SCIAF
Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund
19 Park Circus
Glasgow
G3 6BE
Tel: 0141 354 5555
Email: sciaf@sciaf.org.uk
© SCIAF 2008
Registered Charity No: SC012302
Company No: SC197327
Registered Office: as above
The best of things
Well, nr Yabello, Borena
The best of things, and the worst of things. This is going to be short as I’m absolutely exhausted after a very long and hot day. At 5.45am we headed off to the small village of Well which is well known (pardon the pun!) throughout the area for its amazing ella, a traditional Ethiopian deep well.
With funding from SCIAF and its sister agencies and the hard work of our local partner, as well as the community, the ella was renovated recently to improve access to the water for cattle and humans alike. At about 30 metres deep with shear vertical walls and newly built concrete troughs it is easily the most impressive natural human structure I have seen on my travels to Africa.
It took over 100 men 57 days of constant digging before it was finished. Now it is used every days by herds from the local area and it is also providing water to pastoralists who have walked for days in search of water for their animals..
This work happened due to a cash for work programme being run in the area to help local people buy food and other essentials during the worst drought in living memory in the area.
....Impressive
After visiting Web we drove to Fuldowa to meet members of the community there who have set up a soap making business with support from SCIAF and its sister agencies. Production started five months ago and the co-op was now producing up to 100 bars a day, and utilising the plentiful supply of wild aloe vera that grows in the area, and being sold at local markets.
Profit from the soap are being put back into the business and whilst the co-operative’s members haven’t yet made money from their venture, they are able to get soap for their families and draw credit in case of emergencies. This is what is usually called ‘income diversification’ in NGO-speak and it was really great to see, especially at a time where their traditional income from livestock has hit the floor.
....Very impressive
The second part of the day, just before six o’clock when the sun goes down, I spent about half an hour photographing the dried bones and rotting carcases of dead animals that we came across by the side of the road.
Despite the stoical front that the people have put on during several interviews over the last few days, and in spite of the suffering they are obviously going through, the site of death brought home the deeper reality of the East African drought.
Several people have said to me, if the rains do not come then we will die. Reviewing the corpses of animals made me think that if nothing changes around here it will be human remains next.
....Very sad