Anni joined Arto in Ethiopia for three weeks to help with the very first stages of the RIWASH project. Most notably, in the end of January, WaterFinns’ local partner Water Action organized a successful launching workshop in Alaba-Kulito town near the actual project area. Before the workshop, we prepared flyers and introductory talks together with Water Action. The project received a warm welcome from relevant local authorities as well as WASHCO representatives of the project’s target kebeles. Water Action shall also rent an office space in the town very soon.
During our visit to Alaba-Kulito, we received excellent news! When we made the project plan last year, one of our three project schemes was nonfunctional due to the water pump falling into its borehole during maintenance. This meant that the people living in Andegna-Ashoka had to travel approximately three hours to get their water from other kebeles. Attempts were made to fish the pump from the borehole, but there was no success for almost two years. However, we now discovered that SNNP Region Water Bureau had managed to lift the broken pump and pipes from the borehole. They additionally rewinded the pump and replaced the broken pipes thus making the scheme functional again! We visited the site after the launching workshop to see for ourselves. The scheme was in need of serious maintenance, but in spite of this water was coming out of the water points!
After returning to Addis, we mostly worked on creating questionnaires for the upcoming baseline surveys. Their idea is to accurately record the initial state of WASH in the kebeles so that we are able to measure the progress the project generates. We also started planning the upcoming Water Safety Planning+++ (WSP+++) trainings that the Water Action project team will attend in the beginning of March. These trainings will be highly practical, as actual Water Safety Plans for the project area can already be done during the coaching phase.