Empowering Communities, Restoring Hope

Bonnie's Journal I - November 7, 2006, Ethiopia

Photo Essay

Click on regions. Click here to return to the introduction.

One of the greatest lessons that I have learned as a businesswoman and in my capacity as Chair of the American Red Cross is that where some see problems, others only see solutions. That point of view is what has led me to want to expand American Red Cross programs in Africa and what has led me to go Africa to see for myself what solutions the American Red Cross, with partner Red Cross national societies can implement to help the most vulnerable in the continent.

Arriving late last night in the capitol of Ethiopia, Addis Abba, I was on the road at the crack of dawn to tour various projects that the American Red Cross developed in partnership with the Ethiopian Red Cross Society (ERCS).

As we traveled with officials of the ERCS and from the American Red Cross, I was thinking about Ethiopia and how the people in the country suffer from one of the highest child malnutrition rates and the sixth largest number of people living with HIV/AIDS in the world. Three-quarters of Ethiopia's 71 million people do not have access to clean water, and four out of five live without proper sanitation.

I was also thinking about how proud I am that the American Red Cross is working with the ERCS towards a solution to the need of clean water by making Ethiopia a focus country for American Red Cross programs. The American Red Cross is supporting the long-term needs for clean water in Ethiopia by assisting approximately 31,000 people in improving access to clean water and providing hygiene education to 21 peasant associations in the country.

The first stop was in the village of Bochessa in southwestern Ethiopia, where the American Red Cross partnered with the ECRS to construct a hand pump for the village of 300 households. Before the hand pump, the women of Bochessa had to walk more than two kilometers to find water from Lake Zeway. But, not only is the lake far, the water is full of micro organisms and unfit for drinking.

After the hand pump was completed, the women of Bochessa were able to find healthy, clean water that was right in their village. Not having to walk four to eight kilometers a day allows the women of Bochessa to engage in other activities, which increase their opportunities to earn income, and improve their livelihoods. This also allows for more girls to continue their studies at school because gathering water is no longer a day-long chore that their families depend upon.

I was told by the Ethiopian Red Cross program coordinator for water and sanitation education, Almaz Yimer, that villagers of Bochessa quickly and gladly changed their habits to use the hand pump and other neighboring villagers learned of the hand pump and started to use it as well. Within a short amount of time, the American Red Cross again worked with the ERCS to build another hand pump a few kilometers away in order to provide for neighboring communities and keep more people healthy - and saving the Bochessa hand pump from overuse.

The next stop was the village of Hadda, where we saw the water catchment system at the local elementary school and visited the students. Hadda, like Bochessa, had the same issue with water from Lake Zeway that also infiltrated the local aquifer making any hand-dug well project near impossible, and any mechanized well-system too costly for the village to support. But, again, I remembered, where some see only problems, others see solutions.

Working with our partner, the ECRS, the American Red Cross constructed a water catchment system that supported the students at the local school. Before the cistern, many of the students would not be able to stay at school a full day - they would either have to spend time fetching unsuitable water from Lake Zeway or they would have to leave their classes early in order to get water from home.

With the catchment system at the Hadda Elementary School, more than 850 first through fourth-grade students could stay in their classes the entire day and receive the benefits of clean, healthy water. When we were ready to leave the village the students sang us a song about how thankful they were for our visit and how thankful they were that they could stay in school because of the water project that the American Red Cross and the Ethiopian Red Cross Society built at their school.

Without clean water, who can have a safe and healthy life? Both of these projects at the village Bochessa and at the Hadda Elementary School helped to improve the health and livelihood of those that benefit from them everyday. And, I am proud that the American Red Cross has been able to create a successful and long-lasting relationship with the ERCS and the Ethiopian people. As my grandfather would say, "it is more important to select a partner, than a business." The American Red Cross is proud to partner with the ERCS and we look forward to many more opportunities to work together in the future.