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ETHIOPIA - Helping Education, Health and Clean Water Supply in Bugna, Lasta and Gazgibla Wahredas
Progress Report (52A) – June 2017: Norman Coward
Ethiopian Airlines
Ethiopian Airlines is owned by the Ethiopian government. It is managed very professionally from its base in Addis Ababa, where it has created a significant hub connecting its U.S., South American and European destinations with every major African capital plus holiday destinations like Seychelles, Mauritius, Madagascar, Mozambique and Cape Town. It flies to all continents except Australasia and it includes 5destinations in China. It has the biggest network and youngest fleet of any African airline. It has never failed to make an annual profit.
There are many challenges to the Ethiopian government for owning a substantial airline while poverty levels are still high and infrastructure investment in roads and rail is greatly needed. However, China is providing huge capital and loans for infrastructure and whilst the airline is profitable it is providing income to the government – and building up its capital sale value for possible eventual privatization. (The government has privatized all the hotels and breweries that it owned and some other businesses in recent years.) A London City accountant who was a fellow passenger on a recent flight and who had been in a team advising the Ethiopian government, told me the airline is worth many billions of dollars but confidentiality stopped him from quantifying “many”. Meanwhile, after 60 flights to Addis Ababa on this airline, we are getting invited to inauguration ceremonies at Heathrow and events at the London Embassy – and we feel that we own at least one of the wheels on their 17th Boeing 787 Dreamliner which has just been delivered.
Interestingly, when Ethiopian Airlines took delivery of its latest Airbus A350 it took 9 tonnes of humanitarian aid and donations from Toulouse, where it was built, to Addis Ababa. Good Corporate Responsibility work for Airbus and the Airline! That cargo is destined for Refugee camps and Health Centres in the south west of Ethiopia.
The Arsenal Leech found in Ethiopia
Our Project Manager, Derebe, in Ethiopia, is an enthusiastic follower of the UK Premier Soccer League, like so many of his compatriots. He was intrigued recently when he heard a report in which Arsene Wenger, the Arsenal Football Club Manager, was described in derogatory terms by his fans as a leech on the team. Derebe asked us the definition of leech. We tried to describe it and then when we got internet access, we googled the Amharic dictionary. In their language it is an alekt. Great excitement all round! We have come upon that word frequently in our water projects because one variety of alekt spreads in unclean water and attaches to the back of the mouth and throat of cattle; sucks the blood and breeds there. In minor invasions thealekts simply cause debilitation; in severe cases they can kill cattle by asphyxiation or malnutrition. Two of our clean water projects are in places badly affected by alekts. The spring location in those places is called Alektwuha
(= alekt water) in both cases.
Derebe, a Chelsea fan, is delighted at what he regards as a very appropriate metaphor for the Arsenal Manager.
OUR PROJECTS
Health Posts [14 completed. None currently planned until the Maternity Unit is completed.]
Maternity Unit in Lalibela Hospital
Progress on the building itself continues satisfactorily – albeit slower than we would have wished. The problem of the torrential rain flooding however has still not been finally resolved. The Lalibela surveyor; the Mayor; and the contractor himself are all still trying to evaluate the best solution. And they, with us, are negotiating who should pay what. Our October 31sttentative finish date is starting to look optimistic, unless these issues can be quickly resolved. Meanwhile, however, we continue to get very positive statements about the building and the huge need which it will meet.
Spring Improvement Projects [74 completed; 3 failed; 8 under construction; 2 proposed. Beneficiaries: 33,000 human; plus, in two areas, uninvited nocturnal leopards and hyenas.]
Progress continues well. We now have experience over 13 years with over 80 accepted projects plus many others rejected. One interestingnew project is actually a replacement for a project which was destroyed by the villagers 12 months ago during the serious drought at that time. The villagers were desperate to get water and smashed the cap of the spring ina futile attempt to reach the supposed water below. The Woreda hydrologists decided – and we agreed – that the spring improvement project should be replaced by a hand dug well inexactly the same location. This will be a large diameter well to meet the need of the 560 beneficiaries here. Work has now started after a series of tests and analyses. We are anxious now that the disaster of drought last year may be replaced by a disaster of surplus water this year if the project is not completed before the start of this year’s rainy season – usually mid-July – and we have pressed the Woreda officials to make haste, not in this case “while the sun shines” but “before the rains come”.
We wrote last time about thevisit of the priest to one of our new projects – and the blessings which ensued. We revisited this place inJune to see the finished product and it is truly one of the best we have. The community has been wonderfully mobilized to play their full role in collecting stone and sand and, in this particular location, providing a huge amount of unskilled labour. The project was completed in record time with massive flood protection barriers and an excellent fence, as we always require, around the reservoir – already complete. Also the Water Committee has already made a valuable house-to-house collection to provide for future maintenance. In short, everything is perfect here – even the location is very attractive, under large fig trees. We wonder if this perfection is connected to the fact that the priest’s house overlooks the project!
School Classrooms [22 classrooms completed. 4 more under construction.]
The new 4-classroom school in Segno Gerba, which we reported last time, is going very well. The roof will be finished in the next few weeks before the start of the serious rainy season. We are still hopeful that the project will be fully complete, with all new desks, by the start of the academic New Year in late September.
Date of Next Visit
September 2017.
Norman Coward
June 2017
APPENDIX – Definitions
Our Objective
Our objective is to improve the health, education and drinking water facilities in a small area of Amhara Region, Northern Ethiopia. We do this through the construction of health posts, classrooms and spring improvement projects. Our current projects are mostly in remote areas where no Charities or Aid Agencies currently work.
Woreda and Kebele
A Woreda is an administrative region like a UK county; a Kebele is a smaller administrative region within a Woreda - typically 15-30 Kebele per Woreda. A typical kebele has a population of 5,000 – 10,000.
Community Involvement
Our agreements for the construction of our projects are all similar. We first discuss priorities with the Woreda Departments of Health, Water and Education. In the case of Health and Education, the Woreda agrees to provide and pay Health Workers and Teachers – we will not proceed without this agreement. We then visit the local kebele with Department representatives to meet the kebele chairman, who is invariably strong, well respected (and carrying his Kalashnikov!). He usually agrees readily for his community to collect sand, gravel (by hand-breaking rock), building stone and wood, and to provide the unskilled labour, all free of charge. We then provide the cement, corrugated iron, pipes, nails, etc. and the (local Ethiopian) builder, who manages the community workforce. At the end we hand over the building to the community, who must form a committee to maintain it. We re-visit a proportion of the completed projects at each of our quarterly visits, to make unannounced spot checks.
Health Post
Typically a block of 5 small rooms; consulting (2)/baby delivery/drug storeand general store and refrigerator - either paraffin or solar panel fuelled. Their work is mainly preventive (contraception; malaria awareness; HIV AIDS awareness; nutrition advice; vaccination etc. plus baby delivery and ante- and post-natal care). They can also deal with basic curative medicine - dispensing antibiotics; first aid etc. and identifying more major health problems for referral to Lalibela, where there is a very basic, poorly staffed hospital. The most frequent problems are malnutrition, water-borne diseases, acute respiratory infections, internal parasites and malaria. There is also HIV AIDS, pneumonia, typhoid, TB and even cholera and leprosy.
School Classrooms
Identical construction to Health Posts but in blocks of 2 or 4 classrooms. Average class size was 80-90 ten years ago – now 40 - 50.
Spring Improvement Project
An existing spring is opened out to maximise its water bearing capacity. A concrete 'box' structure is built around it to seal it; collect all the water and pipe it to a nearby stone and concrete reservoir typically 3 x 4 x 1 metres. The reservoir is created in a place, which is easily accessible and acceptable for local people. On the reservoir 3 taps provide the clean spring water for local people for drinking; one pipe from the reservoir fills an animal drinking trough; and another feeds into concrete trays used for washing. In this way the drinking water is kept separate and clean, directly from the spring. The animal drinking facility is important. There are many cattle, sheep and goats in the area and they are a vital part of farmers’ livelihoods. They quickly recognize “sweet” clean water and internal ruminant parasites are virtually eliminated.
Maternity Unit
A recent major new project for us is managing the construction of a new self-contained Maternity Unit in Lalibela Hospital. Of the funding, 80% is coming from Lalibela Trust, a Somerset based charity which we have worked with increasingly since 2010. The other 20% is from the government. In this more sophisticated project there is no community participation; all labour is paid.
Ethiopian Politics
A democracy was established in 1993 after Mengistu’s Communist-backed military regime was overthrown. The basic political structure is sound. However, the ruling EPRDF makes it very difficult for opposition candidates to stand, especially in rural constituencies. From time to time there are (illegal) political demonstrations, often in and around universities, and some agitators are jailed or shot. The May 2015 Election was peaceful and EPRDF secured every seat! There are allegations of intimidation at Election time by the numerous government workers, of the 87% of the population who are generally illiterate farmers who may need food aid. The first democratic leader from 1993, Meles Zenawi, led until his death in August 2012. His successor, Hailemariam Desalegne, is following the same policies which achieved stability and excellent economic growth rates of 7 - 10% per year in the last 10 years.
Potential future instability still exists in relation to the Eritrea border in the north; the Somalia border in the south east and possible Al Shabaab violence, as in Kenya, but the Ethiopian army and police force are very strong and these risks are low.
and Dug Wells.
ETHIOP1A - Progress Report (52A) - June 2017.docx