Ethiopia

HOPE has a particularly long-standing relationship with Ethiopia, as our founders’ visit to Ethiopia during a famine crisis in 1975 was the catalyst for the creation of HOPE. Since our first clean water project there in 1975, we have gone on to supply hundreds of thousands with water and sanitation and our work there continues to expand and lift more families out of poverty.

HOPE mainly focuses on regions in Southern Ethiopia, where the need for clean water is great. In areas where access to water is not available, women and children can walk up to 6km to fetch water that is not only strenuous to reach, but also unsafe to drink.

We build gravity fed water systems to supply villages with reliable access to clean water for life – a water spring on top of a mountain is capped and pipelines distribute the clean water to water points throughout the villages. As with all of our projects, we encourage the full participation of villagers in the entire process, so that they can confidently take full ownership of their water systems upon completion. Villagers assist with the building of roads, enabling vehicles to enter with necessary materials; they assist with the digging and installation of pipelines, and groups are trained on maintenance of the water system. Public latrines and education on health and sanitation are also provided, and local committees to manage the water points and maintain the system are formed.