Overview
People in Need have been working in Ethiopia since 2003. We build and repair wells and try to provide access to safe drinking water for most residents. We fight erosion and help local farmers to better support themselves and their children. In Ethiopia, we have also built 13 schools for more than 3,000 children and we have been working on building the fourteenth one.
LIVELIHOODS
The livelihood of 90% inhabitants of Ethiopia depends on agriculture. Farmers face complications in the form of a long drought periods alternating with violent floods. Most of them cultivate the soil using a simple plough towed by cows in the same way like people did in our country two centuries ago. In many places the deforestation has caused the massive soil erosion. Thanks to people who bought The Real Gift, families have been donated 2,000 chickens - high-quality breeding animals - to improve the breed, enrich their diet with the necessary proteins and also allow some extra income by selling eggs. Three hundred goats distributed to families provide highly valued milk and the herds will grow thanks to the young goatlings. Forty donkeys with carts have been given to production cooperatives and small local businesses. They serve as basic means of transport on dusty roads carrying material to the local market and also help to carry tree seedlings to villages.
WATER
The clean drinking water is available approximately to 40% Ethiopian countryside population. The main source of drinking water is surface water, which is often of poor quality, causing local residents a number of serious diseases. Diarrheal diseases are often fatal for small children. In 2011, thanks to the Real Gift we repaired a deep borehole in the Region of southern nations and nationalities, which makes the life much easier and allows the access to safe drinking water for approximately 12,000 local residents. The repair of the hole was part of a three-year project focused on the sustainable management of water resources in the area.