Thursday morning starts with an Ethiopian breakfast buffet for the group that we would be travelling with today. It included goat-fried rice, fried vegetables, spicy pasta, spaghetti and bread (with wild dark honey for dipping). And then Ethiopian coffee service, of course.
We travelled “over the mountain” to some very remote, hard to reach villages in the Maale Tribe region. Our purpose was to deliver Sawyer water filters that many friends back home helped to purchase. The drive was even a challenge for our rugged Toyota Land cruisers. From the pictures you might be able to see why a motorcycle is a popular form of transport here. The road up and down the mountain is nearly impassable in places, especially over the now-dry river beds that wash out a little bit more each rainy season. (By the time we had returned to a hotel in the main city of Jinka, my Apple Watch had calculated that I had climbed over 245 flights of stairs and over 15000 steps – due to the bumpy drive).
The river where we eventually stopped to do a water filter training for the men who would be working in the remote communities is one of only 2 rivers we have actually seen with water running in them. There are no bridges built over this river so during much of the year it is impassable.
This is a bottle of water that one of the children was carrying. To demonstrate how to use the water filters, we gathered water from the river in the photos. You can see it being poured through the cheese cloth liner that acts as a filter. It then slowly is filter through the Sawyer water system.
In this photo, notice the 3 water bottles. One is river water. One is an unopened bottle of water. The third is the water after it has been through the filter. It is not only clear of any sediment, but also any bacteria, viruses, etc. The final step is to remove the filter and use a large syringe provided to back flush and clean out the filter before the next use.
As you can see from the images below, this river is used for everything … bathing, watering livestock, washing clothing, and in many villages, even drinking.
Here are some photos of the river usage.
Keep in mind that people, usually women, will walk many kilometres to access any water that is available, even if it is this dirty. In the picture above, you can notice a yellow water jug waiting to be filled.
Some larger communities do have a water source, but as you can see by the jugs lined up, the water is not always available. In addition, this water will likely not be as visibly dirty, but it will still contain all sort on bacteria and contaminants.
The Sawyer water filters plus buckets and cheese cloth liners ended up being about $130 Canadian each. We delivered 21 to men that will take them to villages throughout the Maale region. They are really more suited to a single family but we have started by providing them to key leaders in various communities. (If you are interested in sponsoring water filters, let me know as there will be more opportunities to provide another round of water filters).
Kann Klan Adventures 