Droughts affect communities in far more ways than restricted access to clean drinking water. A lack of water for personal hygiene, crops and livestock causes diseases to spread, food to become scarce, productive economic activity to be neglected, and school drop-outs to become common.
This is why when GOAL told us about their plan to introduce water storage tanks to the districts of Dillo and Dire, Borena, Ethiopia, the areas affected most severely by the continuing drought, we were delighted to help.
In total we funded €8,690 and GOAL supplied 16 tanks with a capacity of 5,000 litres to sixteen schools in the region. The schools were selected in accordance with advice given by government authorities – it’s generally far more productive for NGOs like GOAL to work in concert with the local authorities. It’s also fair to say that the Government response in Ethiopia to the current drought has been a major factor in preventing catastrophe as caused by a similar drought in the 1980s.
The project improved the accessibility of clean water to more than 3,000 people; teachers report that less students are leaving school as a result. The tanks harvest and store intermittent rainfall from the roofs of school buildings, making the lives of the children of Borena a little bit easier.
Simple, cheap, effective – what’s not to like?
To read GOAL’s full report – click here: Electric Aid Borena – Final Report
electricaid.ie 