Ethiopia: Stories

Reuniting with Gulsha, a Boy I Never Forgot

Three years have passed since HOPE completed its Clean Water & Health Education project in Laka, Arba Minch Zuriya Region, Ethiopia. During that time, Fuminori Matsuura lived amongst the people of Laka, to help oversee the project as the representative from HOPE-JP.

After the completion of the project, he returned to Japan and has been on staff with HOPE-JP as a fundraiser, but the people of Laka remained close to his heart, and he often wondered how they were faring. Now, we are in the midst of implementing the same project model in Tsayte, and Fumi has just returned to Ethiopia to monitor its progress. And, of course, he will be taking the time to visit Laka as well to see, for himself, if a great difference has been made. We received a moving story from him, and are sharing it here.

Fumi's Story

When I arrived in Tsayte, I went to visit the weekly market when, suddenly, I heard my name being called. As I had only just arrived in Tsayte and knew none of the locals, I wondered who could be calling but, sure enough, I saw a little boy running towards me, shouting, "Fumi!!" I lit up inside, as I recognized Gulsha Gonta, whom I had gotten to know in Laka 3 years before. It turns out he and his brother had walked for 2 - 3 hours from Laka to come to the market here in Tsayte. Tough as ever, Gulsha had grown taller and was now in grade 3. I was relieved to see him looking well and happy.

When I was in Laka 3 years before, Gulsha was still 7 years old. Although he was at an age where he should have started going to school, as his Father had died, his family was exceptionally poor in a village already struggling with extreme poverty and no access to water. Gulsha’s family were unable to feed themselves, so Gulsha spent his days labouring to fetch water for another family who would give him food in exchange. A boy of the same age in this family was thus able to go to school and play, but going to school was not an option for Gulsha, who was simply living out his days trying to survive. I remembered this very well.

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Nowadays, Gulsha continues to fetch water, but he now fetches water for his own family. Laka has a water supply system that makes it possible for anyone in the region to access water within a few minutes, whereas before, it could take hours of walking. He also tells me how the reduction of labour and time spent collecting water has made a huge difference in his life.

I had been looking forward to returning to Laka to really see for myself, how much had changed since our project was completed in Laka 3 years ago. But I had never expected to be able to receive such happy news so quickly, when I had not even set foot back in Laka yet. This has been a great start, and I am looking forward to really returning to Laka and sharing more news.

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