Dali
raised of $311,773 needed
Perched along the tops of hills in southwest Ethiopia, the village of Dali looks down on the clouds that float through the valleys below. The village’s gospel choirs are often heard singing in their churches and children play up and down the hills and through the fields, hiding in the rows of corn only to pop out unexpectedly. If wealth was measured by joy and happiness, the people of Dali would be some of the richest in the world.
Village Projects
- 7 water projects
7 spring protection developments - 4 school buildings
16 furnished classrooms, latrines - 1 health clinic
Dali Need
Dali is set among the beautiful green hills of Southern Ethiopia. Though the area has a handful of springs bubbling up from the ground, the water is contaminated by human and animal waste and teems with bacteria. The technology and the cost of implementing adequate protection systems to harvest this water is beyond the capacity of the community, but without such systems, they have no hope of accessing safe clean water. Additionally, the village does not have enough classroom space for its hundreds of children. Each day, students walk miles through the hills to get to old, dilapidated, mud classrooms where they are forced to squeeze in tightly and sit on the floor. Health care is also a major problem for the villagers. The community does not have a proper health post with necessary furnishings and equipment. When they get sick, the people must travel for hours on foot to the nearest health post. This is dangerous and can cost lives.
June 15, 2010
The joyous people in Dali have a new reason to celebrate. Their village, which so recently was floundering in extreme poverty, now has some of the tools in place that will allow the people to move forward in life. With four brand new school blocks, the students of Dali have 16 classrooms that are fully furnished and equipped for education. The community is also benefitting from seven spring protection systems that provide clean, safe water at various points throughout the village. Thanks to the water distribution points, more students than ever before are able to attend school as it is no longer necessary for them to traipse up and down the hills in search of water. Not only do the water points allow more children to go to school, but they provide the women of Dali with the time needed to engage in other productive activities. This gives them a chance to really build the opportunities that will allow them and their loved ones a chance at a better future. Beyond just the new water and education projects, the villagers in Dali are also benefitting from a brand new health post. This facility provides the community’s health care workers with a fully equipped and furnished building from which to administer health services. The villagers who once had to travel for miles to reach a health facility can now receive first aid treatment, medicinal care, and maternal and delivery help from this health post. These new projects – health, water, and education – are all making an enormous impact on the daily lives of those in Dali. They are providing them with the basic necessities of life and lighting the spark of hope for even better things to come. With these new projects, the people of Dali can begin to move one step forward in search of a better future.
