Salam! Ethiopia Once Again
Return to Ethiopia
It is at once strange but very comforting to find ourselves back once again in Ethiopia, which has essentially become our second home since having set foot here four years ago.
Having had to work on our projects remotely from Japan ever since our lives were disrupted by the pandemic, being in regular contact with our field staff but limited to emails and phone calls over the last couple of years has been challenging at times but being here now again on Ethiopian soil, reuniting with our Addis staff and with the prospect of re-joining our team in the field and the communities we work with, gives way to a profound sense of relief, and we are looking forward to picking up from where we left off from before the pandemic.
Addis Ababa
We are also relieved to see that the capital city remains unaffected by the internal armed conflict that cut short our brief one month visit last October. It was a bittersweet memory, as we had no choice but to leave abruptly after having just arrived in Ethiopia a year and a half later when the pandemic had relatively calmed down. Our colleagues and our friends have always been on our minds since then.
Now, to be able to gaze down on the street below from our hotel window and see the neighborhood carrying on with their everyday lives, to be welcomed back warmly by the familiar faces everywhere we go – the security guards at the office, the shopkeeper at the corner, the restaurant manager from across the street – to reconnect with them, and to see that they are well, helps ease us back into life in Ethiopia.
MOFA project in Oyda District
We have now begun the second year of our Oyda project, where we are planning to construct the Water Systems at the remaining two sites of Balta and Bagara. These two communities are located even further from the nearest town, in a relatively remote region of the country compared to our previous projects. Both are looking forward to the construction of their water systems as it has been over a year since they have started making preparations.
We will also continue building on our Women's Empowerment program in all four communities of our current project with more training on income generation and through further capacity building and strengthening of all the SHGs (Self-Help Groups). These women are also very eager to get on with their training to continue creating more income to ease the lives of their families and to provide better for their children.
TOTO latrines and the school children
Together with the MOFA (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan) project noted above, we will be constructing school latrines at an elementary school in our current community of Uba Yambala. This school latrine project is funded by TOTO who have generously contributed for a second consecutive year. This year, we hope to engage more with the school children from both the schools (of last year and this year) and have planned a few events to help instill in them the importance of hygiene.
Updates from the field
Akemi and I are looking forward to spending the rest of the year in the field, to live together with the locals at our sites, and witness up close the impact of our project on the individuals in our communities. As the year progresses, we hope to provide you with personal stories from the locals and project updates from the field.
