 4:45 for a 6:30 boarding of our flight to Gondar.  The process of departure at the Addis airport is another life lesson in patience.  Don’t every complain about the TSA screening in the US….at the Addis airport you get to do it twice, once upon entering the terminal and once upon entering the gate area.  The sleepy travelers arrived safely and on time in Gondar about 9:30.  We go immediately to the Goha Hotel for a quick breakfast and several cups of coffee before heading to the field.  The Goha Hotel has a magnificent view from three sides overlooking the town of Gondar.  The hotel is located on the highest point in the immediate area around Gondar.

Our itinerary originally called for this day to be dedicated to a trip to Robit, a community of about 6-7,000 located about 2 hours from Gondar.  The W2T team visited the community in June of this year, finding them in desperate need of clean water.  Our partner, Glimmer of Hope, plans an integrated development program (water, sanitation, schools, health post) and W2T plans to sponsor a deep borehole project (similar to the one visited yesterday at Gedamba) with 7-8 water points to serve the major parts of the community for clean water, including the school and health post.  Unfortunately, the trip had to be cancelled because of difficulty in reaching the community caused by recent rains.  Glimmer had recently travel to Robit with another group, and it took them over six hours to reach the community, using a combination of car, boat and donkey.

We adjusted our schedule to visit Glimmer’s Burbax Integrated Development project, just recently completed for a community of about 5,600.  Like the one planned in Robit for 2011, this project included water, sanitation, schools and health posts.  We had a chance to visit all elements of the project, but of special note was our time spent at the Mugechit Primary School (grades 1-4).  

This has been a year of great blessings for the school.  Last year, the teachers were using the shade of a tree as their school room…..they had no building.  The new school block now includes 4 classrooms and a small office for the principal and two teachers.  The three teachers are great examples of commitment and compassion for their students.  They each live some distance from the school, walking each day for about two hours each way to be at the school from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm.  The principal has 4 years of experience and the two teachers, more than 7 years each.  Since opening the new school block, the average attendance has jumped from 50-60 per day to over 250!  The students expressed their joy and gratitude by singing songs and reciting poems for us.

 Teacher with her 1 year old child

After visiting several more parts of the project, including the health post, we headed back to Gondar, just in time to take a tour of the Castles of Gondar.  Gondar served as the capital of Ethiopia for several hundred years and a succession of kings, starting with King Fasils in 1632 built castles near the center of Gondar. 

Tomorrow we will be visiting 10 W2T completed projects in the Degola Chinchya area.  We will also take the time to visit some prospective communities that need water.  W2T is planning on implementing 10-12 additional projects in the Degola Chinchya area for 2011.

Dick Moeller

The Water To Thrive team has had a full day in Ethiopia.

The W2T team traveling Ethiopia this time arrived on time in Addis Ababa on Monday October 3^rd with Rennie and Ed Scharlau and Jim Sorensen coming from Austin and Dick Moeller arriving from London.

After a good night’s sleep, our morning started early, leaving the Beer Garden Hotel with members of the Glimmer office in Addis.  We headed southwest out of Addis for Gedamba, about an hour’s drive away.  This was a very special visit to Gedamba as all the construction had been completed and water is flowing to three communities (Gedamba, Kajima, and Migira) with over 8,000 beneficiaries from 11 water points.  The project has been built to serve over 15,000 as the Gedamba area is experiencing rapid growth. 

We had a busy day visiting 5 of 6 community water points dedicated to W2T sponsors for Gedamba as well as the borehole, generator/pump house and the 100,000 liter reservoir. While some of us walk to the top of the hill to see the reservoir and visit the Migira community, Rennie and Jim were able to visit a nearby farmhouse to experience their family life briefly and saw the woman of the household preparing injera from their home grown grain, teff.

 It was an incredible, uplifting experience to share the joy of clean, safe water with the communities and to hear their stories of how access to clean water was already impacting their lives.  The visit to the Migira School was especially uplifting as about three hundred students (grade 1-4) lined the pathway to the water point…..singing, clapping and presenting us with flowers.  The school has never had access to water and now the water point is less than 100 yards from the school’s front door!  It was a great joy for all of us to see the kids enjoying the water.

We departed the Gedamba area about 3:00 pm headed a short distance to the Sebata Awash area.  We stopped along the way to enjoy some of the delicious Ethiopian coffee in order to regain our energy! W2T currently has 10 projects under construction in this area.  We visited the completed shallow bore hole project at the community of Kantalo.  Community members here have been enjoying the benefits of clean water for over 3 months.  We were able to visit with community members using water from the site, who expressed their gratitude for the blessing of clean water.

Also, this was a special day because the 4 Water to Thrive Board members, Ed Scharlau, Jim Sorensen, Eric Schmidhauser and Dick Moeller, were all together for the full day to experience the visits to the communities and the water points.  It reminded us all of how grateful we are to all those that contribute to our mission in so many ways, donors, volunteers, staff, implementing partners and many more.  It is truly an honor and blessing to represent everyone’s effort when we celebrate with the communities and share in their joy.

Tomorrow we catch an early morning flight to Gondar, near Lake Tana.  In this area we will visit water projects that are underway as well as prospective communities for projects later this year and in 2011.

Dick Moeller