afrol News, 7 October - A $387,000 grant by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) will help Northwest-based nonprofit Global Team for Local Initiatives (GTLI) implement clean water and sanitation programmes in Ethiopia.

Since 2008, GTLI, which incubated a new community-based model, has successfully completed a risk assessment of the threatened Hamar tribe, developed training programmes with tribal elders, and is ready to deliver hygiene training, wells and cisterns to 3,000 people in four communities.

"We are thrilled that USAID is investing in a new type of recipient that measures the adoption of new behaviors," said GTLI Founder and Country Director Lori Sweningson. "USAID saw the value in our comprehensive needs analysis and the importance of building trust and a relationship with elders prior to developing programmes. This will result in sustainable behavior change."

According to Ms Sweningson, the project allows GTLI to have an immediate impact on the lives of Hamar women and children who currently are entirely responsible for fetching water.

"In Wonga Bayno, many women travel up to three hours one way during the wet season and up to six hours in the dry season to fetch their daily allotment. Girls are not allowed to attend school as they are required to fetch water and tend younger children," said Sweningson.

"Our USAID/GTLI partnership is committed to providing this ancient people, affected by drought, shrinking grasslands and disease, an opportunity to gain the skills they need for continued survival," she concluded.

The Hamar people of Ethiopia are pastoralists who have few sources of clean water and are unable to grow enough food to feed themselves year-round due to severe and worsening drought.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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