Water projects have 'huge impact' on re-settled famine victims
Throughout history, Ethiopia has endured recurring drought and famine to one degree or another but it wasn’t until 1973 that the rest of the world would realize just how dire the situation was.
That year, a British reporter named Jonathan Dimbleby stumbled onto a famine that had already claimed the lives of more than 100,000 people but the government had concealed from the outside world. His footage of this holocaust was seen around the globe and eventually became the catalyst for the downfall of the imperial regime of Haile Selassie.
Re-cut by Ethiopian television to include scenes of the high life taking place at the imperial palace, the footage was used to help fuel the military coup that followed. It wasn’t long before Selassie was dead and Ethiopia’s 2,000-year-old imperial system came to an end.
Now faced with doing something about the famine as quickly as possible, the new military government – which was known as the Derg [see Editor’s Note] – tried a number of drastic measures to rectify the situation, often with tragic results. Many of these hurriedly made plans were ineffective and by the time the famine was over more than 200,000 people had perished.
One of the strategies tried by the Derg was a system of relocating the surviving members of entire communities to parts of the country deemed more suitable for sustaining human life. To ensure people wouldn’t try to return to their homes, the relocation sites were selected as much by their distance from the original village as they were for their ability to support life.
In fact, many of the selected sites were little better off than the ones being left behind and the arrival of large numbers of “re-settlers” placed a huge strain on the existing members of these communities.
Jewha, situated in the Amhara Region, was one of the areas chosen as a “resettlement village” despite the fact it had little to offer new residents but a slightly better chance of being able to grow the food they needed.
Almost overnight, its population ballooned to its current level of more than 2,500 people and the villagers’ overriding concern became the availability of clean water. Their lone well had barely produced enough for everyone to drink before the influx of all the new settlers.
Women began lining up at around 6pm in the evening in the hope of being able to draw water for their families by noon the next day. According to Chalew Minwuyelet, a local leader, the situation severely affected life in the village:
“Mothers did not have time to rear their children, attend to their farms or send their children to school. We appealed to our local administration and to passing NGOs (charities) but to no avail,” said Chalew.
In fact, the village did eventually receive a limited amount of help but in most cases it was largely ineffective. New wells dried up and a health post built in the late 1980s was out of service by 1991; the area continues to face rampant malaria.
Today, however, the situation in Jewha is much improved thanks to the efforts of A Glimmer of Hope. Using funds from a grant from the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, the foundation constructed seven new hand-dug wells in the village in 2006 including one at the local school.
Merema Yimer is a member of the recently organized water committee that is responsible for maintaining the wells and teaching people about sanitation. She said the wells have had a huge impact on the village and its people.
"Gaining easy access to clean water has transformed my life. I've now got more time for my children and family. I now have time to work on my farm. I can fetch water at my door. The burden we shouldered for over two decades has come to an end,” she said. The wells have also contributed to a noticeable drop in the incidence of waterborne diseases throughout the village, she added.
For a few, seeing the new wells transform life in the village is a bittersweet experience. Mengiste Gebre Egziabiher was one of the original re-settlers brought to Jewha all those years ago.
“Most of the original re-settlers and my friends have now passed away. Most died as a result of drinking from contaminated rivers and malaria,” he said. “And, while I am blessed to be alive to witness this change, I feel sad because my friends are not here to see it too.”
To date, A Glimmer of Hope has implemented a total of 71 projects in resettlement villages throughout Ethiopia that have benefited nearly 140,000 people.
Editor’s Note: The Derg was a committee of military officers which brutally ruled Ethiopia from 1974 until 1987. Following a Marxist-Leninist doctrine, the Derg established collective farms which led to a fall in food production and contributed to the country’s lack of preparedness for the “Live Aid” famine that struck in the mid-1980s. With the Derg’s state-run, centrally planned economy, Ethiopia descended into a long period of economic collapse leaving the country far worse off than it had been before. The Derg was eventually removed from power by a coalition of rebel forces in 1991 but the country is still recovering from the effects of its rule.