Mission Trip #4 – January 2010

Participating Directors:

Warren Creates (President) & Jason Kelly

Participating Donors:

Neville Creates & Chris Bartle

Goals:

To assess and audit projects in the field, specifically the BioSand water filter project and to continue to build partnerships with local groups involved in the development of the Afar Region. Secondly, to meet with the Samaritan Purse project representatives who are operating a similar water filter project in Southern Ethiopia.

Achievements:

The education projects are running well, and the students are healthy and happy with their progress. The water filter project needs to be strengthened by focusing on training and maintenance of those 55 filters already built. Filter maintenance/correction needs to be performed to ensure sustainability of the project. In addition, the refugee situation flowing from Eritrea remains desperate and should now be included as a priority for our support.

A special project was investigated with Maalika (Valerie Browning) of APDA and the mission trip participants on the upper Awash River to secure land rights (50 hectares) along the canal/river which would allow for the successful settlement of some Afar through the ability to grow crops and raise livestock, but most importantly secure access to the water for the pastoralists in the region.  This project was photographed, written-up and presented by the mission trip participants to the Canadian Ambassador in Addis Ababa, following which the project successfully received the full $50,000 CAD requested from CIDA under the Canadian Embassy’s local initiatives program.