Most of us take fresh water, clean toilets, and basic hygiene for granted but for many people around the world these things are not available. More than 844 million people across the world are living without access to clean water and a large proportion of them are the people that grow the coffee we drink every day. Charity Project Waterfall is dedicated to making a difference and we have been working alongside WaterAid in the Jabi Tehnan Woreda region of Ethiopia in three Kebeles villages to bring clean water and sanitation to the people living there.
It is hard to believe that although Ethiopia is considered to be the biological and cultural home of coffee, with 16% of the population working in the coffee industry, only 39% of the people have access to basic safe water. However, over the past six months we have been working hard to change that and by 2022 we will provide 10,622 people with clean water and sanitation.
Despite a national election taking place in Ethiopia meaning that Government officials were unable to take part in field-based activities due to security threats that the election posed we have still been working hard and are pleased to report some great progress.
We have been able to recruit two experts to join the team, a plumber, and a manager. Expanding the team will enable us to ensure the sustainability and maintenance of the project.
By creating the Mankusa Abdogoma Water Supply System we will be able to supply fresh water to 5,400 people.
We have been working hard to promote behavioural change such as good handwashing through out activities. This in turn has resulted in an increase in basic sanitation and handwashing behaviour for over 4,500 people in the region.
After a visit to the Zalema Water User Association the Kokeb Rural Water User Association, who are responsible for the overall management of the water supply system, is now able to improve their membership payments. The increased membership payments will enable the supply of effective and sustainable water services to the community which will be available for generations to come.
The Jabi Tehnan district is preparing a funding proposal to secure additional funding for a Kebele after identifying it had lower Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) access and was to be severely affected by climate change.
Climate resilient water safety plan which will is being prepared for selected some of the Kebeles.
In the next of this mini blog series we will explore these changes and what they mean in more detail.
