Genet Defare Didis

Genet Defare Didis is a resident of Seka town. Her life changed when Support for Sustainable Development and Rainbow for the Future helped provide her community with a safe water supply. She explains the amazing difference that water has brought to her life.

“I would like to say thank you for the water facilities that have changed our lives in so many ways. A year ago, I had to get up very early to collect water from the nearby river or spring, which is a two-hour walk from my home. The river and spring water, called Chore, were the main water sources for many communities. Even if I get up early, there is always a long queue and conflict, only the strong ones get the spring water first.  Because it takes me at least two hours to return, often my children go to school without breakfast.

Fetching water used to take most of the day. It now takes less than 10 minutes.

In my community women and girls are expected to fetch water. As fetching water takes most of our day, girls are so less very often enrolled in schools as they didn’t have time for learning. During the dark dawn journey to the river and spring water, girls were exposed to gender-based violence, including rape…On top of the availability problems of water, we had to contend with the fact that the water sources are contaminated. Children were often sick and suffer from diarrhea. But now everything is better and they are much healthier. Everything has changed.

Before the project, there was one water reservoir with few distribution points constructed by the government. It was never full and water was unavailable at distribution points. As we seldom hope getting water from the distribution points, we leave early to get water from the river or spring.

When we first heard that SSD will be constructing a new reservoir and water pipelines in the town, we thought it would take years to complete the work. However, this was not the case and everything was completed within a year and we began to see water points close to our homes…It now takes me less than 10 minutes to get the water.

I feel so happy having water at my doorstep, 24 hours a day, knowing that my children and I are safe from water-related diseases. Now it takes me less than 10 minutes to get water and I am not charged high fees from vendors.”

All this has been made possible by a chain that links Rainbow for the Future and the wonderful work that Gebreyes Haile and his organization are doing all over Ethiopia. It is a partnership that has brought water to Seka and hope to thousands.

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