Lane Bunkers, country representative for CRS Ethiopia, receives a gift of appreciation from Archbishop Berhaneyesus Souraphiel, President of the Ethiopian Catholic Bishops Conference at the inauguration of a drilling rig purchased by CRS for the Ethiopian Catholic Secretariat. Photo by Neal Deles / CRS

By Lane Bunkers

This day, like many during my 3 plus years as the County Representative of CRS Ethiopia, was all about water. At a time when we are occupied by the impact the current drought is having on millions of people in East Africa, for a few hours on a Friday morning we were able to pause and celebrate a significant advancement in our fight against the lack of water – the purchase of a new drilling rig. This is the third rig bought by CRS and donated to our national partner, the Ethiopian Catholic Secretariat. The funds for this rig have come 100 percent from private donors to CRS’ East Africa Strategic Fundraising Initiative, a Wellspring of Hope.

It is not every day you see an archbishop blessing a large piece of industrial equipment, but we saw that on this day, so important is this drilling rig to the well-being of Ethiopians.
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If you’re at all interested in learning what a stunning force for good parishes can be in the world, read Ron Lajoie’s report in Catholic New York. He writes about an Ethiopian well drilling project that involves New York parishes, the Ethiopian Catholic Secretariat, and CRS. It’s a compelling story for several reasons: it’s succintly reported, paints a clear picture of the dire problem Ethiopians face, and shows how one “mustard seed” project can transform whole communities now and far into the future.

Excerpted from the story:

“These rigs are good for about 100,000 people a year over their 20-year lifespan,” Jerry Stanton, CRS Northeast major gifts officer noted. “Two of the machines are brand new. One of the machines is three years old and that’s already provided water for 250,000 people. But 50 million people have no clean water in Ethiopia. We’re trying to chip away at that.”

Read the rest of the story here.

For an Ethiopian’s perspective on what wells mean to her, see this short story.

The impact of this water access is enormous, particularly for displaced women and children who used to spend hours each day waiting in line to collect water for drinking, cooking and washing. Photo by CRS staff

It’s always hard to return to Darfur. You wish that there will finally be peace and that families will have been able to go home.

But last week I returned to a camp I had visited a year before, located right in the center of El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur state where CRS operates. At that time, 850 families had just begun moving out of an extremely crowded school they were living in where cooking fires were causing regular scares and injuries. CRS was helping these families build temporary shelters using poles and mats made by community members.

Now the families live in line after line of grass-thatch huts, with each separated by a grass-thatch wall and each with a simple pit latrine. The garbage that used to swirl among the shelters has been cleaned up, with CRS training camp residents to dispose of garbage in pits dug every few yards. Residents have also been trained in clean water storage, healthy food preparation, and sanitary use of latrines.
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Debbie DeVoe, CRS’ regional information officer for East Africa, sees a drilling rig in action in Southern Sudan.

The sun is scorching. This blond head is frying five minutes after arriving. But the men from CRS’ Southern Sudan program are entranced….
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A CRS program will help villagers clean up Lake Qaron, one of the few large lakes in Egypt, which has been polluted by improper waste water management. Photo by Laura Sheahen/CRS

What would you do if your house started sinking into the earth? That’s the situation faced by many impoverished villagers in Fayoum, Egypt.

One of the few areas of Egypt that does not lack water, Fayoum is below sea level. Poor drainage and other problems cause villagers’ mud-brick homes to sink little by little. Eventually, the first floor of the house is covered in wet silt, and the family must live only on the second floor.

The villagers can escape to the second floor, but they can’t always escape the waterborne diseases surrounding them. Without proper pipes and drain systems, sanitation becomes a problem. Canals in the villages are contaminated by sewage and used for garbage and animal waste. When people use the canal water for other purposes like washing, a cycle of disease results.
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Lane Bunkers, CRS’ country representative for Ethiopia, shares a story about an older woman who now has access to clean, healthy water.

Here a bore hole is being created, with the rig boring down to a depth of approximately 160 meters to the water table. Photo by Andrew McConnell/CRS

CRS donated several drilling rigs to the Ethiopian Catholic Church to tap deep groundwater. Our partner, the Hararghe Catholic Secretariat, used one of the rigs to drill a borehole in Dire Dawa, an arid eastern district in Ethiopia. The borehole now provides 2,400 households with access to clean water. Recently, the Secretary General of the Ethiopian Catholic Secretariat Abba Hagos Hayish toured some of the communities benefitting from this work.

“What do you think of this water project?” asked Abba Hagos of a Muslim woman filling a 5-gallon jug with water from one of the system’s taps.

“It’s wonderful!” she exclaimed. “Look how clean this water is. Our life has changed.”

“Do you know who is responsible for this project?” Abba Hagos inquired. The woman put down her water jug and looked at him with a slightly puzzled expression.

“They call themselves Catholics,” she said, emphasizing the strange word at the end of her sentence. “I’m not sure exactly what that means, but we give thanks to God for their work.”

About 80 percent of Ethiopia’s nearly 80 million people live in rural areas. Of these, fewer than 15 percent have access to safe water.

A boy washes the dust from his face in a cattle trough in Tedecha Guracha, Ethiopia. Photo by Andrew McConnell/CRS

As part of CRS’ celebration of World Water Day on March 22, we’re highlighting our integrated water programs in East Africa. The programs help people lift their communities out of poverty. By providing a full complement of water services, CRS is significantly improving quality of life in rural villages.

“Water is an essential part of life. Without it, people and animals simply can’t survive,” says David Orth-Moore, CRS’ regional director for East Africa. “According to the United Nations, 1 billion people worldwide lack access to safe drinking water. Millions of others must trek miles each day to collect sufficient quantities for their needs, with this chore often done by children who should instead be in school. This lack of water can lead to poor health, malnutrition, meager incomes and low agricultural productivity.”
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ErosionControl.com writes about a water program that CRS is involved in in Afghanistan.

From the story: “This three-year village-based watershed restoration program, which began in January 2007, features an agreement between the communities, which average about 100 households each, the provincial government, and CRS.
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In advance of World Water Day, we’re reposting past stories about CRS water projects.

Nicaragua Taps Into Water Management
Rural Nicaraguans are building water systems to bring clean, drinkable water into their homes-and good health into their lives.
http://crs.org/nicaragua/my-watershed/
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A few hours ago, we posted a story about brothers who visited Ethiopia to observe water projects. Now we see this story in America: The National Catholic Weekly. Archbishop Timothy Dolan, recently appointed Archbishop of New York, writes about his experience with a well in Ethiopia.

From the article: “‘Simply put, there’s no surface water here in Ethiopia,” my brave brother bishop explained to me and my companions’ … ‘The rains are completely unreliable. Our people are always only one dry season away from famine. The frustration is that water is abundant way down deep, but our people can’t dig that far to get to it.’”

- Hat tip to John Rivera, CRS senior writer