| After a Friday spent in Semera and nearby Loggia, the Can-Go Afar team woke up Saturday with one goal: to travel to the remote northern region of Bidu (pronounced biru in Afar) to check on the progress of a weir, or water reservoir, that is being built with some of the 1 million ETB (Ethiopian bihr). |
After a delicious breakfast of ful (lentils in hot sauce) and too many macchiatoes at the Erta Ale Café, the CGA team hitched a ride with APDA’s Valerie Browning and began the long drive north to Bidu. Unfortunately the temperature in Afar was not our side, and what started as an already hot day (at 40 Celsius) began to climb, reaching 48 Celsius by the time we reached the Great Rift Valley at mid-day.
After three hours driving in a LandCruiser with negligible air-conditioning, the three of us were feeling especially steamy — and perhaps a tad grumpy.
Any grumpiness evaporated (along with our sweat) when we finally arrived at Soddonta, the remote Afar town where first weir/reservoir is being built. When we arrived we were taken aback by its size: 60 meters by 60 meters and 2 meters in depth, when complete it will be capable of holding 7,200 cubic litres of water – which translates into more than 7 million litres.
It took three APDA workers five days to clear away the amount of earth you see in these photos, and Valerie says APDA is planning on having it completed in time for rainy season in Afar, which happens in July or August. Once complete, the weir/reservoir will create a massive pond of fresh water that will support the hundreds Afar men, women, and children in the district.
Feeling impressed and inspired, the CGA seized the moment to present an official cheque from Can-Go Afar to APDA for 1 million ETB that was raised during our annual gala fundraiser in April. With the balance of the money APDA will construct four more weirs in the Afar areas hit hardest by the 2015/2016 drought.
The Bidu reservoir certainly qualifies as “in need”, being located in the Great Rift Valley — an area that is severe and eerily beautiful. With a landscape shaped by the eruptions of numerous volcanoes over the centuries (including the famous Erta Ale, which is about 60 kilometres away) and one of the thinnest volcanic mantles on earth, the land in the Bidu region is breathtaking and treacherous.
And as beaten up as we were feeling (Warren Creates called it his toughest day in Afar in 11 trips), we couldn’t shake the feeling that the Afar people are faced with this reality every day.
This reservoir building effort, combined with Can-Go Afar’s Livestock Challenge, will help the Afar truly get back on their feet after the devastating 2015/2016 drought that impacted more than 10 million and is considered the worst in Ethiopia in 50 years.
Some of the worst affected were the Afar tribe, who already live in the hottest (and thirstiest) inhabited place on earth, in a region that is too desolate for many NGOs or aid agencies to travel too. With more than 200,000 Afar families currently in immediate need, The Can-Go Afar Foundation decided that we could not wait until our next gala fundraiser in 2017 to provide help. That’s why we launched The Can-Go Afar Livestock Challenge, our first-ever crowdfunding campaign.
Our GoFundMe initiative aims to generate $50,000 to help restock up to 1,000 goats and sheep that perished during the drought. $50 will buy a goat (breeding-age), $100 will buy a sheep, and $500 buys enough goats for an Afar household of 12 people.
If we reach our goal, 100 of the neediest Afar households will receive a full complement of livestock and will be returned to their pre-drought conditions.
It couldn’t be simpler: Buy a goat (or a sheep), save a life.
In the four days since we launched the Livestock Challenge on CBC Radio we have generated $5,250 which is more than 10% of our goal. This is a great start, and we thank all of our supporters — but we need to keep the momentum going if we want to make a real and effective change for the better.
We encourage you to check out our project at GoFundMe.com/CanGoAfar and pledge to help the Afar — the oldest indigenous tribe on earth — get back on their feet.
If you are a previous Can-Go Afar supporter, and would prefer to donate in more traditional way please go to go to our PayPal page or fill out our Donation Form on our website.
If you have already donated, please send this link to The Can-Go Afar Livestock Challenge (www.GoFundMe.com/cangoafar) with your family and friends. And please share it on social media, Facebook, Twitter, etc.
Also be sure to keep an eye on our website for tomorrow’s blog post, as we visit the remote Bidu Woreda and see a weir as its being built. You can also stay-up-to-date on our Facebook and Twitter pages, where we are posting photos daily.
Thanks, Inshalla, and Gaaxa Key from Afar!
