Water from the depths: new wells from groundwater in Gashena
Under the dedicated leadership of Ashenafi Mamo and his team of seven, PBF has been working with farmers in the Gashena area for over ten years. Gashena is located at a very important road junction and was recently heavily contested in the civil war. The clinic, which took a decade to build, was also completely looted and the buildings devastated. Now, at great expense and thanks to a large donation, it has been restored and made functional. For the very poor population is dependent on the Emanuel Clinic.
Health care has first priority and is under the supervision of the health authority in Bahir Dhar. The cooperation with the local community has also become increasingly stronger in recent years. The trust of the population in our clinic has grown steadily, so that requests for other projects have also been tackled for some years. These projects concern – since 2016 – the construction of wells from groundwater, a very elaborate and expensive, but extremely worthwhile expansion of our health projects, which we have taken up together with the population and the community. Unforgettable is the inauguration of the first well by the then Vice-President of the Foundation, Vic Eugster, who sadly passed away on the last day of last year.
Vic Eugster at the new well
So far, clean groundwater is bubbling in three places around Gashena. The demand for drinking water is enormous. Therefore, wells are currently being built at two more locations, which Peter Bachmann visited in January 2023. 290 households, some with large families, will be able to benefit from this. But not only for people, but also for animals, specially equipped drinking troughs are to be built.
They two wells are already 80 % completed. The completion is imminent. The two pumps and the necessary building material are on their way, Ashenafi assures. The two wells are to be handed over to the population at the end of March.
The still waters in Ethiopia’s highlands come from the depths.
Vic together with Pascal Meister, who created the film about our projects in Ethiopia 2017