$45,000 Matching Fund – Bringing safe water to Ilamu Muja, Ethiopia

Matching Grant Update

Thanks to your support, we met the $45,000 matching grant challenge, generously provided by Ty Cramer and Steve Romein, helping the villagers of Illamu Muja, Ethiopia reach their goal of a new safe water system.

Ilamu Muja Matching Grant

Ilamu Muja is a community that could be easily forgotten, hidden from the main road that leads to the capital, Addis Ababa, about 100 miles away. 2006 Water Tour participants Ty Cramer and Steve Romein, however, could not forget the people they met in Ilamu Muja, and decided to do something to help make a change. Through a generous $45,000 matching fund, they are motivating others to give, too, and ultimately, helping the 2,300 villagers reach their goal of a new safe water system.

After meeting the people of Ilamu Muja, Steve Romein said, “We met one woman who said all her life she’s walked to get water, and all her life she’s dreamed of being free from that. She spoke of the children she’s lost because of the water. Community members were anticipating what their lives would be like when they didn’t have to walk for three hours each day to get water - that their children would be healthy. They shared how they’d been going to the government for 30 years [to request a water system] and suddenly we were there at the moment when they were realizing that their dreams might actually come true, that a water system would happen. It was a very emotional moment – seeing the want and the need, and suddenly seeing the dreams that could finally be realized.”

“We come from different circumstances, but our goals are much the same,” Ty Cramer said. “When we can touch each other on a human level and accept each other for who we are, it brings home the fact that we are all related and we are all of one kind.”

Our 1-1/2 year project in Ilamu Muja will involve drilling a deep well and installing a pump, reservoir, and distribution pipeline that will carry the water to 10 public water taps, significantly reducing walking time to water points from two to three hours to less than 15 minutes. Village hygiene educators will also be elected and trained, and households will construct pit latrines for proper sanitation. A water board will be established to operate the water system, including collecting water fees at the public taps and dispatching trained village water technicians to perform necessary repairs and maintenance.