IT'S ETHIOPIA'S MILLENNIUM DAY

Today is the start of the third millennium in Ethiopia - they still work on the Julian calendar. It's a good opportunity to wish all Ethiopian's a peaceful and increasingly prosperous future.

It's also timely that I can now announce that my second book will be published in the next few weeks. Called 'Does our money really help?' it tells the story of how donations made to Development Charities get spent and the positive impact small amounts of money can make on the lives of many poor people.

You can see a preview of the book at: http://www.authorhouse.co.uk/BookStore/ItemDetail~bookid~47901.aspx

When the book is published I will say more about it and, at the same time, let you know of its sales progress.

HOME!

I returned home on Sunday, more than a little weary after my 2 frenetic and fantastic weeks. Yesterday (Monday) I issued a press release about my trip to my media contacts. This was a challenge as I had to summarise the trip in one page!! I have included an example of the press release below.

Now it's time to take stock and decide how to use all the information I have brought home. So far the feeling seems to be that a book of stories may be better than another diary - but please do let me know what you think.

I'll blog again when my plans are firm.

Thanks for all your interest.

PRESS RELEASE

Berkshire Charity Chairman man returns from Ethiopia

Mike Coote, Chairman of the local charity Assisting Berkshire Children to read (ABC to read) has just returned from a second visit to Ethiopia where he worked with the aid agency CAFOD on projects which aim to improve the lives of people in poor rural areas.

Mike, a 61 year old grandfather of 8 from Farnham Common, said: “I saw many people whose lives have been transformed by the construction of water conservation techniques that give them access to clean drinking water near their homes and a more regular supply of water for the irrigation of a wide range of crops. They are learning rapidly which crops to grow and where to sell them in order to maximise their income.”

In Dire Dawa in the east of the country, Mike worked with one of CAFOD’s local partners on a plan to develop a market for locally produced tomato paste and sauce, designed for local tastes. This will increase the demand for the tomato crop which has increased significantly since the introduction of a water conservation system.

Returning to Tigray in the north of the country which he visited last November Mike saw that water conserved since the last major rainy season nine months ago was still available for drinking and irrigation. Mike said: ”I met a woman who, before the project managed by CAFOD’s partner REST (Relief Society of Tigray), had to walk and queue for 5 hours each day to obtain water from an algae infested pond. She told me how, one day, another woman had given birth whilst waiting in the queue – imagine that!”

Around a third of Ethiopians now have access to nearby drinking water, a huge increase from the almost negligible figures of 15 years ago. ‘This is very good progress, made by the Ethiopian Government and by aid agencies like CAFOD with their Ethiopian partner organisations’, said Mike, ‘but of course it also means that about two thirds of the population is still waiting for what we in Berkshire take for granted’

Mike now plans to write another book about his experiences in Ethiopia, telling the stories of many of the people he met during his time in the country.

WATER IS LIFE

Back in Addis yesterday (Friday) evening. The presentation at REST has given me a plethora of stories as well as a lot more background to their work and a better understanding of what determines the quality of its outcomes.

I met Merid from Adua (who looked after me there on my last trip). I gave him copies of my book, a book on marketing he had requested and a small present for his boys. He told me a lot about how things had developed in Adua since November. The spring at the St Michael watershed is still flowing; more gabion has been obtained to strengthen many of the block dams and the ‘metalworking bakers’ now sell to passing cars and minibuses as well as to their own villagers – a sort of drive in bread shop. I suggested we bought them a proper switch for their electricity supply! He even came with me in the car to the airport just to say ‘farewell’.

So now I’m waiting to come home, organising the files on my laptop and wondering what to do with the mass of information I have collected – any comments would be very welcome. Do I write another book, as a diary, like the first one? Or do I write a book of many of the stories of people I have met with comments on the lessons they teach us? Please give me any thoughts you have either by writing a blog comment or emailing me at mscoote@googlemail.com

I am haunted by one image from the presentation. Before the project many women (and then it was always the women) had to walk 5 hours to queue to collect algae infested water. On one occasion the queue was so long that one woman gave birth whilst waiting. Just picture that.

I am beginning to collect information on how many people now benefit from a secure supply of pure water - 15 years ago it was less than 1%. It is now getting somewhere between 35% and 40% (more research needed!). On one hand this is wonderful progress by the Government and Aid Agencies – on the other it means that well over half the population have still to walk, queue and collect unclean water.

I am looking forward to getting home. I am guiltily waiting to taste fresh fruit and salad again!

More when I get back.

FLAVOURS OF TIGRAY

At 8a.m. today (Thursday) we visited the Martyrs’ Memorial above Mekelle, built to honour those who gave their lives in overthrowing the communist regime in the early nineties. There was a display of photos including one which showed Meles, the current Ethiopian Prime Minister in a group of young members of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front. Politically there is little doubt that people’s lives have become freer and more promising since the demise of the Communists.

Jannie and I visited the Daughters of Charity for lunch. These sisters do some incredible work with the poor around Mekele and in Alitena, which I visited last year. They have an amazing ambition to do much more – exemplified by a plan to obtain a large increase in funds from their various donors. Yesterday I had presented Sister Medhin with 20 football shirts donated by a school in Nottingham – for the street children of Mekele.

Meanwhile we are writing up our case studies and preparing for a presentation tomorrow (I’m still not quite sure who we are presenting to!) What is amazing is that everyone is preparing all this in English (which they give me to correct!), although the majority of the audience will be Ethiopian!

Tomorrow after the presentation we fly back to Addis – so the next blog may be Saturday.

CASE STUDY OVERLOAD!

Another busy time collecting case studies for the lessons learned project.

The highlight was a farmer who had been provided with a high milk yielding cow from another part of Ethiopia 3 years ago. The milk from this cow, sold through a co-operative group is now his main source of income. He now uses his small plot of land to grow fodder for the cow and its three offspring – 2 bulls (which he will sell for a good price when they reach the right age) and a calf who will also produce milk when older. He has been able to pay for his children to go to school – his 19 year old daughter is studying computers in Mekele. Before the cow he lived on the meagre crop his land produced and by selling cups of tea (a ‘business’ he has now abandoned!)

I am now beginning to feel overloaded with stories of people whose lives have been transformed for the better. You may also be getting tired of these upbeat blog posts!
So I am now trying to find out more about the downsides of life here – if for no other reason than to convince myself what I am sure is true – there are many more people who need the help the few I have met have so clearly benefited from.

Last night I was alone with Belayneh (who hosted me in Dire Dawa last week and is part of this project so that ideas between the two CAFOD supported projects from different parts of the Country can be exchanged). We went for an excellent Ethiopian meal, which he thought was very overpriced. It cost less than £3 for two. Another example of how a little of the money we give goes a very long way.

‘THE APPRENTICE’

A long day at the Shilanet watershed. Our lessons learned project is looking at 4 aspects of the watershed programmes here and in Adua (where I went last year).

We are looking for the best outcomes in:

Agricultural production and marketing (my bit)
Water development
Community institutions and capacity building
HIV and gender equality issues.

We found a cracking first case study Goitum Hilaf, a 24 year old farmer, who with the help of his mother and brothers has changed their lives since 2003 when they needed food aid for half a year (after the wheat crop had all gone). He is now a ‘business man’ with a range of crops, cows, oxen, donkeys, an astute awareness of local market forces, a petrol pump for irrigation that he hires out to friends (at a charge) and excess cash that he loans to fellow farmers,. He has extended his house, re-roofed it with corrugated iron and now has 3 sets of clothes! An impoverished farmer transformed into a worthy 'apprentice' by his own efforts, training and support from the project and, of course, the regular water supply the project has created.

We saw many more examples of heartening stories which I have no time for now. We also saw a corrugated potato storage ‘house’ which somehow was cool enough to sleep in despite the baking sun and the temperature in the eighties. However at this point there was an unseasonable thunderstorm and a deluge. We were forced to shelter in the storage house with many of the locals for about 30 minutes. I now have some rather filthy clothes and shoes to deal with!

We left at 7 this morning and got back at 6 – beats going to the gym!

TIGRAY REVISITED

We arrived at Mekele 3 hours late yesterday (Sunday) - en episode worthy of a paragraph in the next book! - for which there is a growing expectation here!. We went to REST HQ for a pre-briefing for our Lessons Learnt project of the watershed work I saw last year. The idea is to make it very friendly by seeking the very best of the results obtained - less positive aspects can wait for the formal review when the project extension ends in October. This approach should mean many more stories of lives transformed by the conservation of water - this time in Hintalla.

Our timing upset the REST drivers as it was in the middle of the all important Chelsea/Arsenal match - this is a Man U town - so football fans will realise that today (Monday) there were many happy people here. If you're not a fan you won't have made sense of that!

Today I was not disappointed, visiting many similar sights to last November. The principles of this project are slightly different - but the result is the same - water to drink; water to grow different crops; water all year!

I met a single mum and her young son who can now grow three crops of potatoes each year instead of one, doubling her total income. I met a man who can now afford for his 4 sons to go to school as he too has more output of many different crops.

But maybe the find of the day - but I need to investigate further - is the fact that the methodolgy used by this CAFOD supported projects, which benefits 20% of the people in the area, is now being adopted by the government for the rest of the population, albeit maybe in a smaller way. If this is the case then the return on the project is way more significant than just the impact on the lives of its immediate beneficiaries.

More tomorrow!!