June 2006, Melaku Sahlu, one of our dedicated YAGForLifers, visited several of the Ethiopian communities where YAGForLife contributed to the construction of water projects. Below is an excerpt from his journal…

After four years of teaming with A Glimmer of Hope Foundation to improve living standards for the rural poor of Ethiopia, I finally met Donna Berber, a co-founder of Glimmer of Hope. We spent 45 minutes talking about our historically co-sponsored projects and how we could strengthen our partnership on future projects. Later that week, we traveled the Ethiopian countryside visiting some of the many projects that YAGForLife’s 2005 Etyopyawinet Carnival funded.  We took pictures and videos to share with our many generous donors who cannot all make the trip for themselves.                           

Before my trip, I had seen statistics from the United Nations and other world aid leaders which gave me an academic appreciation for how important these water projects are. However, when I talked face to face with the beneficiaries of these water projects the gravity of our contribution struck a deeper chord. It is difficult to fathom how much it means to these communities without being there to hear the community members tell you about the life changing impact on them and their families.                             

This June I revisited several communities that in 2005 had been marked by many instances in which women and children were collecting polluted water for apparent home use.  This activity was strikingly absent this June. It was the first clear indication that the implemented water projects were indeed fulfilling their intended purpose. In one particular community, I observed a water project first hand. It looked like a pretty simple structure – a concrete emplacement from which part of the water pump juts out.  Ringing the concrete structure was a makeshift fence for rudimentary protection.  The pump handle is kept under lock and key and monitored by the local water committee to avoid wasteful use.                             

While I was there, a group of villagers removed the lock and pumped out some water to show me how it worked.  The water emerging from the pump was clear and cool – a far cry from the slimy green or milky white waters I had seen in use during my previous trip.  I asked whether kids still took water from the old watering holes and was told that they did not. I specifically asked the villagers what the biggest impact of these water projects was to them and a number of them unequivocally stated that it was the dramatic drop in the incidence of water related diseases since the completion of the water projects.  In particular, there had not been any cases of Typhoid and Giardia – 2 particularly troublesome water borne diseases in the area – since the water pumps became operational.