What we have achieved so far from these Projects
Projects Partnering with the International Medical Corps the MediOliver Foundation has delivered fresh water as well as education as part of lifesaving health, nutrition, and WASH programming in Gey Talt which is about 5 hours beyond any real road, and only reachable by land rover up rocky hills. We delivered:
- A new water borehole near Gey Talt,
- Rehabilitated a spring near Gey Talt,
- Trained 88 community members in Community-Led Total Sanitation and 20 community members in sanitation marketing through these Projects.
- Improved 150 latrines with handwashing stations through community mobilisation.
- Delivered hygiene education to 812 students at Gey Maryam Primary Schools.
Why Ethiopia first?
These Projects area was chosen as Medi did not have any brothers or sisters and so had ‘brothers overseas’ whom he used to write to and support. One of these was Destaw who lived in Gey.. We chatted about visiting them to see how we could help, sadly alone, we made this trip in October 2014 and visited a number of these ‘brothers’ and decided that Destaw’s community was in greatest need. It was a difficult place to build being 2,355m above sea level, twice the height of Ben Nevis, and half the height of the Swiss Alps. Before these projects the Gey Talt Primary School, the Mehal Meda Health Post and Mehal Meda Village all had no water and the community had to collect water from small springs which dried up after the rainy season leaving the women and girls walking up to 12km through the night to fetch just 20 to 40 liters of water
The video we put together to show Medi’s friends.
How many people benefitted?
The Mehal community is approximately 3,255 households, so assuming 4-6 persons per household just short of 19,000 people have benefitted.
How much did it cost?
it cost just under £216,000 to cover the deep well drilling, sandwich masonry, pressure line and electromechanical work, transformer installation and water points construction.
What other benefits will the projects bring?
Many girls in the village do not get to school because they spend hours walking to collect water. Boys suffer too because lack of water and sanitation causes illnesses. And, without learning the basics of nutrition, farming, and other life skills it is hard for them to be the best they can be.
Why Africa first?
Worldwide, children living in sub-Saharan Africa are the least likely to have spent even 4 years in school, leaving them without the basic skills that can help them improve the poverty stricken conditions that they live in. Since age 4, Medi wrote to Bekalu and Destaw in Ethiopia – we’d planned to visit them with Medi to see how we could help, raise a little money and do an assembly or two.
- An Ox for the generous hearted gentleman we met who had taken in 5 orphaned and vulnerable children. Just £350 would make a difference.
- Jobs for disabled people – we met members of the community who had lost limbs or been born immobile. The community helped them get the skills to sew, and we saw them making working suits for farmers. They need 2 sewing machines to expand the business and bring in other disabled workers. Just £600 would make a difference.
- A safe house & school for street boys in Rwanda – Becky, a British graduate who did her gap year in Rwanda, fell in love and married a local street boy, orphaned by genocide. They now sleep on the floor and run a safe house for street children and orphans in Rwanda and desperately need extra capacity. To double capacity and give 40 children somewhere safe to live and build a future for them and others that that will follow them after we need to raise £40,000.
