WASH and HEAL project

WATER PROJECT

This project is part of a two-year project funded by “Bread for the World” focusing on mothers and Child health Care (MCH) and providing potable water for the community of Afar.  One of important outcome of the project is to stop Mothers and Childers death in Dulessa district of Afar.

Friendship Support Association, is implementing different projects one of them is a water project.  In 2019 we planned to dig two wells 150 meters deep, working with solar power. It took us the whole year to complete the plan.  Normally, if everything goes right, it takes up to 3 months.  Due to technical and geological issues, we faced challenges that took the whole year. These wells were dug in an area where the people have to walk six hours round trip to fetch contaminated water.

So you can understand that the water source was a long distance away.  It was usually the young girls between the ages of 8 and 13 years that went to fetch the water too.  We heard many moving stories of tragedies that occurred on those trips.

Sa’ala’s Story

One such story was told to us by Sa’ala, who lost her daughter two years ago.  Sa’ala’s daughter was 13 years old.  One morning, as usual, she went to fetch water for her household about 5 a.m.  She left early so that she would be back before the weather in the desert got too hot.  Unfortunately, Sa’ala’s daughter did not return at the expected time.  While she was walking to the river she was attacked by a hyena.  Only a part of her body was found in the bush.  Sa’ala’s tears flowed the whole time she was telling me this horrific story. 

Sa’ala continued speaking to me and said, “I am glad now FSA drilled a well in our village so that, in the future, no more girls will be attacked by wild animals. Yet, for me, every time I drink water from this well, I will think of my daughter.  I wish she were here so she could see all these blessings came to our door.  I wish she could have one cup of water from this clean water.  I pray for FSA team and to the donor every day that no tragedy will happen to you, or, to your family, as it has happened to us. You have saved the lives of many people,  No more women and girls will die while they are fetching water from a long distance Alhamdulillah (Means thanks to God)!”  I left the village that day with a broken heart and deep grief. 

FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION (FGM)  

Under “WASH AND HEAL project” trying to address the FGM problem for women themselves, and, as it relates to delivery complications. It is a huge issue because FGM has been widely practiced for more than 10 decades.  Many governments and Non- Governmental Organizations have previously tried, in different ways, to stop this practice, but no significant results have been recorded.    

Two years ago, in order to tackle the FGM problem, we have done survey with community members and tried to better understand the situation.  We learned that 99.1% of the women, in the area where we are working, were reported to be circumcised.  More than that 43.0% of the community groups have the intention to circumcise their daughters in the future.  We were curious to know what benefits a girl would gain if she is circumcised and asked them the question. The majority, close to 48%, reported that the victim of FGM would acquire some kind of religious benefit that would be given for cleanliness, in order for the girl to get social acceptance, and, the victim (the girl), to have a low sexual desire. The low sexual desire would inhibit infidelity.  Some families circumcise their daughters thinking they may not find her a husband if she is not circumcised; others also say that if a girl is not circumcised, the community mocks her and most communities ostracize uncircumcised girls.

Therefore, girls themselves want it to be circumcised in order to get acceptance by the community.  Men also want girls they will marry to be circumcised so that they feel proud and are dominant over them.  Men think that if a girl is circumcised she will be submissive to her husband and they will avoid the fear of overt sexual behavior (infidelity) by the girl against her husband.  Furthermore, some people also believe that the act of FGM is accepted by the Muslim religion. 

However, after listening to all this long belief system or mindset, we opened up a community dialogue and teaching time every month and it has been in effect for the last two years. In the beginning, the community rejected the proposal to discuss the matter.  Some of the religious leaders especially were upset and assumed that we were forcing them to change a religious practice which Allah allows.  It was tense, but gradually, we are educating and even building strong relationships with those who were in opposition. They have become our champions, and are working to see the practice of FGM stopped in our project area.

Bullo’s Story

Bullo Utto was one of the Traditional Birth Attendants who used to be circumcising girls in Garbohaf village. She volunteered for FSA to organize women’s group discussions and several times attended our teaching sessions. Now she is going from house to house to educate her own people about the harm of FGM.  Again, in the beginning, some of the women in her village did not agree with her, but in the last two years, she has continued sharing what she has learned and she has convinced many women in her village.

I met Bullo in one of my project sites visit and all of a sudden saw a knife in her hand.  As I grew up in a rural area I knew this knife very well. This is a knife that has taken the lives of many women and girls. This is a knife they used to circumcise the girls, and at the same time, Traditional birth attendants used it to deliver babies. They never used sterilizers.  However, Bullo proudly told me, “ Guret, you and your people changed our lives. Can you see this knife?  I hope you recognize this knife,?”  I shook my head and said, “Yes, this is a knife that has been used for delivery purposes and for circumcising the Afar girls.”   Bullo, smiled and said, “You are right.  It used to be like that, but today the history has changed. We are using this knife to cut a goatskin.  Can you see how dirty it looks?  We are using it for another purpose.  Since we started attending your teaching and community dialogue about harmful traditions, girls are no longer in pain and dying because of FGM.  We have been practicing something pharaoh introduced to us. (Pharaoh has been known as evil in Afar).  Our ignorance caused us to kill many beautiful girls.  I have seen many women die at home by a delivery complication.  We thought most mothers and babies died during the delivery time because of the will of God. But now we know it was our ignorance that killed them all.  As payment for services, families should give at least a goat for traditional circumcisers to circumcise their daughter, or for a TBA to assist in a birth.  So circumcising women was a source of income for most of the traditional circumcisers or TBAs.  I was one of those women.   Through this teaching, I have been convicted,   either I save lives or I get money?

We are also aware that those who have not attended the teaching sessions, as we have, are doing these practices in hiding.  Some communities still don't agree to completely stop all forms of circumcision, but they have agreed to stop the severe form. They want to continue doing the “Sunna” type.  We will keep teaching and discussing until all the community members understand as we do.  We want to teach other Afar women in another locality, (Kebele). “

I thanked Bullo and those who participated in the programme for making a positive change in their community and left the village encouraged and with excitement.

I would like to thank Bread for the World for making difference in the lives of those disadvantaged people groups like Afars. 

With gratitude,

Guret Ahmed

Founder and Executive Director 

Success stories in WASH

Creating access to water supply and sanitation through partnership

Friendship Support Association is implementing two projects in partnership with Tearfund Horn of African Regional Office in Ethiopia. The first project focuses on WASH and the second one is on providing humanitarian support to 875 households in Gawwane Woreda (province) whose livelihood has been affected by desert locust infestation.

Since 2020, FSA has started working in partnership with Tearfund to construct two solar powered borehole wells. The project has successfully installed the first pump and the Afar community has started drinking clean water from this well.

The man’s name is Abobeker Ali. He is a 60-year-old man who has twelve children and twenty Grandchildren. Mr. Abobeker is one of the village elders and is now using the water well that FSA constructed. I approached him and asked him what he thinks about the new well that FSA provided for his village. Abobeker said, “I didn’t expect to have a well working with solar power here in my village. Our ancestors refused to drink any groundwater, which was drilled by machine and they taught us very well only to drink water from the river. They believed that if we drank water from the well it might cause a lot of damage to us. They believed the well water was coming from hell.

Therefore, no one in our village had the desire to have a well. Even twenty years ago the regional government offered to drill us a well but all our leaders, including myself, turned down the offer. The whole village has used water from the Kebena River for decades. We used to walk four hours to fetch water and our livestock had access to water from the same river.

Emergency Response - Food

Emergency Food distribution for Pregnant and Lactating Women

Afar is one of the drought prone regions with major shocks and hazards associated with the recurrence of drought that disrupts the livelihood of the people, apart from crop failure and food shortages, the recurrence of drought often aggravates the vulnerability of household livelihood through the devastation of livestock resources which is the major source of livelihood. The region is also characterized by underdeveloped infrastructure and the lack of social services where the population has the least access to social services particularly education, health, water supply, etc.

As a result of very poor performance of Sugum and Karma (June-July) rain in all parts of Afar Region, humanitarian situation has become very serious at alarming emergency stage. To curb the effect of this apparent draught situation, FSA has engaged in emergency response by distributing food supplies to children and pregnant & lactating women. A total of 750 (340 pregnant & lactating women and 410 children) received food supplies enough for 3 months consumption (June - Aug 2017).

Emergency Response - Water Trucking

FSA responded to severe water shortage in Afar Regional State particularly Kori, Bidu and based on to Regional Disaster Prevention & Food Security Program Office (DPFSPO) request. Various humanitarian organizations have conducted assessments of this chronic water shortage and tried to identify the most affected district targeting to address identified gaps through emergency humanitarian support. Chronic food insecurity and drought has been a prolonged problem of Afar Region. Last year drought has been implicated with severe shortage of available pasture and drinking water. The current water shortage has also significantly increased livestock morbidity and mortality, with potentially dangerous impact on the health and nutritional status of the population, which lead to increased malnutrition and related Acute Watery Diarrhea (AWD) outbreaks. According to “WASH Cluster Ethiopia” August-22-2017 report, suspected cases of AWD are reported in Abala District.

Organizations that are operating in the region and the district administrations reported a serious water shortage, especially in Bidu and Kori districts.

FSA, after realizing the critical lack of access to water with in the area of WASH demanding immediate emergency intervention and considering budget limitation, has decided to distribute emergency water ratio for four kebeles (Dua, Teo, Bure and Hullena kebeles) of Bidu district and two kebeles (Gulubule and Guyah kebles) of Kori district.

This emergency water trucking was delivered with daily trucking from a nearest possible kebeles, where the required amount of water was available. A four-month emergency water trucking for was provided for Bidu district and a two-month emergency water trucking was provided for Kuri district.

With an intension of addressing related hygiene issues, ToT trainings were arranged for Community Water Committees (CWC) on health, hygiene, water storage, water treatment, sanitation promotion and a general guideline on how to oversee water distribution in the community.

For easy delivery and utilization of contamination free water, plastic fiber water containers with capacities of holding 5,000 and 10,000 liters were distributed among the kebeles of Bidu district. On top of this 500 plastic Jerry cans were distributed for IDPS and community members who do not have water receptacles. Separately in Kori district, as the two target kebeles of the woreda do have birkats, water treatment kits were distributed for the use of the community with appropriated guidance and precaution. This project was supported by Welthungerhilfe and SIM-Canada.

Health Education for Afar Lives (HEAL) Program

Funded by SIM-Ethiopia and PADD

This program focussed on improving Mother and Child Health by applying proven training methods and methodologies designed to bring positive behavioral change to Afar.

A proven teaching method augmented with Afar’s socio-cultural specific contextualized MCH promotional manual with full pictorial illustrations was utilized to promote Maternal and Child health. Communities of Dulessa and Argoba district, health care providers, teachers and Sexual Reproductive Health (SRH) school-clubs were targeted with the project. Schoolteachers, SRH school-clubs, community level promoters and health care providers received separate tailor made capacity building trainings on MCH. The training covered topics on Antenatal Care, Postnatal Care and Institutional Delivery.

The promoters easily captured the lessons and were able to cascade MCH messages to their respective communities, as the lessons were conveyed with the help of visual teaching aids. The promoters were assigned to educate Community Conversation (CC) group members with a series of monthly session. To complement CC session theatrical health campaigns were also organized in different kebeles of the two districts.

As a result of the CC group, pregnant women who participated in the CC groups are following their prenatal care at the nearest health centers, followed safe institutional delivery, and those lactating mothers immunized their children.  From the review meetings we had with government stakeholders form both woredas, we realized that MCH education brought great behavioral change on members of the CC groups and on the community at large. Evidently pregnant and lactating women started visiting the woreda health centers and it is becoming as one of their culture.  After the HEAL project intervention the Afar communities are requesting the woreda health office for vaccination of the children. In old days they have refused a vaccination assuming that will have a negative impact in their future of child life. 

Afar Women and Girls Empowerment Project

Funded by the Canadian Embassy CFIL program

The most marginalized group in Afar is most often girls and young women. Particularly, education is not yet a high value for parents who have girls. With limited resources and lots of responsibilities parents often choose to support education of a single boy in the family, failing to see the potential in girls. This program seeks to flip that mental model and approach education for girls as a community driven initiative.

To enhance girls’ participation in education this project is designed to implement interventions in an integrated and holistic manner to address the multifaceted needs of Dulessa’s girls’ education. The project targets disadvantaged girls aged between 10-19, women-headed households, orphans and vulnerable children, those with special needs, and socially excluded ones.

Getting girls into school is not enough; our approach also ensures that they are taught well, and with what they learn, they are able to be valued as equal agents for social and economic change in their families, communities, schools and country.

Child Sponsorship

Funding from IATW Canada

Youth in Afar are hungry for education. Often it's seen as the only way to climb out of poverty, yet for many youth in the area it's completely unattainable. 

For many older members of the Afar pastoralist community, the value of education is not always apparent, so when it comes to their children (especially girls) the opportunity is often overlooked.

For those youth that do get the support to continue their education it's often not feasible. The distances between most of the pastoralist youth and the nearest secondary school is prohibitively far, making it both expensive and challenging for the youth to separate from their family.

To make continued education accessible for youth in grade 9 and 10, the Friendship Support Association, with generous funding from IATW, have created scholarships for 19 Afar youth. The students receive supports on scholastic materials, food support and house rent as they are residing in the District town away from their pastoralist community. Additionally, a tutor was hired to ensure that students keep up with their studies and succeed in the program.

Afambo Education Support Project

With Funding from SIM Ethiopia

Education is critical for the future of Afar. Imagine learning, how to read in your mother tongue - your "heart language" For many Afars that have learned basic literacy, it is a marked barrier in learning to read - no written books are available in Afar. Friendship Support Association has spent several years in contextualizing education for both adults and children in making it culturally relevant, accessible, and readily available to pastoralists.

With the objective of expanding children education enrollment in schools and strengthening adult literacy program in pastoral community, FSA has been implementing a project entitled “Afambo Education Support project” In this project 300 children and 300 adults from six target schools benefited. Capacity building training was arranged for 12 schoolteachers on Quick Reading and Writing Skills methods. In this education promotion work, schoolteachers, members of parent’s teachers associations (PTAs) and the school communities at large have played remarkable role.

Additionally, FSA provided solar panels, sports equipment and education materials for these targeted schools. The provision of solar panels greatly aided adult learning during evenings, as evenings were the only suitable time for students to study and their homes lack electricity.

The adults were enclosed in the adult literacy program Integrated Function Adult Literacy (IFAL), 36 of which got employed in various organizations after completing the program. Some however chose to continue on their education and have joined regular educational programs. During the project closure, FSA granted awards to the following:

• 17 women and 35 men outstanding adult students who stood 1st and 2nd level;
• 25 adult graduates who transitioned to formal schools;
• Two schools for their IFAL program follow up performance, their good relationship with our facilitators;
• Four teachers who were best in teaching and supporting students.

PRIME for Livelihoods

PASTORALIST AREAS RESILIENCE IMPROVEMENT THROUGH MARKET EXPANSION (PRIME) PROJECT

PRIME was a five-year, USAID-funded initiative designed to support resilience among pastoralist communities in Ethiopia, and thus enhance prospects for long-term development in Ethiopia’s dry land where the pastoralist livelihood based on.

FSA was one of sub grantees of Mercy Corps and CARE-Ethiopia as one of partners in PRIME project works in Afar National Regional State, zone 3, in 5 Woredas  (Argoba especial Woreda, Dulessa, Awash-Fentale, Amibara and Gela’alo Woreads).

The intermediate results that FSA was focussed on were: - developing alternative livelihood methods for household’s transition out of pastoralist through “Integrated Functional Adult Literacy (IFAL)” Program (IR3) and Improved nutritional status of targeted households improved through targeted, sustained and evidence-based interventions (IR5).

After successful completion of the project, market-mapping assessment was conducted collaboratively with Mercy Corps for two consecutive weeks. Currently FSA is implementing an extension of PRIME (PRIME-Nutrition/IR5) for an eight-month extension period. The extension is aimed as a transition project bridging for second phase of PRIME project, PRIME-II. PRIME-Nutrition/IR5 extension period targets to improve nutritional status of targeted households through targeted, sustained and evidence based SVCC interventions.

Emergency Response - 2015

Afar is one of the drought prone regions with major shocks and hazards associated with the recurrence of drought that disrupts the livelihood of the people, apart from crop failure and food shortages, the recurrence of drought often aggravates the vulnerability of household livelihood through the devastation of livestock resources which is the major source of livelihood. The region is also characterized by underdeveloped infrastructure and the lack of social services where the population has the least access to social services particularly education, health, water supply, etc.

According of the Afar regional State data declaration, in our project site there’re10, 878 people were highly affected in 2008. FSA has involved into emergency response starting from 2008 back. We have supported more than 10,878 people in 2008 from grant support of The Society of International Mission in Ethiopia (SIM-Ethiopia) donation. Since then FSA involved in to emergency situations at any time the regional government declares the emergency situation up to 2010.  
       
As the effect of 2015 Elin no case FAS engaged in to emergency response works. Here in this 2015 we have supported 2500 malnourished children, pregnant and lactating women of Afar in Dulessa, Awash Fentale and Galaalo districts, as relief fund from SIM-E. This support is now ongoing.

The problem for the emergency response is occurred as result of very poor performance of 2015 sugum and Karma (June-July) rain in all parts of afar region that characterized by late onset, erratic nature, low coverage, low amount and high variation in temporal and spatial distribution; the current humanitarian situation is becoming very serious and at alarming emergency stage.

The issue is becoming beyond the community and the regional government capacity and the region government announced and make call of all humanitarian organization involvement as per their capacity, in 2015. The emergency situation still continued as a result of drought and followed now with high flooding situation since April 2016.

Awash Youth Center Development Project

As our organization FSA works in different developmental programs, focusing on Water Development, women socio economic empowerment, Education and Health programs. We work in the Afar region, districts, those are highly disadvantaged and marginalized pastoralist areas frequently in high emergency need due to drought effect. One of community groups we focus on is youth groups.  

In Ethiopia many of these youth face diverse problems and live in constant life challenges. Especially in urban centers of the country, the number of delinquent juveniles is increasing. In Awash town alone it is believed that there are over 500 individuals living in the street, and more than half of these are youth between the ages of 15-24. This number is increasing every day due to poverty and migration from rural areas of the country to urban areas in search of better life. 

With the objective of improving the life and giving alternative means of living to the youth in Awash Fentale Woreda, FSA has constructed a training center. FSA has also contributed to these vulnerable youth members of the community providing training on various skills such as small business management, computer skills, Woodworking, and metal work. As a result they can become productive and contributing to their community. This project is supported by Embassy of Japan and Mitsubishi Corporation. 

Camel Watering Center

Funding from SIM Ethiopia

Camels are the source of life for the Afar. They represent wealth, stability, and resilience - but without water they are susceptible to repeated droughts and advances of climate change.

Afar Region is inhabited by an estimated population of 1.7 million of which about 92% is pastoralists and agro-pastoralists living in rural areas (CSA, 2008). The region is well know to possess large amount of livestock resources, with an estimate of 4.3 million goats (42%), 2.5 million sheep (24%), 2.4 million cattle (23%), 0.85 million camels (8.43%) and less than 0.2 million equines. Afar is generally characterized by arid and semi-arid climate with low and erratic bi-modal rainfall (Sugum and Karma seasons) with annual mean below 300 mm.

Large portion of the population don’t have access to clean and safe water. Every day women and girls spend half of their days walking to fetch drinking water. Pastoralists (men) migrate from their home every year for five to six months in search of water and grass for their livestock. In recurrent drought years they lose their herds when they can’t access water and pastures for their livestock. The drought causes livestock body conditions to get affected, their fertility and birth rates get reduced, triggers outbreak of opportunistic infections and causes massive livestock death. These conditions have become even more serious with the devastating effect of climate change exhibited with frequently insufficient “Sugum and Karma” rains that has been fueled with global warming.

Camel Water Center project was initiated in order to provide potable water for human and animals. Four water-wells were drilled since 2011-2014 in four kebeles (Hurunto, Kalala, Toloyla and  Edeli kebeles) of Dulessa Woreda and are still serving the communities. All of them are functioning regularly and the community manages by itself. These wells are deep from 54 Mt to 90 Mt working with solar panels to pump water into long watering troughs for hundreds of camels passing through this area. 

Previously completed projects

The Friendship Support Association is constantly monitoring, learning and adapting projects to better serve the people of Afar. We are proud to have successfully completed (or continued) the following projects:

1. Self-Help Groups - About 20 self-help groups are established under the CSSP project. The first project was called "Pastoralist Women well being  Improvement project" from September 1, 2013 to August 15, 2014

2. Afar Reproductive Health - "Be partners in Afar women reproductive health improvement " was another project supported by CSSP from October 1, 2014 to March 31, 2016  

3. Income Generation Activities - There are 7 women cooperation funded by the organization called Valleys of Hope from UK, since 2012 until now

4. Afar Pastoralist Community Reproductive Health Improvement (APCRHI) Project - With funding from the EU-CSF2, this project focuses on reproductive health and income generation activities for women