The Pipeline

The Son of the Nile
won’t go
thirsty again
Teshome Mulualem, water supply engineer for
WaterAid’s implementing partner JECCDO, right,
shows switch controller, Kasahun Workineh, how to
manage the switch boards. Yiganda, Zegie
peninsula, Bahir Dar.
Photo credit: WaterAid/ Behailu Shiferaw
Zigzagging nearly 7,000 kilometres across eleven
countries, the Nile is the longest river in the world,
connecting communities as it flows from Ethiopia to the
Mediterranean Sea in Egypt. While the source of the White
Nile may still be contested, the source of the Blue Nile is
not. Abay, a small province in Ethiopia’s western region is
where the river Abay begins its journey, ultimately
contributing to the longest river in the world, yet the
people of Abay go without clean water – hence “the son of
the Nile has gone thirsty.”
WaterAid’s project on the shores of
Lake Tana has helped change this.
When WaterAid’s implementing
partner, JECCDO, arrived at the
Zegie Peninsula, the situation was
dire. Children were missing school
days every week because they were
sick with water-borne diseases.
Parents were spending their hardearned
money for medical care for
their children and spending time
looking after the ill rather than
working on the coffee farm. The
problem was so vast and complex
that the people had little hope that
the situation would ever change.
Together, WaterAid and JECCDO
worked with the local water
committee to end this. By
harnessing an existing safe water
source high above the village and
with a little help from gravity a
sustainable system for the entire
village developed.
“The older people and even my own wife said to me that
we were just wasting our time,” recalls Alebachew Beyene,
secretary of the village water committee. “They told us
there was no way we would get clean water from the top
of the hill down to the village. They said the project was
doomed to fail like all previous efforts.”
20
Mislene Abebe Ashetih, 95, says the arrival
of the clean water in his home village has
made him feel as if he is born again.
Yiganda, Zegie peninsula, Bahir Dar.
Photo credit: WaterAid/ Behailu Shiferaw
But today, the lakeside village of Yiganda has eight
community water points. Their health-post and school
also received vital water points. The school has also
received two gender-segregated blocks of ventilated,
improved latrines, to ensure that everyone can return to
school, especially young girls.
“The water is pushed up from an existing reservoir up to a
new one that is 124 metres higher in elevation. We built a
new reservoir at an altitude of 1982 metres above sea
level, then the water is brought
down to the village. In total there is a
difference of 154 meters in altitude
explained Teshome Mulualem,
water supply engineer for JECCDO.
The day the first water point was
opened, members of the water
committee celebrated alongside the
elders, and young students from the
local school as safe water flowed
from the tap.
“It’s as if I am born all over again. I
am really happy I lived to see this,”
says Abebe Ashetih, a 95-year-old
who – it is safe to assume – has seen
it all, but who believes his best days
are ahead of him. “The people of
Yiganda are liberated. Not only can
they drink clean water, their labour
and their time is spared. Zegie’s
people were always suffering from
parasites. Now that we have the
water, we are delivered from all
that.”
It wasn’t easy digging trenches stretching across about
nine kilometres of a very dense coffee forest marked by
big rocks that needed turning and breaking by hand. But
the community gave its all; everyone supported the work
in every way they could, with older members of the
community bringing meals to the workers throughout the
day.
Spring 2016 | the pipeline
The water flow needs continuous monitoring, as sometimes the pressure can
be too much for the pipes and gate valves. A young man named Kasahun was
one of many trained by JECCDO in how to operate the control boards. He and
his colleagues manage how much water is pushed up through the boosting
station and into the community at particular times, ensuring there is a
constant reliable source of safe water.
“We will pay the salaries for the people who look after the structures. They are
trained, our children have good brain. Nobody is born with plumbing skills. It’s
an acquired skill; if you train our children, they will do it. We won’t need more
help,” said Abebe.
With the support of WaterAid and
JECCDO the village of Yiganda now has
a sustainable source of safe water for
years to come, ensuring the son of the
Nile won’t go thirsty again.
. . . “It’s as if I am born all
over again. . . “
Birhan Workie, 7, washes at the new water
point in her village Yiganda, Zegie
peninsula, Bahir Dar.
Photo credit: WaterAid/ Behailu Shiferaw
Above - Students at Yiganda Full-cycle Elementary
School now have a safe water point where they can
clean their hands and drink safe water while
throughout the school day. Yiganda, Zegie
peninsula, Bahir Dar.
Photo credit: WaterAid/ Behailu Shiferaw
Below - Yiganda Full-Cycle Elementary School has
now got a four-door ventilated improved pit latrine
for boys and another similar block for girls. Yiganda,
Zegie peninsula, Bahir Dar. Photo credit: WaterAid/
Behailu Shiferaw
Students at Yiganda Fullcycle
Elementary School not
only drink at the school but
also take some home in case
the community water point is
locked for the night by the
time they get home. Yiganda,
Zegie peninsula, Bahir Dar.
Photo credit: WaterAid/ Behailu
Shiferaw
the pipeline | Spring 2016 21