Ten Years in Ethiopia

In 2018, Water to Thrive is celebrating its 10th anniversary of service, and to commemorate a decade of bringing clean, safe water to rural African communities in need, founder Dick Moeller is in Ethiopia visiting at least one project site and community served in each of our 10 years. He is also continuing our forward motion, meeting with partners and visiting sites with work in progress.

Monday, June 4 * Mekele, Ethiopia

Our flight from Washington DC was uneventful, long and on time…..so we arrived in Mekele about noon today after connecting through Addis Ababa. 

On the flight from Addis to Mekele, we were joined by Joe Kinahan, executive director of Hamlin Fistula USA. About three months ago, Water to Thrive entered into a year-long agreement with  the Hamlin organization to develop a water security program for the Hamlin Fistula Hospital in Mekele and the surrounding rural clinics supported by the hospital. Joe will join us today and tomorrow as we work out some of the details of our plans with implementing partner Relief Society of Tigray,

After a short stop at the hotel to freshen up, we head out to the field to visit one of W2T’s completed projects from 2012. This was primarily to allow Joe to see one of our completed projects in use and to understand how the water committees function as we plan to replicate this model for the support of the water security at the remote clinics. The site is Mai Equr, completed in 2012. 

Mai Equr serves about 350 beneficiaries in the surrounding community. Joe was able to meet with several of the water committee members (three women and three men). The treasurer showed us their maintenance fund bank account, which had almost $900 in it. The committee collects the equivalent of about thirty cents per household per month to support the maintenance fund.  In the six years of operations, the well has worked continuously, except for about two weeks when they had to arrange for a part from the local village.

Joe got to ask many questions of the committee and community and was really pleased with the operation of the water committee and the sustainability of the project.