STORY: Chinese foundation's clean water project transforms livelihoods in rural Ethiopia   
SHOOTING TIME: Dec. 28, 2024
DATELINE: Jan. 3, 2025
LENGTH: 00:02:22
LOCATION: DUKEM, Ethiopia
CATEGORY: SOCIETY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the water cellars
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Amharic): GETACHEW GEMECHU, Farmer
3. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): TSEGAB DEMEKE, Project officer at CFRD Ethiopia

STORYLINE:

Getachew Gemechu, a 25-year-old father of two, lives in a small, arid town in central Ethiopia.

In what looks like an oasis in the area, Gemechu's backyard farm is teeming with life, growing a variety of fruit plants, including avocado, mango, banana, and guava. They thrive alongside a selection of vegetables in the yard.

Gemechu said in a recent interview with Xinhua that access to safe water sources is "absolutely essential" for community members to grow fruits and vegetables and raise livestock.

The young father noted that the water shortage he and his fellow community members have endured for years is now "a thing of the past," thanks to an innovative project by the China Foundation for Rural Development (CFRD) and its partner Xuzhou Construction Machinery Group Co., Ltd. (XCMG).

SOUNDBITE 1 (Amharic): GETACHEW GEMECHU, Farmer
"For years, the limited access to water had put our community in a difficult situation. We had to spend hours traveling to a distant stream, which cost us precious time, energy, and money. The newly-built water cellar facility collected a good amount of water during the recent rainy season, and we have been using the stored water for the past few months."

His family is one of 39 households in the Melka community that have been benefiting from water cellars built in their backyards.

Tsegab Demeke, project officer at CFRD Ethiopia, said the early harvests from the project are already showing improvements in the livelihoods of community members.

SOUNDBITE 2 (English): TSEGAB DEMEKE, Project officer at CFRD Ethiopia
"Now we are involved with one of the schools in this area, which is called Obay Primary School, which is collecting and harvesting water, and they are providing to the school the feeding program. So now they are decreasing the economic (burden), economically they are benefited. Once they are working in the school garden activity, they are benefiting from different vegetables and fruits, which are provided for the school feeding program."

The CFRD, which has been implementing the water cellar project in cooperation with the XCMG, has so far delivered more than 200 water cellars, providing safe water sources to over 12,000 vulnerable community members in arid parts of Ethiopia, according to Yin Qian, director of the CFRD Ethiopia Office.
   
With Ethiopia's multiple rainy seasons, community members can collect and store the rainwater during each rainy season for household, farming, and gardening use.
   
The project is the latest manifestation of the CFRD's continuous contribution to the area. The foundation has since 2021 implemented various projects at the Obay Primary School, on the outskirts of Dukem, including a school feeding program, donation of school supplies through the Panda Packs Project, and solar lights, benefitting both the students and the wider community.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Dukem, Ethiopia.
(XHTV)