HOPE impact on communities in Ethiopia
HOPE and The Ministry of Foreign Affairs
This January, on behalf of the Embassy of Japan in Ethiopia, I visited the District of Oyda in southern Ethiopia to attend the handover ceremony for the `Women’s Empowerment through Community Participatory Water Supply System in Oyda Project' that was implemented by HOPE. This project aims to improve the incomes of women mired in poverty by first building water supply facilities together with community participation across four villages in Oyda District to ease the daily burden of fetching water, thereby enabling women (freed from hours of water fetching) to generate income in order to help them become self-reliant.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs through the Grant Assistance Program for Japanese NGOs (commonly known as N-Ren) provides funds to Japanese NGOs in developing countries to support economic and social development projects in line with Official Development Assistance (ODA) policies. Through this grant, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has supported HOPE's projects in the Oyda District for the past three years. This handover ceremony marked the conclusion of the three-year project and the handover of the water supply systems built by HOPE to the local communities.
Rural Ethiopia
I reside in Addis Ababa, the country’s capital, and it takes about an hour’s flight to get to the nearest airport to Oyda District, followed by a five-hour drive, passing over several mountains on unpaved roads. I am used to urban life but as I was making my way over the mountains, the remoteness of the area made an impression on me. I saw many locals who waved upon seeing the HOPE vehicle I was traveling in, which made me realize how popular HOPE is in this part of Ethiopia.
Women's lives changed by HOPE
The first thing that struck me during this visit were the radiant smiles on the local women, full of confidence. One lady proudly raised her hand during a panel discussion at the handover ceremony, smiling and remarking on how much her life has changed. In one of the villages, I met a lovely woman who showed me the peanuts she had collected to trade at a storage facility built by a women’s cooperative. I was very impressed that these women, who had almost zero income before HOPE came into their communities, were able to become financially independent and earn enough to send their children to school and afford the things they needed. This impact on these and other women is due to the work of HOPE, who continues to support remote communities that other organizations cannot reach. The people who wave at HOPE's vehicles are surely those whose lives have been positively transformed by HOPE. I felt that there were many such people in this remote corner of Ethiopia.
Independence beyond support
I was most impressed by the fact that on this visit the local residents were able to become self-reliant without expecting further aid. When we think of aid work, we tend to think of tangible things like food distribution and other supplies or building schools, constructing buildings, but simply giving things does not lead to self-reliance. Through HOPE’s project, which supported each woman individually through rigorous training and close supervision, they were able to become self-reliant and ultimately lead better lives. I sincerely wish that HOPE will continue to improve the lives of as many people as possible in Ethiopia.
