For-ethiopia is a Bristol based charity, operated entirely by volunteers with all the money we raise going to projects in Addis Alem, Ethiopia.
Addis Alem is a small town, around 55km west of the capital Addis Ababa. It is amazing how undeveloped it is considering how close it is to the capital.
For-ethiopia was formally founded in October 2004, twenty years after the BBC first broke the story of the famine in Ethiopia to the British public’s attention on 24th October 1984.
Prior to this, Tigist and Robert had funded a water well which was successfully dug in the grounds of the Efa Beri Primary and Junior High School in Addis Alem (Shoa).
Addis Alem was chosen as a suitable place to start development works as it was the birthplace of Tigists’ grandparents and mother. This meant that the local people were at ease talking to Tigist and did not feel that ‘outsiders’ were interfering. The area is highly deprived and has very few employment opportunities for the local community.
In a visit in December 2003, Tigist issued 500 questionnaires to students of the Junior school to complete with the help of their families. The questions were asking what local people felt was needed to improve life in the area, to identify development projects, (using a ‘bottomup’ approach of development). The first of these was the general lack of safe drinking water in the area and specific to this was the construction of a school water well as the students and teachers did not have a water source in the school grounds.
A subsequent visit in October 2004, by both Tigist and Robert saw the completed water well and the start of a link between the St Josephs primary school in Bristol. Pictures drawn by the children of St Josephs were taken along with writing materials, to be presented to the school in Addis Alem. Students were then encouraged to draw pictures to take back and present to St Josephs. The aim is to provide an ongoing link between the two schools.
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