Location:
The village of Weledi is 330 km from the capital city of Addis Ababa, located near the Rift Valley, is in the highlands of north central Ethiopia.
Community Details:
The village of Weledi is 330 km from the capital city of Addis Ababa. It has a population of 200 families with another 5,000 people living in 18 villages within a 20 km radius. Weledi serves as the major hub for this area as it is located on a paved roadway, has schools and also has a pharmacy.
The current economic situation is that the commercial farm in the area provides jobs for the majority of the people in Weledi. They are day laborers and earn wages of 50 cents per day – wages below the subsistence level of $1 per day. The abject poverty is exacerbated by malaria, water borne and other communicable diseases resulting in a high mortality rate in the area. Three fourths of the health problems in the country are attributed to communicable disease caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation.
Project Summary:
The Sanitation System project included the construction of communal latrines, the installation of hand washing stations at each latrines, and a WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene) intervention and education initiative. This project educated the community on the importance of human waste management, hand washing, and appropriate use of clean water as a means to prevent the transmission of diseases. Also by keeping the waste contained, these latrines prevent groundwater contamination and spread of disease. EWB taught the community how to construct ventilated pit latrines. Public latrines were constructed at the community’s Elementary /middle and High school.
Project Adoption Date:
September 2013
Project Status:
Complete – Weledi Market Center Ventilation Improved Pit Latrines
Impact: Elimination of open defecation at market area servicing 5,000 people
This project was implemented in November 2017 in collaboration with Outreach Ethiopia and the local Weledi Government. The project is currently in the monitoring phase. In September 2019, the Weledi Program was transferred to the San Francisco Professional Chapter. This transition was due to the relocation of several of the key project team members to that region. Through the San Francisco Professional Chapter, monitoring for this project will be conducted and additional projects will be kicked-off via that team.
See also, project team video of the Implementation Trip.
Team Leads:
- Po Yan Ho, Meron Agonafir, Chris Bell – Project Co-Leads