Sacramento Immigrants Bring Water to Dusty Ethiopian Village

Written by Stephanie Kriner, Staff Writer, RedCross.org

June 18, 2001 —  In a dusty, drought-stricken southern Ethiopian village called Gesuba, American Red Cross delegate Ahmed Jabri shook his head helplessly when nurses running a local health clinic asked him for clean water. The generator that once pumped water to the clinic's tank had broken down and pipes that funneled water from the ground were missing. Now nothing dripped from the clinic's rusty faucets. Without clean water, it was impossible for the nurses to clean wounds, sterilize equipment or even wash their hands before examining a patient.

Click here for a photoessay from Gesuba, Ethiopia

On a walk along the village's bone-dry riverbed, Jabri felt the same pang of helplessness as he watched women with their children -- weak from dehydration – use their bare hands to dig holes in the parched earth in search of water. Their efforts produced little more than puddles of mud. Jabri knew more needed to be done to help them.

"It was a very hot day and when I saw people digging, I realized that we really needed to get them water," Jabri said "The water table in Gesuba is good. They just needed a generator to pump it up from the ground."

In 2000, Ethiopia experienced one of its most severe droughts since the infamous famine of 1984. More than 10 million people were at risk of starvation during last year's disaster, but massive international response averted a crisis. Over half of the country's population remains "chronically food insecure."

At the height of the drought, the Red Cross sent Jabri to Gaseba to head up a food and seed distribution program. The Red Cross provided emergency rations of a high protein corn and soya mix to reduce a startling level of malnutrition among children, the elderly and the disabled. To help the people recover from the drought; the Red Cross handed out maize and bean seeds to farmers.

Despite the assistance, many people remained in poor health, said Frederick Opuni-Mensah, who supported the Gesuba program from American Red Cross headquarters in Washington, DC. "Water is tied to nutrition which is tied to health. Even if we provide food, people still need clean water," he said.

Finding a Way to Help

Gesuba residents erect a Red Cross sign after finishing work on their water project.

Meanwhile, a community of Ethiopian immigrants in Sacramento, Calif. – hundreds of miles away from their suffering homeland – was becoming increasingly alarmed by news of the pending famine. The nearly 100 Ethiopian families meet every now and then to share their experiences as immigrants in the United States. But during their meetings at a community park, the focus of conversation turned more and more toward the terrible disaster threatening their homeland. They decided that they wanted to find a way to help.

Although many of the immigrant families did not come from the drought-ravaged region, they still felt a tie to the suffering that compelled them to deliver assistance, explained Bisrat Demiss, one of the group's leaders "Things of this nature usually bring us together," he said. Group members knew what it was like to live in a poor country ravaged by natural and manmade disasters. Now far away from the pending tragedy, they wanted to share what resources they could muster in the United States.

They decided to start a fund-raising drive. With a goal to reach $10,000, the group began holding car washes and asking local churches for donations. They were thrilled when they surpassed their goal, raising $11,600.

Demiss said the generosity of his community was overwhelming. He recalled one carload of people who donated $20 instead of the customary $5 at a car wash. "Those types of things motivate you to work toward your goal," he said. "We are very thankful to the community for understanding the situation in Ethiopia and being so supportive."

After surpassing its goal, the Ethiopian group decided to call the Red Cross, hoping the organization could help them to help their countrymen. "Almost every one of us knew of the Red Cross because of its presence in Ethiopia," Demiss said.

Demiss still remembers seeing a Red Cross sign for small pox vaccinations at a hospital next door to his boyhood home in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in the 1950s. Many Ethiopian immigrants also remember receiving Red Cross assistance as refugees in Sudan or Kenya before coming to the United States, Demiss said.

The Ethiopian group contacted Bill Larson, who was emergency services director at the Sacramento chapter of the Red Cross at the time. Larson saw the opportunity to help as a way for the chapter to reach out to its local Ethiopian community, as well as a way to pitch in for an international cause. He called the American Red Cross headquarters and spoke to Opuni-Mensah who told him about Jabri's work in Gaseba. Larson was intrigued.

Eventually Opuni-Mensah called Jabri in Gaseba to tell him about the group of Ethiopian immigrants from Sacramento who had $11,600 and wanted to help. It was as if the delegate's wishes to bring water to the people of Gesuba had been answered already. He eagerly shared his idea for rehabilitating the water system.

From his office in Gesuba, Jabri wrote up a plan and proposed a budget for the job, then sent it to Larson in Sacramento to offer to the Ethiopian group. "It felt good to be able to point to a map and say your money would go to a clinic right here," Larson said.

Water For the Dry Season

Back at the park, the Ethiopian group met to review the Red Cross plan. The group had interviewed several other aid organizations, but decided the Red Cross proposal was the best because it showed exactly how their donation would help. It also included community participation.

Berhanu Zerga of Sacramento's Ethiopian community presents the check to Bill Larson of the American Red Cross.

While the donation covered the cost of materials, Jabri had created a plan that would require no labor costs. It called for Gesuba residents to do the work themselves. Jabri supervised as men and women spent more than a month hooking up a new generator, digging trenches, laying pipes and constructing two water "points" where community members without faucets in their homes would come for water.

"The community participation was very important because we want the community to feel a sense of ownership [over the water system]," Opuni-Mensah said. By having community members rebuild the water system, the Red Cross hoped to develop a sense of pride while at the same time teaching residents how to maintain it, Opuni-Mensah added.

Finally, the long-awaited moment came: In Sacramento, the Ethiopian community heard about the clean and clear water that now runs through the faucets at the clinic, homes and water points of Gesuba, benefiting some 150,000 people. The water will be there, even during the dry season when the river dries up.

"With so little money we were able to bring drinking water to thousands of people," Demiss said. "That's a motivating factor for years to come," he said. "We need to become aware of future needs so the Ethiopian community can work together in accomplishing other goals."

Larson said the Red Cross could continue to play a role in providing information about disasters affecting the homelands of immigrant communities. "If a disaster happens in your homeland, talk to the Red Cross because we can provide information," he said. "We can tell you what the Red Cross is doing and how your donation dollars will be spent."

Related articles go here, if necessary Related articles:

• The American Red Cross in Ethiopia
• Rain, Seeds Bring Harvest to Drought-Stricken Kenyan Farmers