Reducing the distance traveled for water in East Africa
Where there was once pasture, there in now only dust.
April 11th, 2012 | by Kenny Rae
Kenny Rae traveled to Ethiopia in March to support relief efforts for
communities in the Bale zone who are struggling to overcome the
<
http://www.oxfamamerica.org/emergencies/food-crisis-in-east-africa> East
Africa drought and food crisis.
Every morning Yenee leaves her two children in the care of her sister and
ventures off to collect water for her family. After walking for two hours
she arrives at the spring-the only source of water for miles around.
She is not alone. In Laga Hidha, a remote district in southeast Ethiopia
which hasn't seen rain for over a year, collecting water for drinking,
cooking and bathing can be an all day affair-every day. At mid-morning at
the spring there can sometimes be more than 100 women, some of whom have
walked for more than seven miles. She will wait patiently in line for
another two hours to fill her jerrycans. She then returns home, carrying 30
liters (66 pounds weight) of water on her back.
It wasn't always like this. Nine years ago a well equipped with a hand pump
was installed in her village which provided water for all. Twice yearly
rains would replenish the open wells and ponds that provided water for
livestock, for bathing and for laundering clothes.
The hand pump has been broken for over a year, and a promise to replace it
by an aid agency has yet to be fulfilled. The prolonged drought has caused
the open wells and ponds to dry up, and the cattle and goats that benefited
from them have been sold off or have perished. Where there was once pasture,
there in now only dust. Those determined to hold on to a couple of animals
for milk must venture further and further from home to find food for their
animals.
In Hidha Hunda village, an elder told us that one of the few remaining cows
had, the day before been taken in search of food and water and, miles away,
had collapsed from hunger. Its owner left it where it lay and returned home.
In every village we visited here, and in the neighboring district of Sawena
we learned of the hardships that people are dealing with.
In Gale village all the livestock has been sold. Families were unable to
keep one or two animals for milk as the surrounding pasture is long
depleted. No crops have been cultivated for over a year. Collecting honey
used to provide additional income for the villagers but, without water and
flowers, the bees are gone.
While the first rains will be welcomed, there is a real concern in these
communities that when even when it arrives, their problems will not be over.
As an old man told us "Even if the rain comes now there is no pasture left
to water."
With their animals gone and with their grain stores consumed,
<
http://www.oxfamamerica.org/emergencies/food-crisis-in-east-africa/what-oxf
am-is-doing> Oxfam is supporting 1,600 families in Sawena and Laga Hidha
with emergency cash and food distributions. For a few days per month, those
that are physically able, undertake work such as rehabilitating traditional
wells and ponds in preparation for when the rains finally arrive, hopefully
to provide enough water to meet needs for a sustained period. To ease the
burden of collecting water in the short term, Oxfam is rehabilitating water
systems including replacing broken pumps to reduce the distances traveled.
Women walk several miles in Ethiopia to collect water for their families and
livestock.
In some parts of Ethiopia, women like Yenee walk several miles to collect
water for their families and livestock. Photo by Kenny Rae / Oxfam America.
In the Bale zone of Ethiopia, herders say their cows are collapsing in
hunger. Photo by Kenny Rae / Oxfam America.
In the Bale zone of Ethiopia, herders say their cows are collapsing in
hunger. Photo by Kenny Rae / Oxfam America.
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Received on Wed Apr 11 2012 - 16:30:31 EDT
